Access and retention: experiences of non-traditional learners in higher education
Person photo Prof Agnieszka Bron
Department of Education
Funding source: EU Leonardo da Vinci programme
Period: 1/1/08 - 12/31/10
Funding: 610825 EUR
Description:
Retention and drop - out in higher education is an under-researched area in Europe. We believe that this project will fill an important gap in the research field. In recent years policy concern at national and European levels has focused largely on access. However, widening access policies for non-traditional groups (younger and adults) to higher education are not going to succeed unless the learning experience is a positive one.

Higher education institutions need to change to meet the needs of such groups to avoid failure and non-completion, otherwise issues of equity will not be addressed and this research will identify strategies for such changes. Access is now well established in some European countries but the accessibility of knowledge both through appropriate pedagogies and 'adult friendly' supports including accessibility of library and other resources is less so.

Key objectives of the RANLHE project are:

  • to identify the factors which promote or constrain the access, retention and non- completion of non-traditional students (working class, gender and ethnicity issues) to higher education
  • to increase knowledge and understanding through interdisciplinary research of what promotes or limits the construction of learner identity of non- traditional students to become effective learners and which enables or inhibits completion of higher education
  • to identify the policy, cultural and institutional processes, including disciplinary sub-cultures which help or hinder completion
  • to illuminate and theorise, using in-depth biographical and collaborative methods, the structural, cultural and personal dialectics of learning and agency in students' lives
  • to assess the benefits for self and society of participating in learning in HE, whether or not study is completed, and reassess the proposition that it may be worse to withdraw than not to begin
  • to consider the implications of the study for the development of policy and practice across Europe in widening participation, promoting lifelong learning and enhancing the learning experiences of students from under-represented groups
  • to disseminate the findings of the research through regional workshops, national and European conferences and a range of publications aimed at practitioners, policy makers and academics
  
Researchers (1)
Partner Org. (7)
Research fields (1)
  
Dr Camilla Thunborg
My research concerns adult learning and especially how identities are formed and changed in and through adult life and in relation to different life settings. More specifically I have focused on the forming of occupational identities in daily work, in relation to organizational changes, through ...