Adults Pursuing a College Degree and the Challenges They Face - Research Paper Example

Adults Pursuing a College Degree and the Challenges they Face Education is the foundation on which the advancement of a nation lies and hence it is one of the prime concerns of any nation. Education is also the powerful equalizer that provides advancements to an individual, both professionally and personally. Each generation out--educate and prosper the previous generation as per the increased job opportunities in business, health care, the arts and other professions. In a study conducted by Crosley & Roberts in the year 2007, it was estimated that approximately 25 million U.S. workers between the ages of 18 and 64 lacked high school diploma and 52 million adults have no higher secondary education. In 2009, President Barack Obama, while observing that the United States has fallen from first to 12th place among the world’s top 36 developed nations for its college graduation rates, urged the American citizens to "commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college, a four-year school, vocational training, or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma" (Pathways to Prosperity) and set a goal to raise the U. S Graduation rates to 60% by 2020. Those U. S occupations that require only a high school education have become negligible in number whereas the necessity of holding a college degree is on the rise. The importance and the demand for a college degree have also been increased today due to enhanced global market competition, technological advancement and service-oriented job environment. A traditional student enrolled for college degree is typically an 18 - 22 year old, who is living and studying full-time on a college campus. But, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the total number of students aged 35 and above in colleges has increased from 823,000, in 1970, to 2.9 million, in 2001, i.e., a doubling from 9.6% of total students to 19.2%. (Armour & Plitt). The traditional college students, in 2009, are estimated to be only 27% of total students enrolled for higher education and the rest 73% constitutes working adults. (The Small Business Economy). The term ‘adult’, denotes the eligibility of an individual to receive services under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, which is Title II of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. As per this Title, adults can become literate and obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and self-sufficiency. (Jacobs & Tolbert- Bynum). Working students, also known as next-generation students, is typically an adult older than 23, who are in their 30’s, 40’s, 50’s or even beyond and who work part-time or full-time while attending a community college, a college that offers online courses or a part-time program at a traditional university. These working students see higher education as a stepping stone to their professional advancement and financial prosperity. Some of them may have never entered a college before, some may have attended college and never have taken classes before, some may have attended only a few classes and there will be yet another group of working learners who are in a pursuit of advanced learning. According to Kenner & Weinerman, there are three main groups of adult learners attending a college for a college degree: "(a) workers who have lost their jobs because of the recession of 2008 and who require developmental coursework to refresh their entry level collegiate skills, (b) veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq who delayed their education to serve in the armed forces and (c) adults who have just completed their GED and are moving onto higher education classes" (Kenner & Weinerman). Kenner & Weinerman agrees with Knowles' principles, which were drawn from the theories of organizational development, on the characteristics of adult learners which states that a. adult learners are self directed, take responsibility of their own actions, and resist having information arbitrarily imposed on them. b. They have an extensive depth of experience, which serves as a critical component in the foundation of their self identity. c. They are ready to learn. As most adult learners return to college voluntarily, they are likely to actively engage in the learning process. d. They are task motivated. Adult students returning to college attend for a specific goal and the primary component of their motivational drive tends to be internal” (Kenner & Weinerman). The additional characteristics that distinguish adult learners from traditional students, Kenner & Weinerman insists, is their desire to have a greater cooperation between the students and the teacher, as found in the studies of Zmeyov. A higher level of maturity and a different understanding of world affairs and geopolitics, as in the case with veterans, is yet other characteristic feature of adult learners. (Kenner & Weinerman). Dr. Lyungai Mbilinyi, the research consultant for the Degrees of Opportunity study, says that many adult Americans wanted more education. She states that among the respondents of her study, who were a nationally representative sample of 1,129 U.S. adults age 25 to 60, 52% (the equivalent of more than 70 million Americans), indicated their desire to pursue additional education. She also affirmed that 57% of those adult learners who went back to school said 'they wish they had done it sooner'; another 42% said the timing to pursue higher education 'was about right' and for those who were less than 1% said, 'they wish they’d waited longer'. About 47% of the respondents in Mbilinyi's study were above 25 and their goals included: Master's or doctoral degrees (25%), Professional licensure or certification, or other job training (24%), Additional learning, GED, etc. (24%), Bachelor's degrees (15%) and Associate's degrees (12%) (Degrees of Opportunity: Results in Depth). Adult learners face many challenges while returning to a learning environment. They come from all ethnic groups and income levels and are living a full-life. Among the adult learners we can find many such students, who are the earning members of their families and are shuffling between their home, work place and college. They are providing for their families while covering the cost of the education and are confident in the prospect of return of their investments and hard work, which are better jobs, higher salary scale, job exposure, promotion, or a personal accomplishment. Mbilinyi's study shows that the issues faced by the adult learners were in stark contrast to those faced by the traditional students. Her study showed that adult learners were less concerned about the future prospective, when compared to the traditional students, such as finding a school or a program for advanced learning (found in 34% of adults), overcoming the fear of taking a risk and chance of failure (33%), ability to do well in the class (26%) and deciding about the subject or the degree to pursue (28%). The major challenges faced by adult learners, while pursuing higher education, were related to time and money. Managing time and balancing commitments is one of the main challenges faced by 73% of adult learners. For 70% of the respondents, paying fee became a challenge. For about 62% of the respondents, providing both for the family and self became a difficulty, for 61% time commitment till the end of the course became a problem, whereas 50% of the respondents found difficulty in attending the classes regularly. (Degrees of Opportunity: Results in Depth). The educational structure offered by institutions is suitable to traditional students who are newly upgraded from school. Adult learners find this educational system as unfit as it is not flexible to cope with the demands faced by them in work and families. Adult learners require a better educational process that will meet their needs. Adult learners require a compatible curriculum which many universities and colleges have failed to produce. For the enhanced compatibility of higher education curriculum, a new adult-learner-oriented curriculum should be developed, which should be of increased and cutting-edge quality. Aligning of IT with an institution will, therefore, provide clear views of campus information, IT strategic planning, IT Governance, communications and measurement/assessment, external trends and priorities, purpose and goal of the institution. The professional development of the faculty should also become a priority here. Barbara Lach-Smith, in an interview says that "IT goals and processes can support the institutional goals and processes". With reference to the scenario of increased competition between the institutions, she observes that "aligning technology with institutional priorities, planning and actions and with evolving goals of the individual colleges and departments continues to be a challenge for both IT leaders and administrators in higher education". Adult learners since go for their higher education after a long gap, it increases the challenge of attrition. If the adult learner is able to integrate in to the academic environment, the attrition rate will cease to become a challenge. For the successful integration of the adult learner in to the academic environment, the educator and the institution should introduce such a curriculum that can bridge the needs of the adult learners and address their learning styles. Adult learners can benefit more if the colleges could offer options in on-campus, online, and hybrid formats. Online classes, here is remarkably significant, as they allow students to complete their coursework at their own time, such as a lunch break or at night after household and parenting activities. Online classes will also allow adult students to focus on their work requirements. Adult learners will have to face an academic gap in the beginning of their higher education as a result of their choice to grab jobs. Their work environments would have provided them with "practical knowledge", which is defined by Sternberg and Caruso as "procedural knowledge that is useful in one's everyday life" (Kenner & Weinerman). But this goal-oriented practical knowledge is not useful during the course of academic development as they require the ability to explore, examine and incorporate information for their tasks in different ways, as opposed to their repetitive method of practical knowledge. Adult learners coming back to academic environment after a long period will find their course difficult due to their lack of critical thinking skills. As the students lack fundamental knowledge about the subjects of the course, they become unable to face the tasks provided in these subjects. In order to provide the fundamental knowledge of the subjects, the educator needs to propose some distinct learning strategies to these students which will improve their assessment and learning abilities. In the view of Kenner & Weinerman understanding tacit theory and informal theory, put forward by Schraw and Moshman in 1995, is useful in identifying the learning technology of adult learners and for creating the course material that can address the deficiencies arising from the meta-cognitive frameworks. The tacit theory holds that adult learners acquire their critical assessment and learning skills from peers, teachers and the local culture. These are deeply ingrained in to the minds of adult learners that they make the transition from practical knowledge to academic knowledge difficult. The informal theory, on the other hand, holds that the adult learner does possess meta-cognitive skills which they acquire from their peers and their work environment. But their informal meta-cognitive strategies, recognized by peers as a sign of wisdom, are linked to the reward system of the working environment. As adult learners are more task-oriented the educator has to provide learning strategies to them which will help them to see the purpose of the exercises stated in the curriculum and this, in turn, will help them in a smooth transition to the academic environment. Today, the adult learners pursuing a college degree outnumber the traditional students, who reach college directly from their schools and are dependent on their parents. The adult learners, in order to excel in their competitive work environment and financial position, aim for new goals and face many challenges in their pursuit of a college degree. Their move to attain higher education needs to be encouraged since our nation requires highly qualified professionals for economical advancement. Hence it is essential that adult learners are provided and supported with innovative approaches from the part of institutions and educators. Moreover, the educational policies, which currently supports traditional students, needs to be re-formulated for adult learners have easy access to higher education, in their thrive to achieve progress in the competitive job market, both domestically and globally. Work Cited Armour, Stephanie. & Plitt, Todd. Classrooms Filled with Returning Adults. USA Today. 2008. Web. 03 December 2011. < http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2003-06-12-backtoschool_x.htm> Barbara, Lach-Smith. Print. Degrees of Opportunity: Results in Depth. Degrees of Opportunity. Capella University. 2006. Web. 03 December 2011. < http://www.degreesofopportunity.org/results_depth.html> Jacobs, Jason & Tolbert- Bynum, Pamela. Shifting Gears: Community Colleges and Adult Basic Education. Community College Research Center. n.d. Web. 03 December 2011. < https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:AmAXg9WKEDUJ:ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/DefaultFiles/SendFileToPublic.asp%3Fft%3Dpdf%26FilePath%3Dc:%255CWebsites%255Cccrc_tc_columbia_edu_documents%255C332_665.pdf%26fid%3D332_665%26aid%3D47%26RID%3D665%26pf%3DContentByType.asp%3Ft%3D+Shifting+Gears:+Community+Colleges+and+Adult+Basic+Education&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShfS9IfHKtOad-iI30YQEawFhzBpr6Br9MMGqmytD3PpX9RLLZRwGJkpZCdGjkFt0Z3LVQRpH247rPULX3ldqTRSuibmQoxFCrsfQr5mQyZ4koOBL01Kv_iZ3b4FyqqzbmdwD76&sig=AHIEtbQUlQxox4OyMcmuqm7b4Vb8zZmayQ> Kenner, Cari. & Weinerman, Jason. Jason Journal of College Reading and Learning. Print. Kenner, Cari. & Weinerman, Jason. Adult Learning Theory: Applications to Non-traditional College Students. Business Library. 2011. Web. 03 December 2011. Pathways to Prosperity. Harvard Graduate School of Education. 2011. Web. 03 December 2011. The Small Business Economy. SBA Office of Advocacy. 2009. Web. 03 December 2011. < http://archive.sba.gov/advo/research/sb_econ2009.pdf> Read More