Social Networks in Higher Education: A Study of the Relationship of Social Structural and Proximity Factors to Teacher Credibility and Perceived Quality of Academic Life
As Berge (1998) tells us, learning is a lifelong process that is important to effective participation in cultural and economic life in a democratic society. In their research on cultural issues in distance education, Enoch and Soker (2006) note one of the major concerns of modern societies today is to ensure increased access to higher education, and to include members of formerly under-represented social groups and categories, such as ethnic and racial minorities, women and people who live in distant rural or disadvantaged areas or who have to combine their studies with full-time or part-time jobs. Building on the work of Enoch and Soker, this paper looks at race, gender, age, course lcoation and job status and their relationship to teacher credibility and perceived quality of academic life. The data for this study was provided by students attending a community college located in a metropolitan area of the Midwest
