Reentry Women: A Literature Review With Recommendations for Counseling and Research

Abstract

This article is a comprehensive literature review of the research regarding reentry women for 1980 to 1990, with recommendations for counseling and research. The article is divided into the following sections: (a) reentry trends; (b) general characteristics; (c) reasons for reentry; (d) personality; (e) role, values, and family; (f) satisfaction in the student role; (g) career choice; (h) reentry women after graduation; (i) research limitations; (j) research recommendations; and (k) conclusion. Research replications were found to be very limited and restricted to four areas: (a) reasons for reentry, (b) personality, (c) family variables, and (d) career choice.

Barriers and Challenges of Female Adult Students Enrolled in Higher Education: A Literature Review

“…Nonetheless, the literature points to several primary challenges that could be informative for those who have adult female students in their classroom or as their consultants and mentees, to better understand this particular group of students. Agar, 1990;Bauer & Mott, 1990;Bell, 2003;Benshoff & Lewis, 1992;Benshoff, 1992Benshoff, , 1993Chartrand, 1990;Compton, Cox, & Laanan, 2006;Crawford, 2004;Cross, 1980;Dill & Henley, 1998;Ely, 1997;Huston-Hoburg & Strange, 1986;Justice & Dornan, 2001;Kasworm, 2003;Kennedy, 2003;Klein, 1990;Krager, Wrenn, & Hirt, 1990;Lin & Wang, 2015;Lundberg, 2003;Mallinckrodt & Leong, 1992;McGivney, 2004;Muench, 1987;Puryear, 1988;Thon, 1984;Yarbrough & Schaffer, 1990) Studies of Female Adult Students (e.g., Anderson & Miezitis, 1999;Backels & Meashey, 1997;Carney-Crompton & Tan, 2002;Coker, 2003;Furst, 1991;Home, 1993Home, , 1997Jackman, 1999;Jacobs & King, 2002;King & Bauer, 1988;Kirk & Dorfman, 1983;Leavitt, 1989;Novak & Thacker, 1991;Padula, 1994;…”

“…6, No. 2;2016, 1997Huston-Hoburg & Strange, 1986;Padula, 1994). As a result, their lifestyles are broader and more complex than their traditional counterparts (King & Bauer, 1988), and they often have less time in doing extra school activities.…”

“…As a result, family responsibilities and commitments with the demands of academia would create more barriers and challenges to academic success for the nontraditional female students (Anderson & Miezitis, 1999;Novak & Thacker, 1991;Padula, 1994), and family variables are usually the reason that lead to the incomplete education for this population (Leavitt, 1989;Schliebner, 1990).…”

“…Ouimby and O'Brien (2006) further suggested that female adult students face challenges when they re-enter into the college environment as learners and interacting with peers who are usually younger and have different values and priorities. The gap with younger traditional counterparts often make female adult learners feel marginalized and excluded from campus life (Padula, 1994).…”

“…They are often at least one-year away between high school and college (Dill & Henley, 1998). In addition, this population usually defined as over the age of 25 (e.g., Klein, 1990;Krager, Wrenn, & Hirt, 1990;Padula, 1994;Roehl & Okun, 1984;Scott, Burns, & Cooney, 1996). Early studies mentioned that from one-third to one-half of all college students are identified as nontraditional students and over 50% of all graduate students are over 30 years of age (Aslanian & Brickell, 1980;Elson, 1992).…”