Unique Barriers Faced by First-Generation Adult Learners

There has been an increase in the number of first-generation adult learners in higher education institutions. However, literature has revealed limited information on the experiences of first-generation adult learners and their perception of the barriers they face in higher education. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the experiences of 6 first-generation adult learners attending a higher education institution and their perception of the barriers they faced. The theoretical foundations were andragogy theory and social-cognitive career theory. Data were collected using purposeful interviews and data were analyzed using iinterpretative pphenomenological aanalysis. Five detailed patterns were identified: (a) students experienced specific barriers associated with anxiety and fear; (b) students were able to adapt to change and overcome their barriers; (c) students viewed education as a way out of their present situation and welcomed it as a positive influence; (d) students viewed the barriers as normal life challenges; and (e) the availability of supportive services made a difference in the adult learning environment. Findings from this research will contribute to the knowledge and experiences of first-generation adult learners in higher education institutions and the unique barriers they face. In addition to the development of effective programs designed for first-generation adult learners, administrators, staff, and faculty in higher education institutions can use the data generated from this study to improve overall retention/graduation rates for underserved populations in higher education by identifying any obstacles to success and implementing intervention policies

Attitudes of Higher Education students to new venture creation: a preliminary approach to the Portuguese case

Institutions of higher education have an important role in the generation of high tech ‘entrepreneurial capacity’. Being entrepreneurship in Portugal an emergent phenomenon there is an urgent need to better understand and develop this area not only by analysing the ‘supply side’ (i.e., the courses taught in this field) but also the ‘demand side’, that is, the attitudes of students, future potential entrepreneurs, to new venture creation. Based on 4413 responses of students enrolled in Portuguese higher education institutions, gathered in June-July 2008, we found, using a multivariate model, that students who had already created a firm although, on average, possess larger entrepreneurial experience and knowledge, they do not reveal high risk propensity or creativity. Those students that have taken some steps to create new businesses and, to a larger extent, those foreseeing their future career as owning their business have higher risk and creative profiles. Students who live in an environment which ‘breads’ entrepreneurship have stronger desire to become entrepreneurs. This supports the contention that entrepreneurship is a learned process and that school, teachers, and other institutions and individuals may encourage entrepreneurial behaviours. ‘Role models’ seem indeed to constitute a key factor fostering entrepreneurship among Portuguese higher education students – in the Portuguese case, the entrepreneur and entrepreneurial company references are, respectively, Belmiro de Azevedo and Sonae. Although in a descriptive analysis students enrolled in non-university (e.g., polytechnics) and private higher education institutions reveal higher effective and potential entrepreneurial propensities, when we (simultaneously) control for a vast number of factors which are likely to affect entrepreneurship propensity, such differences cease to be statistically relevant. Students’ personality (risk, creativity) and demographic traits (gender and age), competencies and familiarity with entrepreneurship (entrepreneurial experience, knowledge, awareness, interest), and contextual factors (professional experience, role models) are important determinants of entrepreneurial propensity, whereas the type of higher education institutions (public vs private, non-university vs university), and, to some extent, the degree (postgraduate vs undergraduate), and the scientific area, fail to emerge as key determinants.students; entrepreneurship; attitudes

The Adjustment of Perspective Among Students Regarding Protection of Educational Services’ Consumer

Academic education services entered Romanians habits more than a century and a half ago, at the beginning as a need for professional development mostly. Paradigm shift from the traditional perspective on education to the knowledge society perspective requires the increasing competitiveness of higher education systems. From this perspective, universities should collaborate frequently with other research institutions, private companies and public institutions, and participate in international research networks, to produce the optics change regarding the protection of educational services consumers: the next generation of students. To determine the above-mentioned change the authors developed and executed the pilot survey, which granted the possibility of testing the set of questionnaires and the relevance of questions. The survey was a random one; most of the responses are complying with the actual configuration in economic higher education institutions. The research objective “Investigation of student opinion of the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies on changes recorded in the Romanian higher education” consists in the development of an accurate picture of the changes that occurred and are occurring in our education system. The originality of the paper resides in the feasibility of implementing the research results reflecting changes that require an appropriate management allowing institution and its members to accomplish the implementation of changes required by Bologna process in the interests of its main beneficiaries: the students.consumer of education services, students, change management, university, the protection of the consumer, higher economic education

First-Generation Students in Higher Education: Issues of Employability in a Knowledge Based Economy

This paper explores the issues around the transition of first-generation students in higher education into the knowledge based economy. It discusses how the lack of parental education deprives first-generation students of the cultural capital that is transmitted through the family and how this influences the acquisition of the “soft currencies” that employers expect them to demonstrate in this economy. The article stresses the need for focused research on understanding the problems faced by these students with regard to their employability and actual employment, specifically in the context of mass higher education. It highlights the need for research that could inform policies, systems, programs and funding patterns regarding first-generation students; and influence government and institutions of higher education to look beyond creating access to enabling the transition into the world of work

Faculty Perceptions of Academic Freedom at a Private Religious University

Academic freedom is viewed by many in higher education as an indispensible foundational principle offering protection to university faculty. University faculty working within schools of education rely on the protection of academic freedom to pursue and develop new knowledge, frameworks, and pedagogies with which they can train and equip the next generation of classroom teachers and school administrators. Private religious universities have been a part of the American education landscape since the founding of Harvard University, yet the perception exists that faculty at religious universities are de facto inhibited by the religious commitment of many of these institutions. This study examines the concept of academic freedom as viewed by 18 senior faculty at Regent University, a private religious institution. Findings demonstrate faculty generally support an institutional perspective of academic freedom and express a high level of comfort with limited restrictions on academic freedom in light of the university’s religious mission. Implications exist for all faculty, especially those at religious institutions

Symbiotic Learning Systems: Reorganizing and Integrating Learning Efforts and Responsibilities Between Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) and Work Places

This article presents the idea of “symbiotic learning systems” as a possible strategy for dealing with institutional knowledge and learning challenges posed by an emerging transition from “socially monopolized” to “socially distributed” knowledge generation and distribution. As knowledge production and learning become increasingly relocated from segregated and specialized institutions for research and education and socially distributed to and within “ordinary” work life, corresponding changes are required in the basic institutionalized relationships between research, higher education, and practical knowledge application. The concept of “symbiotic learning” addresses these problems by deconstructing age-old divisions between vocational and liberal education. In order to build foundations for a changed and improved relationship between advanced organizations in work life and institutions of higher education and research (HEIs), the general preconditions for learning in the work places themselves need to be addressed. In modeling general preconditions for learning, and even in transcending the division of labor between manual and intellectual work, inspiration is found in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, and in their search for intellectual “commons” (tà koiná) as constituting public spheres and community among individuals

The evolution of higher education in Zimbabwe

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2000This study examines the origins and development of higher education for the indigenous peoples in southern Africa as a whole, while focusing on the evolution of higher education in Zimbabwe in particular. The study examines the role that higher education plays in a developing social, economic and political context by reviewing the relevant literature on the history of higher education in southern Africa and conducting a survey of the current status of emerging higher education institutions in Zimbabwe. The government of Zimbabwe is pursuing multiple avenues of public-private co-operation in providing higher education in response to the growing demand from its citizens. The fieldwork included interviews with government officials and an extended visit to each of the four major new public and private universities in the country, during which focused interviews were conducted with university officials and relevant documents were obtained. The first generation of universities in Africa is being reassessed and new institutions are being created as a result of changes that have occurred in the world, in Africa and in the universities themselves. Internationally, the emergence of global markets has created a competitive world economic system characterized by rapid knowledge generation and technological innovation. Therefore the African universities are not evolving in isolation. They are becoming an integral part of the world university systems. This study documents the reciprocal relationship between the structure and function of educational institutions and the time and place in which they are situated. The current explosion of new higher education institutions across Zimbabwe is clearly a product of its historical and contemporary evolution as an independent country. At the same time, it is apparent that Zimbabwe's future as a player in the family of global nations is increasingly dependent on a strong and responsive system of higher education institutions focusing on the needs of the country and its citizens. Zimbabwe's future as a nation and the future of its higher education institutions are inextricably linked

The role of higher education institutions in knowledge generation to support Education For All

Abstrac

A “negyedik generációs” egyetemek szerepe a tudáshasznosításban

Nowadays in case of the operation of universities there is a clear advancement towards a common pattern. Besides the enhancement of local economy the local social commitment is a definitive part of the mid- and long-term strategies of higher education institutions. Many successful examples prove that these institutions are able to foster the level of economic development in certain regions. The realization of this can happen with the collective presence of three activities. Excellent education, effective research and embedment in the local economy are all necessary activities. The main requirement of efficient knowledge management is that the institutions should possess outstanding IT- infrastructures, databases, create professional forums that can enhance the flow of knowledge. Thus knowledge management can be considered as a tool for increasing the flow of information. The study has two goals: It attempts to identify the characteristics of „fourth generation” universities and examines the role of modern universities in activities that can enhance knowledge-transfer