‘This is the beginning of my life educationally’: older (50+ years) working class adults’ participation in higher education in Scotland, through the lens of critical educational gerontology

McAllister, Chris

doi:10.1080/02601370.2010.512802

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In his study, the number of withdrawals fell with increasing age (p. 436). Age is also a key focus of the work of McAllister (2010), who reports on older working class adults' participation in the context of a new university in the west of Scotland and shows that 'older adults continue to be marginalised in current widening participation policy and practice' (p. 551). Drawing on Gallacher (2006) and statistical analysis by Findsen & Mccullough (2006), he points out how HEIs may be perpetuating class and age-based discrimination owing to overall WP vision being 'defined by economistic concerns rather than social justice' (p. 550).…”

Section: Equality Diversity and Inclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Widening Participation in Scotland 1997–2021: A semi‐systematic literature review and avenues for further research

O'Toole,

Dunnett,

Brennan

et al. 2024

British Educational Res J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article sets out and critically analyses the state of current knowledge on Widening Participation at higher education institutions in Scotland and sets forth avenues for further research. Through a semi‐systematic review of the literature, six discrete but overlapping themes relating to Widening Participation are identified, namely, (1) factors affecting the decision to apply to university, (2) the transition from high school or further education into university, (3) contextualised admissions, (4) completion and level of attainment, (5) economic, social and cultural capital and (6) equality, diversity and inclusion. The study finds that while clear progress has been made by higher education institutionstowards achieving quantitative government targets for student recruitment from underrepresented groups, there is an absence of studies and knowledge about the qualitative lived experiences of students as they transition through university, how students negotiate a sense of fit with institutional systems, and what targeted supports they may require to succeed. Avenues for further research which addresses these gaps in the knowledge base are put forward, namely, (1) broaden the academic base and interdisciplinarity of Widening Participation research, (2) reform and extend measures of success beyond admissions and attainment, (3) evolve institutional level support for transition into higher education, (4) develop more nuanced understandings of contextualised admissions and (5) investigate and gain deeper understandings of how the lived experiences of Widening Participation students shape and inform their journey through, experience of and attainment at university.

show abstract

Section: Equality Diversity and Inclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Widening Participation in Scotland 1997–2021: A semi‐systematic literature review and avenues for further research

O'Toole,

Dunnett,

Brennan

et al. 2024

British Educational Res J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Current higher education is usually dominated by full-time, residential youth with little voice or value given to other age groups, especially those who are the most different from young students -older adult learners (McAllister 2010 ;. However, with the increasing number of non-traditional students in higher education, whether in Taiwan or other countries, creating a safe space for older adult learners and the institutions playing a role in promoting leadership for all learners becomes important.…”

Section: Opening Higher Education For Older Adult Learnersmentioning

confidence: 99%

International Perspectives on Older Adult Education

Findsen¹,

Formosa²

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aims & Scope"Lifelong Learning" has become a central theme in education and community development. Both international and national agencies, governments and educational institutions have adopted the idea of lifelong learning as a major theme in the coming years. They realize that it is only by getting people committed to the idea of education both life-wide and lifelong that the goals of economic advancement, social emancipation and personal growth will be attained.The Lifelong Learning Book Series aims to keep scholars and professionals informed about and abreast of current developments and to advance research and scholarship in the domain of Lifelong Learning. It further aims to provide learning and teaching materials, serve as a forum for scholarly and professional debate and offer a rich fund of resources for researchers, policy-makers, scholars, professionals and practitioners in the fi eld.The volumes in this international Series are multi-disciplinary in orientation, polymathic in origin, range and reach, and variegated in range and complexity. They are written by researchers, professionals and practitioners working widely across the international arena in lifelong learning and are orientated towards policy improvement and educational betterment throughout the life cycle.More information about this series at

show abstract

“…Balancing academic commitment and the economic demands remains an obvious issue in any adult education full-time programmes (Crowther et al, 2010;McAllister, 2010). This study establishes the challenges participants experience in their second year as full-time students soon as they start to draw half salary in the monthly income.…”

Section: Economic Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4;2012Tett, 2010. In other words the adult learners' desire to acquire new skills is driven by the need to enhance their career opportunities, financial security and material well-being (McAllister, 2010).…”

Section: Literature Review and Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chronological age and social commitments (Laot, 2010;McAllister, 2010) dictate that adult learners should inevitably have a divided span of attention in their academic engagement. Some participants' comments in this study indicate what they perceive as some of their social roles that they value, but could impact negatively on their study.…”

Section: Socio-emotional Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Socio-emotional Selectivity: A preliminary analysis of Perspectives of Adult Learners in the University of Botswana

Pansiri¹,

Mhozya²,

Bulawa³

et al. 2012

IES

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Grounded in the theoretical framework of socio-emotional selectivity theory (SST), this study investigated how the socio-emotional, academic and economic experiences of adult learners in the Primary Education in the University of Botswana affected their academic engagement. This was motivated by the trend of gradual enrolment decline observed by the researchers given the fact that the staff members are not trained as adult educators. The populations of the study were students of the DPE programmes of study The sample involved ten participants in year 3, ten in year 4 -five participants per each of the two bachelors of education (B Ed) degree programmes and five participants in the masters of education (M Ed) degree programme. These participants were selected through opportunistic and convenience method. The result of the study reveals varied challenges that affect learners' pedagogical expectations and social experiences in the university programmes at both undergraduate and graduate. While they expect to acquire new skills and knowledge for improved work environment when they complete their studies, the academic environment leaves much to be desired.

show abstract

‘This is the beginning of my life educationally’: older (50+ years) working class adults’ participation in higher education in Scotland, through the lens of critical educational gerontology

Cited by 10 publications

References 21 publications

Widening Participation in Scotland 1997–2021: A semi‐systematic literature review and avenues for further research

Widening Participation in Scotland 1997–2021: A semi‐systematic literature review and avenues for further research

International Perspectives on Older Adult Education

Socio-emotional Selectivity: A preliminary analysis of Perspectives of Adult Learners in the University of Botswana

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About