Blog Post #3 Research Gap
As an update, I did end up choosing to focus my Literature Review on the studies and data surrounding non-traditional, women students and the difficulties they face. In all of the sources I gathered, there was quite a bit of information about how there are time, financial, and personal conflicts for returning students. Most of what I read was not surprising by any means, but it was interesting to read at the end of several articles what they thought the solution could be. Articles suggested, for example, that institutions provide more scholarship opportunities for returning women students, as well as more classes offered at after-work hours.
What a couple of the articles suggested was that researchers and institutions conduct qualitative studies to find out why these women quit pursuing their college degrees in the first place. For many women, the obligation of needing to work to support their families is a large issue, while for others, it is simply the cost of childcare and the difficulty of having children transported to different family members when they can't afford daycare centers.
If there was an identifiable research gap, I would say it is the question of what universities could offer non-traditional students as incentive to staying at their chosen university, regardless of the time and financial struggle. Too much of the college experience is catered around the traditional students, while there is a large percentage of students who are not "traditional" in one sense or another. Non-traditional students can mean those who work full time, have not attended college in over two years, or those struggling with emotional/psychological disabilities in one form or another. This encompasses a large population of academia.
I totally relate to this. I went to college for a bit, then left for 4 years then went for a few years, but was just shy of a degree (but heavy in debt, and multiple emotional/psychological issues, which sometimes got in the way) before having to take another 5 years off! I finally finished my degree with help from my grandma and my aunt. I became a lifelong student and almost got 3 degrees as my crappy financial circumstances forced me to move around the state doing different programs.
ReplyDeleteI will be interested to see some of the solutions. A lot of people like me fall through the cracks and just stay there in silence. I never had children either because I was in this position where I couldn't even dream of taking care of one--my whole life feels like it was put on hold because I was always scrambling to make ends meet.
A qualitative study interviewing/surveying returning students (or students who want to return but haven't might be even better). Discovering both what caused them to leave without finishing school and what options would help bring them back. You also might be able to access/borrow data from universities. Many, like the University of Utah, have put a lot of money and effort into studying who they are serving and how to help solve their problems. It is a big problem throughout the country and many universities have attempted to study the issue.
I like this topic a lot! I'm really interested in what universities could offer non-traditional students as incentive to staying at their chosen university because now a days education is expensive. I could relate to this too. With life happening all around us and life changing people everyday there aren't many that are willing to struggle, willing to make ends meet to go to school. In this generation, I believe it takes a really special person that is willing to further their education and its those individuals that deserve those opportunities.
ReplyDeleteI think interviewing people that matches your persona would definitely benefit your research!