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ANN ARBOR, Ml 48106 18 BEDFORD ROW, LONDON WC1R 4EJ, ENGLAND 8106474 H u n tsb er g er , Pa u l E u g e n e MID-LIFE UNDERGRADUATES AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: A STUDY OF CHARACTERISTICS, EDUCATIONAL MOTIVATIONS, NEEDS, AND SATISFACTION WITH UNIVERSITY SERVICES PH.D. Michigan State University University Microfilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. M I 48106 1980 PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this material has been filmed 1n the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been Identified here with a check mark »<_. 1. Qlossy photographs _ _ 2. Colored Illustrations ' 3. Photographs with dark background _ _ 4. Illustrations are poor copy _ _ _ 5. Dr1nt shows through as there 1s text on bothsides of page 6. Indistinct, broken or small print on severalpages 7. Tightly bound copy with print lost in spine _ _ _ 8. Computer printout pages with indistinct print 9. 10. 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ANN ARBOR Ml .18106 <3131 761-4700 MID-LIFE UNDERGRADUATES AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY A STUDY OF CHARACTERISTICS , EDUCATIONAL MOTIVATIONS NEEDS , AND SATISFACTION WITH UNIVERSITY SERVICES By Paul Eugene Huntsberger A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Administration and Higher Education 1980 ABSTRACT MID-LIFE UNDERGRADUATES AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: A STUDY OF CHARACTERISTICS, EDUCATIONAL MOTIVATIONS, NEEDS, AND SATISFACTION WITH UNIVERSITY SERVICES BY Paul Eugene Huntsberger Purposes Michigan State undergraduates ages 30 through 49 were surveyed: 1) to identify and describe demographic characteristics, educational motivations, expressed p r e ­ entry and post-entry academic and non-academic needs, and satisfaction in meeting those needs by using University services; 2) to determine the extent to which the variables of sex, age, and college impact on this group; 3) to deter­ mine the subdivision of this group by their educational motivations; and 4) to draw implications from the data for development or revision of University services. Methodology Data were gathered on 207 students using a ques­ tionnaire. Analytical procedures were: Demographic and need variables were reported by percentage distribution for the sample. Aggregate mean scores were calculated for educational motivation and satisfaction with services variables. A chi-sguare procedure determined whether the Paul Eugene Huntsberger Independent variables of sex, age, and college were re­ lated significantly .10 to the demographic and need var­ iables. An F-test analysis of variance procedure determin­ ed whether mean differences among educational motivations and satisfaction with services variables related signif­ icantly .10 to the independent variables of sex, age, and college. Finally, factor analysis arranged educational motivation factors into unidimensional orientations, and these were further analysed to form several educational motivation groups. Results The survey yielded extensive information on the sample's demographic characteristics, needs, use of Univer­ sity services, and educational motivations. Several im­ portant differences between males and females were iden­ tified. Also four major educational motivation groups were supported statistically: External Career Oriented, with strong career interests related to requirements of potential employers or professional associations; Explor­ ation Oriented, with strong concerns for exploring academic and life goals; Career Improvement Oriented, with strong career interests related to improving skills and knowledge needed in present jobs; and Renewal Oriented, with strong concerns for improving outdated knowledge or skills as well as for preparing to enter or re-enter the labor market. Paul Eugene Huntsberger Conclusions Major conclusions were: 1) At mid-life female and male Michigan State undergraduates differ in several impor­ tant respects; 2) A minority of them expressed pre-entry and post-entry needs; 3) A significant proportion of the minority expressing needs chose not to satisfy these by using University services; 4) Their satisfaction with University services used was high except in the areas of financial aids, admissions, and counseling; 5) The Office of the Assistant Dean for Lifelong Education was highly, but almost exclusively, supportive of mid-life females; 6) Faculty and other staff assisted them with a wide variety of non-academic concerns, sometimes more so than personnel in other University service units; and 7) Analysing these students' educational motivations according to common demographic variables such as sex and age was confounding. To Jennifer and Paul Trent whose love, patience, and sacrifices were my inspiration. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to remember the contributions of Professor Russell J. Kleis, who advised me on this project until he died in November 1979. I am especially appreciative of Dr. Max Raines who generously assumed the chairmanship of the committee and guided me ably and compassionately to completion. I am also indebted to Dr. Sheldon Cherney for his timely words of encouragement and generous support; and to Dr. Kenneth Neff and Dr. August Benson for their crucial support. I wish also to thank the staff of the Office of Research Consultation, especially David Solomon, who helped me with the statistical analysis of the data. also thank the Department of Administration and Higher Education for their generous financial support for the computer analysis. iii I TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF T A B L E S ........................................ vii LIST OF F I G U R E S ........................................ ix Chapter I. INTRODUCTION TO THE S T U D Y ...................... Background ................................... Statement of the P r o b l e m .................... Purposes ...................................... .......................... Research Questions Procedures ................................... Assumptions and Definitions .................. Delimitations ................................. L i m i t a t i o n s ................................... Significance of Study ........................ Summary and O v e r v i e w ................. II. III. THE ADULT COLLEGE STUDENT: LITERATURE AND RESEARCH R E V I E W ............... 1 1 3 6 7 7 8 10 10 11 14 15 Introduction ................................. Characteristics ............................... Needs and S e r v i c e s ........................... Educational Motivations ...................... S u m m a r y ........................................ 15 18 22 29 38 DESIGN OF THE S T U D Y ............................. 40 Data Collection Procedures .................. 41 Questionnaire Design ...................... Questionnaire Evaluation .................. Sample Selection and Questionnaire A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ........................... 41 44 Data Analysis Procedures .................... S u m m a r y ........................................ 45 50 44 Chapter IV. Page REPORT AND ANALYSIS OP D A T A ................... 51 Description of the Mid-life S a m p l e ........... . 5 1 Demographic Characteristics ............... Educational Motivations ................... Pre-entry and Post-entry Needs ........... Pre-entry and Post-entry Service Use and S a t i s f a c t i o n ................... Unsolicited Comments about University S e r v i c e s ................................ Analysis of Sample Data by the Variable of S e x .................................... Demographic Characteristics ............... Educational Motivations ................... Pre-entry and Post-entry Needs ........... Pre-entry and Post-entry Service Use and S a t i s f a c t i o n ................... Analysis of Sample Data by the Variable of A g e .................................... 51 60 67 70 74 77 77 82 84 87 93 Demographic Characteristics ............... Educational Motivations ................... ........ Pre-entry and Post-entry Needs Pre-entry and Post-entry Service Use and S a t i s f a c t i o n ................... 102 Analysis of Sample Data by the Variable of C o l l e g e ................................ 102 Demographic Characteristics ............... Educational Motivations . ................. ........... Pre-entry and Post-entry Needs Pre-entry and Post-entry Service Use and S a t i s f a c t i o n ................... Analysis of Selected Sample Data by the Variable of Previous Degree ............... Formation of Educational Motivation Groups by Factor Analysis ................. Differences Among Educational Motiva­ tion G r o u p s ................................ Description of Educational Motivation G r o u p s .................................... Demographic Characteristics ............... v 93 94 99 102 106 106 108 108 109 110 Ill Ill Chapter Page 115 S u m m a r y ....................................... 121 . Pre-entry and Post-entry Needs ........... Pre-entry and Post-entry Service Use and S a t i s f a c t i o n 119 V. FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS '. . Introduction ................................. Major F i n d i n g s .............................. 122 123 123 124 125 . . Demographic S u m m a r y ................... Educational Motivation Summary . . . . . . Needs and University Services Summary . . . Differences in the Sample S u m m a r y 126 Educational Motivation Groups Summary . . . 122 C o n c l u s i o n s ................................... Recommendations for Further Research . . . . E p i l o g u e ..................................... 129 130 137 139 APPENDICES APPENDIX A. B. C. D. SAMPLE COVER LETTERS AND ADULT STUDENT SURVEY Q U E S T I O N N A I R E .............................. 140 SUMMARY OF DATA NOT SIGNIFICANT WHEN ANALYSED BY THE VARIABLES OF SEX, AGE, AND COLLEGE . 148 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SECOND BACHELOR'S AND MAIN SAMPLE ON SELECTED V A R I A B L E S ......... 153 EDUCATIONAL MOTIVATION GROUPS SATISFACTION RATINGS OF UNIVERSITY SERVICES USED . . . . 155 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................. 15 7 LIST OP TABLES Table 4.1 Page Academic characteristics of the mid-life s a m p l e ........................................ 54 Socio-economic characteristics of the mid­ life s a m p l e ...................... .. ........... 58 Financial characteristics of the mid-life s a m p l e ........................................ 59 Educational motivation factor mean scores of the mid-life s a m p l e ...................... 61 Educational motivation cluster mean scores of the mid-life s a m p l e ...................... 65 4.6 Pre-entry needs of the mid-life sample . . . . 68 4.7 Post-entry needs of the mid-life sample . . . . 70 4.8 Pre-entry satisfaction with University services of the mid-life sample ............... 73 Post-entry satisfaction with University services of the mid-life sample ............... 75 Demographic characteristics related signif­ icantly to the variable of sex . . . . . . . 79 Educational motivation factors related signif­ icantly to the variable of s e x ............... 83 Educational motivation orientations related significantly to the variable of sex . . . . 85 Pre-entry and post-entry needs related signif­ icantly to the variable of s e x ............... 88 Pre-entry satisfaction with University services summarized by the variable of s e x ........................................ 91 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 vii Table 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 A.1 A.2 A. 3 A. 4 Page Post-entry satisfaction with University services summarized by the variable of s e x ...................................... 92 Demographic characteristics related signif­ icantly to the variable of a g e ............. 95 Educational motivation factors related sig­ nificantly to the variable of a g e ........... 98 Educational motivation orientations related significantly to the variable of age. . . . 100 Demographic characteristics related signif­ icantly to the variable of c o l l e g e ......... 104 Educational motivation orientations related significantly to the variable of college . . 107 Educational motivation orientations of educational motivation groups ............... 112 Selected demographic characteristics of educational motivation groups ............... 116 Pre-entry and post-entry needs of educational motivation groups ................... 120 Distribution of non-significant data by the variables of sex, age, and c o l l e g e ..... 14 8 Differences between second bachelor's and main sample on selected variables ............... 153 Educational motivation groups satisfaction ratings of University services used at p r e - e n t r y ................................. 155 Educational motivation groups satisfaction ratings of University services used at p o s t - e n t r y ............................... 156 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Page Undergraduate adult enrollments since fall 1970 ..................................... 5 Educational motivation orientation mean r a t i n g s ....................................... 66 Differences in educational motivation orientations by the variable of s e x ......... 86 Differences in educational motivation orientations by the variable of a g e ......... 101 Differences in educational motivation orientation ratings of educational motivation groups ............................ 113 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY Background Many adults who delayed college, or left it, for commitments to work, to marriage and family, and to other "adult" responsibilities are now enrolling as undergrad­ uates later in life. During the past decade adult under­ graduate enrollments nationwide have increased from 750,000 in 1970 to 1,640,000 in 1977.1 The dramatic influx of older students in college promises to continue in the future. Because of rapid chan­ ges in life and work in our society, adults of necessity will seek more options in education throughout their lives. Moreover, because enrollments will decline in future if colleges and universities rely primarily upon recent high school graduates to fill their classrooms, numerous insti­ tutions are aggressively courting the older student. 1U. S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports: Population Characteristics, Series P-20, No. 521, "Social and Economic Characteristics of Students (Advance Report), October 1977" (U. S. Government Publishing Office, Washington, D. C., March 1978), p. 6. 1 Students older than average are having an inevit­ able impact on the system of higher education. Even so, the institutional response to their presence on campus has been uneven. According to Schlaver,^ "Colleges on the junior and senior level are by and large already coming to grips with the older student, but universities have, for many good reasons, been slower to respond." In spite of previous responses, all post-secondary institutions attracting older students should be critically assessing their posture toward them. are: Issues to consider Should recruitment policies and practices be changed to attract both a larger and more diversified adult con­ stituency? What unforseen consequences might result from further enlarging and diversifying the adult population? What subtle or blatant prejudices are institutionally directed against older students? to change these? And what should be done What resources of the institution can or should be expended especially for adults? academic and service needs do adults have? What special And which of these should the institution attempt to satisfy? What special form should the education provided adults take? What adjustments in curriculum, scheduling, degree 1David Edward Schlaver, The Uncommon School. The Adult Learner in the University (Bethesda, M d . : ERIC Doc­ ument Reproduction Service, ED 145 755, 1977), p. i. requirements, evaluation and th,e like should be considered? What institutional policies and practices related to ad­ missions, registration, should be re-evaluated? student life, and student services For every institution, the resolution of these and many other similar issues related to adult students is a challenge. Statement of the Problem In 1973 in The Lifelong University! A Report to the President, Michigan State University affirmed its commitment to lifelong education. An increasingly heter­ ogeneous non-traditional audience called for an assessment of the University's role and responsibility to it.^ Thus the University found that it had a continuing need for comprehensive information about its various non-traditional students. Information about such things as demographic characteristics, needs, educational motivations, and use of student services could be used to develop and revise programs and services of importance to adults. For a number of years, Michigan State University has attracted sizeable numbers of older undergraduates. The enrollment of these particular students increased substantially this past decade, growing from 1,595 in 1970 ^Michigan State University, Task Force on Lifelong Education, The Lifelong University. A Report to the President (East Lansing: Michigan State University, T5’73T, pp. 24-25. to 2354 in 1979.^ Especially strong has been the enrollment of undergraduates 30 years old and over. This subgroup grew from 429 (26.9% of all adult students 25 years old and over) in 1970 to 764 (32.5%) in 1979. Thus the University has been attracting more adult undergraduates as well as older ones. TABLE 1.1--Undergraduate adult enrollments since fall 1970 Year 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Total over age 25 ...... 1595 1928 2231 2001 2368 2420 2449 2481 2399 2354 Total age 30 or over.... 429 491 532 585 601 632 741 824 760 764 Percent of those age 30 or over.....26.9 25.5 23.9 29.3 25 .4 26.2 30.3 33.2 31.7 32 .5 As it now stands, the University has limited in­ formation about its "older" undergraduates. The Office of the Registrar collects information only on the extent of their enrollment and their distribution by sex, class level and college. Mildred Erickson's study of adult under­ graduates at Michigan State University provides a great Michigan State University, Office of Institutional Research, "Age Distribution of Headcount Enrollment, Bast Lansing Campus, Fall Term, 1968-1979"; Michigan State University, Office of the Registrar, "Student Age Distri­ bution," Reports for Fall 1970 through Fall 1979. 5 900 NUMBER >764 600 counts non-degree >19 YEAR FIGURE 1.1— Undergraduate adult enrollments since fall 1970 deal of general information about characteristics, needs, and motivations. However, this study is dated, an impor­ tant point because the adult population surveyed in 1966 was, on the whole, younger than that in 1979. Thus Erick­ son 1s findings tend to be more representative of adults un­ der age 30. Peggy Hine's more recent study looked at adult learner needs at the University, but her findings tend to be more representative of graduate level adults.1 In essence, extensive data on Michigan State University's "older" undergraduates' characteristics, needs, motivations, and use of University services are unavailable. Purposes This is a study of a group of "older" undergrad­ uates at the University, namely those at mid-life in their thirties and forties. The purposes of this research have been: 1. To identify and describe the nature of a mid-life undergraduate group on a major land grant campus by gathering information about their demographic characteristics, educational motivations, ex­ pressed pre-entry and post-entry academic and non-academic needs, and satisfaction in meeting those needs by using University services; M i l d r e d B. Erickson, "An Analysis of Selected Characteristics and Needs of Adult Undergraduate Students Attending Michigan State University Fall Term 1966," (Ph. D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1968); Peggy A. Hine, "A Typology of Expressed Needs of Adult Students Prior to Entry and Following Two Terms of Study at Michigan State University During the 1974-75 Academic Year," (Ph. D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1975). 7 2. To determine the extent to which the variables of sex, age, and major college impact on this group; 3. To determine the subdivision of this group by their educational motivations; and 4. To draw implications from the data for development or revision of' University services. Research Questions The research questions to be addressed in this study a r e : 1. What are the major demographic characteristics of the mid-life sample? 2. What are the major educational motivations of the mid-life sample? 3. What selected pre-entry and post-entry needs for academic and non-academic assistance did the sample express, and to what extent were these needs satisfied by using University services? 4. What significant relationships or differences .10 occurred in the data when examined by the inde­ pendent variables of sex, age, and college? 5. To what extent did the sample cluster according to educational motivations when examined by fac­ tor analysis? And in what ways did these educa­ tional motivation subgroups differ in their demographic characteristics, needs, and satisfac­ tion with University services used? Procedures An initial sample of 350 undergraduates ages 30 through 49 was chosen randomly from a roster provided by the Office of Institutional Research. This sample was mailed a questionnaire designed to gather information that could be analysed to answer the research questions posed. -8 It was stratified by age and sex, however the return rate could not be controlled to retain representativeness on these variables. Two hundred and seventeen questionnaires were returned and 207 were retained for analysis. Sampling, questionnaire design, and statistical procedures are dis­ cussed in Chapter III. Assumptions and Definitions It was assumed in this research: 1. That data gathered on demographic characteristics, needs, educational motivations, and use of stud­ ent services from a sample of adult undergrad­ uates could be reviewed to draw implications for the development or revision of University ser­ vices to better serve all adult students; 2. That mid-life occurs for adults generally be­ tween the ages of 30 and 49; 3. That mid-life undergraduates at this University are inherently different from mid-life graduates, and thus worthy of independent study; and 4. That mid-life undergraduates at this University are also inherently different from those under­ graduates both younger and older, and thus worthy of independent study. The following definitions were used: Mid-life Adults— Any adults thirty through fortynine years of age. Undergraduates— Any students enrolled full-time or part-time in any academic program leading to the bacca­ laureate degree. On-campus Students— Any students enrolled for classes on the main campus of the University. Students enrolled for credit in off-campus extension programs are excluded. University Services— Any of those service units or persons on campus designated to facilitate the entry, adjustment, and development of students. Pre-entry— That period when persons are considering whether to enter or re-enter the University, or after they have decided, but before they actually have begun classes. Post-entry— That period after persons have entered or re-entered the University and have begun classes. Educational Motivation Factor— A statement that purports to describe an insolated reason that might have influenced adult students to decide to pursue a bacca­ laureate degree at the University. Educational Motivation Orientation— A discrete clus­ tering of educational motivation factors that correlate strongly (.60 or above) when subjected to R-factor analysis. Each cluster describes an underlying reason that might have influenced adult students to decide to pursue a bacca­ laureate degree at the University. Educational Motivation Orientation Group— A discrete clustering of subjects using Q-factor analysis which groups individuals by similar educational motivation orientations. 10 Delimitations This study was delimited by the researcher in the following ways: First, this investigation was limited to a sample of undergraduates ages 30 through 49 who enrolled the first week of Winter Term 1979 on the East Lansing campus of Michigan State University. Second, the pre-entry and post-entry needs investigated were pre-determined and selected from many ascribed to adult students in other research. No attempt was made to determine the totality of needs this group might have. Third, the educational motivation factors investigated were pre-determined and selected from the many factors ascribed to adult students in other research. No attempt was also made to determine the totality of educational motivations this group might have had. Finally, the University services rated by this sample were pre-determined and selected from many that exist on campus. There was no attempt, however, to identify all University services potentially used by adult students. Limitations This study was limited in the following ways: First, although stratification by sex and age of the initial sample was attempted, it was necessary to make special efforts to include all potential subjects beyond age 44 in the final sample. Otherwise, this age cohort (those 44 to 49 years old accounted for only 6.3% of the popula­ tion) would have been too small to do any extensive 11 statistical computation and analysis. As it was, those in their forties were overrepresented. This may limit generalizations of findings to the population at the Univer­ sity and, statistically, results cannot be generalized to mid-life undergraduates at other comparable institutions. Second, the validity of educational motivation fac­ tors was limited by the students' recollection and knowledge of reasons that actually influenced their enrollment, and by their interpretation of item wording used in the ques­ tionnaire . Third, the students' needs, the validity of the needs was limited by recollection and knowledge of their actual their understanding of the definition of pre-entry and post-entry, and their interpretation of item wording used in the questionnaire. Finally, a limited number of needs and University services were surveyed. This limits generalizations about the needs of mid-life undergraduates at the University and about their use of and satisfaction with the totality of University services. Significance of Study This study was considered important for the following reasons: First, this investigation of adult learners is timely. Undergraduates at the University have not been surveyed since 1966. Additionally, the focus is on adults 12 in their thirties and forties, an identifiable subgroup whose enrollment as undergraduates has increased sub­ stantially in recent years. Moreover, investigators in the social sciences and education are becoming increas­ ingly concerned about research on the main adult years. This has been a period of neglect until recently, as researchers tended to concentrate their studies on early adulthood or the period of aging. But as the post-war baby boom generation swells the ranks of the middle years in America, this age period becomes more important. Second, this investigation varied methodologically in its sampling. In previous research, the variables of age and class level were not controlled for. Therefore, these studies tended to generalize toward students from age 25 to 30, or those in graduate school. "older" undergraduates age 30 and above. This neglected The approach employed in this study allowed for gathering comprehensive and exclusive information on older, non-graduate students. Third, this investigation applied factor analysis to educational motivations of older students in a tradi­ tional degree program. Although other studies have ex­ plored the educational motivations of adult college students, these were limited principally to checklists. None determined the range and strength of educational motivations by using factor analysis with older students enrolled in regular undergraduate programs. 13 Fourth, this investigation further applied factor analysis to identify subgroups according to similar pat­ terns of educational motivations. This has been attempted somewhat with students in non-traditional programs, but not with those in traditional ones. No one has ever attempted to determine whether older students at this University can be subgrouped by their educational moti­ vations . Fifth, this study attempted to refine previous research that identified career motivations of adult learners. Career motivation typically has been a catchall for such aspects of career interest as improvement, change, entry, and re-entry. These were specified as separate and distinct career orientation subgroupings to better identify the range, variety, and subtlety of career motivations influencing older adult undergraduates. Finally, this study has the potential of yield­ ing comprehensive information on a group seldom studied. Moreover, this information should be useful to the Univer­ sity. For example, demographic data should identify the type of older student now attracted to undergraduate programs, with implications for future recruitment and retention. That on motivations should have implications for the assessment of undergraduate academic programming and advising. That on needs and satisfaction with Univer­ sity services should assess the quantity and quality of 14 one adult group’s involvement with these, with implications for future development and revision of service efforts on behalf of adult learners at the University. Summary and Overview Chapter I introduced the topic of the study, the mid-life undergraduate at Michigan State University. Re­ cent enrollment trends of older students were briefly reviewed and the importance of studying the mid-life group independently was discussed. The framework of the study was outlined and the major research questions previewed and summarized. A review of research about adult college students, with emphasis on studies of characteristics, needs and services, and educational motivations will be presented in Chapter II. Chapter III will be devoted to a descrip­ tion of the sample, data collection and analysis proced­ ures, and the general design of the study. Chapter IV will report the resultant data to answer the research questions posed previously. Finally, a summary of the findings, implications for the University, and recommen­ dations for further research will be presented in Chap­ ter V. CHAPTER II THE ADULT COLLEGE STUDENT: A LITERATURE AND RESEARCH REVIEW Introduction The adult student has been a popular subject of research and writing these past two decades. Many articles, monographs, and books, have focused on the adult learner. More than 60 dissertations completed since 1960 have studied "adult," ''older,” "mature," and "non-traditional" college students. More than 150 documents in ERIC have involved the adult college student. A drawback in reviewing the adult student liter­ ature and research was the inconsistency in defining adult­ hood by age. Sometimes adults were defined as anybody over age 21? other times as anybody over age 25 or 26. "Older" adult was defined variously as those over age 25, over age 30, over age 35, over age 55, and over age 59. These inconsistencies confound attempts to generalize about adult students from the literature and research. When writing about adult students, authors have addressed such current topics as: 1) the trend for par­ ticipation in higher education to spread out along the 15 16 adult life span;1 2} the issue of how post-secondary institutions will respond to older students on campus;* 3) the issue whether adults require services or programs different from those provided traditional students;3 4) the issue whether university policies, or attitudes of faculty and other staff, are prejudiced against nontraditional students;4 and 5) the hope that educators will re-examine assumptions and misconceptions about the homogeneity of adult students. In research studies, investigators have commonly sought to identify and describe adult students’ character­ istics and needs. Recently, they have increasingly been For example, J. E. Burkett, "Higher Education's Growing Edge," Educational Record 58 (Summer 1977): 259-269; Dyckman Vermilye, ed., Lifelong Learners; A New Clientele for Higher Education (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Pub., 1974). 2For example, American Council .on Education: Com­ mittee on Adult Higher Education, Education and the Adult Student. Special Report (Washington, D. C.: American Council on Education, 1972); Donald G. Trites, ed., "Planning for the Future of the Undergraduate College," New Direc­ tions for Higher Education (Spring 1975). ^For example, Janet S. Hansen, "Adults and Higher Education," Occasional Paper No. 5, Claremont, California: Claremont Institute for Administrative Studies, 197 6. 4For example, David E. Schlaver, The Uncommon School: The Adult Learner in the University (Bethesda, M d .: ERIC Document Reproduction Service, ED 145 755, 1977). 5For example, Russell Edgerton, "Education, Work and FIPSE," in Dyckman Vermilye, ed., Relating Work and Education (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass P u b ., r977y, p7 116. 17 assessing the utilization of university services by adult students: Less frequently studied topics have been: reading strategies, self-images, cognitive styles, pre­ ferred teaching methods, perceptions, attitudes, values, aspirations, orientations, motivations, academic adjustment, academic achievement, and faculty attitudes toward older students. Studies have frequently been limited to adult sub­ groups. Commonly, women have had their characteristics, unique needs, service requirements, reasons for returning to college, attitudes, satisfaction with the collegiate environment, and developmental tasks examined. Males, on the other hand, have received little attention, except for Schlossberg's study in the mid-sixties.* Other sub­ groups studied particularly have been graduate students, part-time students, veterans, commuters, persisters and dropouts, and the physically handicapped. Some studies have examined between group differences, such as traditional aged students versus older ones, and traditional day students versus external degree program ones. Few studies have attempted to determine whether older college students, as a group, are homogeneous across the life cycle. *Nancy K. Schlossberg, Men In Transition: A Study of Adult Male Undergraduates at Wayne State University (Bethesda, Md.: ERIC Document Reproduction Service, ED 010 690, 1967). 18 A majority of research studies have been conducted at community colleges. Most other ones were conducted at four year private or public institutions. Only a few studied adults in special programs for adults. The major focus of this review will be those studies that appeared relevant to this study. Therefore, research about adult college students' characteristics,needs and student services use, and educational motivations, with special attention to undergraduates in regular academic programs, will be examined. Characteristics National data about adult college students were found readily in annual Census Bureau reports.1 However, because of differences in data classification, valid comparisons with adult students at Michigan State University would be strained. The national data were limited traditionally students ages 14 to 34 years old until 1972. now reports on those 35 years old and over. to The Census Young, sum­ marizing several outstanding characteristics of the over-35 student, indicated that slightly more women than males enrolled in college, most were enrolled part-time, a ^U. S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports; Population Characteristics, S e r i e s P - 2 o (U. S. Govt. Printing Office, Washington, D. C . ) . 19 large majority were in the labor force or looking for work, and nearly three-quarters were married.1 Some recent demographic trends identified by the Census Bureau are: adult college student part-time enroll­ ment has increased, more women over age 22 have enrolled, and enrollment of those 25 to 34 years old has increased.2 Data compiled regularly since 1967 at Michigan State University show that increasing numbers of older students have been enrolling, that they enroll most often in the College of Social Science, and that the number of female students increases with age. Some documentation of adult student characteristics at various institutions is available from ERIC. For example, 1Anne M. Young, "Going Back to School at 35," Monthly Labor Review (October 1973): 39-41. 2U. S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Characteristics, Series P-20,, No. 321, "Social and Econ­ omic Characteristics of Students (Advance Report), Octo­ ber 1977" (U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C . , March 1978), p. 6. Michigan State University, Office of the Regis­ trar, "Student Age Distribution," Reports for Fall 1970 through Fall 1979. 20 Laurie surveyed students over 25 years old at the Un­ iversity of North Carolina at Charlotte; De Wolf and Lunneborg profiled over-35 undergraduates at the University of Washington; and Lenning and Hanson studied males and females of various ages at a community college.^ Several dissertations completed since 1965 have described and analysed various adult college student groups. For example, Erickson described personal, family, ed­ ucational and vocational characteristics of over-26 undergraduates at Michigan State University; Barney examined sex differences of undergraduates ages 24 and older at the University of Oklahoma; Baker surveyed mature women undergraduates at three public universities in Florida to analyse characteristics of three age cohorts: 25 to 34 years, 35 to 44 years, and 45 plus years; Williams investigated a mixed group- of undergraduates and above) (ages 25 and graduates (ages 35 and above); and Tauscher ^■Joan Laurie, Needs and Social Characteristics of the Re-entered Student~TBethesda, M d .: ERIC Document Reproduction Service, ED 160 909, 1977); V. De Wolf and P. W. Lunneborg, Descriptive Information on Over-35 Under­ graduate Students (Bethesda, Md.: ERIC Document Reproduction Service, ED 072 745, 1972); O. T. Lenning and G. R. Hanson, Differences in Characteristics and Outlooks of Men and Women College Students at Various Age Levels (Bethesda, Md.: ERIC Document Reproduction Service, ED 078 840, 1973). 21 compared the characteristics of older undergraduates with younger ones at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.^ Commonly/ these studies have had the purpose of drawing attention to the presence of adults on particular campuses. Usually sought was information on age, sex, marital status, dependents, income, employment, education, and level of enrollment. Generally, adult college students have tended to be married, to have children, to be employed, to have attended more than one institution {especially a community college), to be enrolled part-time, to have been' out of school an extensive time, and to have used personal or family funds for financing college. Females more than males tended to be older and attending part-time, while males more often tended to be employed. Older adults more than younger ones tended to be married, to have more Mildred B. Erickson, "An Analysis of Selected Characteristics and Needs of Adult Undergraduate Students Attending Michigan State University Fall Term 1966," (Ph. D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1968); Anna Sue Barney, "Characteristics and Educational Needs of Adult Undergraduate Students at the University of Oklahoma," (Ph. D. dissertation. University of Oklahoma, 1972); Louise D* Baker, "Characteristics, Needs, Motivations, and Per­ ceptions of Mature Women Undergraduate Students in Three Public Four-Year Universities in Florida," {Ph. D. disser­ tation, Florida State University, 1977); Ellen U. Williams, "Non-traditional Aged Students: Characteristics and Needs of Adults Enrolled in the University," (Ph. D. dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 1977); Mary R. Tauscher, "A Comparative Study of Selected Characteristics and Per­ ceived Needs, Interests and Goals of Older and Younger Students Enrolled in Undergraduate Degree Programs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee," (Ph. D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1977) . 22 education# and to have had better jobs or more work experience. Such generalizations are limited, however, because of wide variance in the age, sex, and level of enrollment of the subjects of these studies. Needs and Services Before 1965 college students. few wrote about the needs of adult Ferguson was one of the first to point out that older students may bring backgrounds, experiences, and needs into the college environment different from those of younger students.^- Lately studies of adult needs have proliferated. Several authors have suggested that older students have needs requiring new kinds of student services. Bryant, who surveyed administrative and faculty attitudes toward older undergraduates at three Texas universities, concluded that while they agreed that the needs of older students differ from younger ones, they disagreed on how universities should prepare to handle these differences.2 Studies of the needs of adult women have prolif­ erated. For example, Kelman and Staley researched women ^M. A. Ferguson, "Adult Students in an Undergrad­ uate University," Journal of College Student Personnel 7 (1966): 345-348. 2Barbara Jean Bryant, "The Effect of Faculty and Administrative Attitudes Towards Students Over Twenty-five Years of Age on the Policies and Programs of Selected Universities in Texas," (Ph. D. dissertation, Texas A. and M. University, 1977), abstract. 23 ages 21 to 57 at Colorado State University; Hunt married women at Lansing Community College (Michigan); and Es- persson mature women returning to a liberal arts college for adults.1 Again, men have been neglected in studies of needs. The investigation of the needs of adult students has been approached from multiple perspectives. Richards examined women's psychological and practical needs upon re-entry to a community college; Mahone compared mature and traditional aged women at a major land grant university to determine differences in self-perceived support needs; Baker examined whether women felt that the universities in her Florida study were being responsive to the needs of mature women; Skelhorne investigated the facilities and services at the University of Toronto to determine how well the institution was meeting the needs of its mature full­ time undergraduate women; Kasworm compared traditional and older students at the University of Georgia to look at intellectual and social-emotional factors and perceived E u g e n i a Kelman and Bonnie Staley, The Returning Women Student: Needs of an Important Minority Group on College Campuses (BetKeBcta, M a . : ERIC Document Repro3uction Service, ED 103 747, 1975); Beverly Hunt, "Character­ istics, Perceptions and Experiences of Married Women Stud­ ents at Lansing Community College," (Ph. D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1965); Margaretha Anna Espersson, "The Mature Women Student Returning to Higher Education in a Liberal Arts College for Adults," (Ph. D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1975). 24 need for, usage of, and satisfaction with academic support services; Erickson attempted to identify needs of over-25 undergraduates at Michigan State University; and Hine studied over-25 graduates and undergraduates at Michigan State University to determine whether their needs altered over time from pre-entry to two terms later.^ Among the many needs ascribed to adult students, none have been established as clearly unique to adult college students. The following, however, were consis­ tently reported as important to them: Pre-admission support and initial registration orientationi The Task Force on Lifelong Education at Michigan State University recommended that adult students be provided a separate orientation program to attempt G i l l i a n S. Richards, "Women's Perception of their Psychological and Practical Needs Upon Re-entry to a Community College: Implications for Restructuring the Learning Environment," (Ed. D. practicum. Nova Univer­ sity, 1976); Denise Felica Mahone, "An Assessment of Supportive Needs of Mature and Traditional Aged Women Students at The Ohio State University,” (Ph. D. disserta­ tion, The Ohio State University, 1977) ; Baker, "Mature Women Undergraduates in Florida” ; Jean M. Skelhorne, The Adult Learner in the University: Does Anybody Care? (Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Department of Adult Education, 197 5); Carol Edith Kasworm, "Undergraduate Support Services at the University of Georgia: A Comparison of the Needs of the Older and Younger Student," (Ed. D. dissertation, University of Georgia, 1977); Erickson, "Undergraduates at M S U " ; Peggy Hine, "A Typology of Expressed Needs of Adult Students Prior to Entry and Following Two Terms of Study at Mich­ igan State University During the 1974-75 Academic Year," (Ph. D. dissertation, Michigan State University, 1975). 25 to acclimate and inform them of the full range of university programs and activities.^* Research studies indicate that adult students need special assistance to decide to enter the university and to get started properly once admitted. Erickson concluded that adult undergraduates at Michigan State University needed pre-admission academic counseling and advisement.2 Kasworm found that adult students at the University of Georgia have unique questions and issues that warrant special orientation before registration.3 Academic advisement; The adult student appears to consider academic advisement of prime importance, although Kasworm showed that this need was significant for both younger and older students. academic advisors Kasworm concluded that can be crucial links between individuals and institutions,because they provide the majority of counseling and advising to older students.4 Geisler and M i c h i g a n State University, Task Force on Lifelong Education, The Lifelong University. Report to the President (East Lansing; Michigan State University, 1973), pp. 19-20. 9 Mildred B. Erickson, Counseling Needs of Adult Students (Bethesda, Md.: ERIC Document Reproduction Service, ED 039 569, 1970),pp. 4-5. 3Carol E. Kasworm, "Student Personnel Professionals as Continuing Educators," unpublished text of speech pre­ sented at the American College Personnel Association Con­ ference, Detroit, Michigan, March 1978, p. 7. 4Ibid. 26 Thrush found that returning women students used advisors more than they did specialized services established for guidance and counseling.1 Career and placement assistance: Kasworm found that older students had a need for greater access to, and showed greater use of, career/vocational and job placement service than younger students.^ Stewart, referring to university extension students in credit programs, concluded that those 20 to 34 years of age needed assistance with career planning and more information on careers than those 35 years of age and above.^ Several other studies found a high interest in career planning and placement. Mahone concluded that more mature women students than traditional aged ones 1} were not satisfied with their present career choice, 2) were interested in obtaining vocational and career counseling, and 3) needed assistance locating voca­ tional and career counseling service.4 1M. P. Geisler and R. S. Thrush, "Counseling Ex­ periences and Needs of Older Women Students,” Journal of the National Association for Women D e a n s , Administrators and Counselors 39 (1975): 3-8. 2 Kasworm, "Student Personnel Professionals," p. 8. ^John Clarence Stewart, "The Urgency of Need for Counseling Services of University Extension Adult Students," (Ph. D. dissertation, Arizona State University, 1976), abstract. ^Mahone, "Women Students at The Ohio State Univer­ sity," abstract. Financial a i d ; Obtaining financial aid has been difficult traditionally for older students, especially those who attend part-time or are women.1 Erickson found a strong interest among adult undergraduates for gaining 2 scholarships and financial aid. Mahone found that mature women, especially those part-time, should be provided 3 greater access to financial assistance. Other important needs frequently mentioned in the studies reviewed were: Child care assistance: This was especially pre­ valent in studies of women. Geisler and Thrush found that a quarter of the women in their study could not have 4 returned to college without dependable day care. Flexible scheduling: Especially needed was con­ venient class time and advising appointments for those who work or have family responsibilities. ■^Joseph A. Califano, Jr., and Mary F. Berry, Life­ long Learning and Public Policy: A Report Prepared by the Lifelong Learning Project, February 1978"(U. S. Govt. Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1973), pp. 41-47. ^Erickson, "Counseling Needs," p. 4. ^Mahone, "Women Students at The Ohio State Univer­ sity ," abstract. 4 Geisler and Thrush, "Needs of Older Women Students, pp. 3-8. 28 Skill development; Important was assistance with reading, studying, and library skill development. An adult center or contact; This included the need for staff designated as the adult contact on campus and academic programs, student services, and special facilities organized for adults only. Information; This included the need to be receiving the same information received by traditional students. Sensitivity; This included understanding and con­ sideration of the adult's special circumstances, espec­ ially from faculty and university personnel. Needs cited less frequently, but not necessarily less important, were: 1) personal counseling, credit for life and work experience, 2) academic 3) elimination of some academic requirements such as physical education, 4) extra time, and 5) convenient on-campus parking. Finally, specific to Michigan State University, Erickson identified these major needs: 1) pre-admission academic counseling and advisement, counseling and advising, 2) continuous academic 3) an adult center, 4) scholarships and financial aid, 5) advisement and possibly registration by telephone, 6) special assistance with University pro­ cedures, 7) more information in catalogs and schedule books, and 8) opportunity for a testing program.1 Hine E r i c k s o n , "Undergraduates at MSU," p. 152; Erickson, "Counseling Needs," p. 4. 29 identified no new needs among both graduate and under­ graduate students in a later study, but she did conclude that those previously identified were still not being met by the University.1 Educational Motivations Since 196 0 educational motivation research has flourished. Much recent work has stemmed from Houle's three-factor typology based on interviews with 22 contin­ uing education students. Houle characterized adult par­ ticipants in continuing education as goal oriented— using education to achieve clear objectives; activity oriented-- using education for reasons divorced from the academic content; and learning oriented— using education to seek 2 knowledge for its own sake. Subsequent studies, such as <3 the national survey of Johnstone and Rivera, identified numerous educational motivations using short checklists. More typically now, researchers have been identifying these motivations using factor analysis. ^ine, "Typology of Needs," p. 128. 2Cyril Houle, The Inquiring Mind sity of Wisconsin Press, 1961). (Madison: Univer­ 3J. W. C. Johnstone and R. J. Rivera, Volunteers for Learning (Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co., 1965). 30 Much of the early research using factor analysis had the purpose of examining Houle's typology to refine or expand it. Meaningful factors obtained by researchers ranged from 3 to 8. For example, Sheffield surveyed adults at continuing education conferences, using 58 reasons adults say they participated in educational activities. He postulated five orientations: 1) learning— seeking knowledge for its own sake; 2) desire-activity— finding interpersonal or social meaning divorced from academic content; 3) personal-goal— accomplishing fairly clear-cut personal objectives; 4) societal-goal— accom­ plishing clear-cut social or community objectives; and 5) need-activity— gaining introspective or intrapersonal meaning divorced from academic content.^- Burgess pos­ tulated seven orientations: 1) desire to know, 2) desire to reach a personal goal, 3) desire to reach a social goal, 4) desire to reach a religious goal, 5) desire to escape, 6) desire to participate in activities, and 7) desire to comply with formal requirements.^ Boshier, 1S. B. Sheffield, "The Orientation of Adult Continuing Learners," (Ph. D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1962). 2 Paul Burgess, "Educational Orientations of Adult Participants in Group Educational Activities," (Ph. D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1971). 31 applying Houle's typology to New Zealand adults, concluded that adult educational participation results from motives more complex than identified by Houle. However, Boshier later claimed that no researcher has clearly accepted or refuted Houle's classical typology.1 Researchers using factor analysis have developed several instruments. Three with claimed psychometric properties have been used most often: Boshier's Educa­ tional Participation Scale (EPS), Burgess's Reasons for Educational Participation Scale, and Sheffield's Continuing Learning Orientation Index. Boshier*s EPS contains factors which, according to him, seem to remain stable over time and space. Welfare, These he calls: 1) Escape/Stimulation, 2) Social 3) Social Contact, 4) Professional Advancement, 9 5) Cognitive Interest, and 6) External Expectations. Although using factor analysis has proven useful in identifying and explaining adults' complex educational motivations, it also has its limits. Boshier has cautioned 1Roger Boshier, "Motivational Orientation of Adult Education Participants: A Factor Analytic Exploration of Houle's Typology," Adult Education 21 (1971): 3-26; Roger Boshier, "Factor Analysts at Large: A Critical Review of the Motivational Orientation Literature," Adult Education 27 (1976): 41-43. 2Boshier, "Factor Analysts at Large," p. 25; Roger Boshier and Gail Riddell, "Education Participation Scale Factor Structure for Older Adults," Adult Education 28 (1978): 165. 1) that divergent orientation types can stem from the use of different criteria for generating factor matrices and factor scores, such as factor scoring, item content, scaling, and reliability of instrument; 2) that since factor analysis output, a function of input, simply reveals structure in a correlation matrix, these factors are tentative and should not be attributed to reality; and 3) that clusters can occur even when few people checked the items, so that factor scoring is required to indicate the extent to which an orientation is related to educa­ tional participation.^In essence, according to Cross and Zusman, all adult educational motivation research points to 6 basic motivations: First, is the desire to achieve practical personal goals, such as getting a new job, advancing in a current one, or improving socio-economic status. Second, is the desire to achieve personal satisfaction and attain other inner-directed personal goals, such as self-development and family well-being. Third, is the desire to gain new knowledge, including the desire to learn for its own sake. Fourth, is the desire to achieve formal educational goals, such as obtaining degrees, certificates, and licenses. boshier, Fifth, is the desire to "Factor Analysts at Large," pp. 24-47. 33 socialize with others or escape from everyday routine. Sixth, is the desire to achieve societal goals, such as contributing to the betterment of the community.^ Among those motivations influencing adult educa­ tional participation, one of the strongest is the desire to fulfill career objectives. For example, Ferguson found that one-half her subjects listed work improvement as the chief reason for resuming a college education. Hiltunen concluded that work related reasons predominated in a group of adult freshmen, but also noted that males focused more exclusively on occupational motivation while females combined intellectual and occupational motives.3 Even though career and vocational orientations are strong, Parelius contends that educators attach overly great importance to vocationalism. She notes that all motiva­ tional studies employing factor analysis have pointed to equally important non-vocational motivations.4 ^K. Patricia Cross and Ami Zusman, The Needs of Non-traditional Learners and the Responses o f N o n - t r a ­ ditional Proqraiui (Be the sd a , Mcl.: ERIC Document Reproduction Service, ED 150 900, 1977), pp. 77-78. 2Ferguson, "Adult Students," pp. 345-348. 3W. A. Hiltunen, "Adults as College Freshmen," Journal of College Personnel 6 (1965): 208-211. ^Anne P. Parelius, "Age Inequality in Educational Opportunity: The Needs of Adult Students in Higher Ed­ ucation," Adult Education 29 (1979): 182-183. 34 The first factor analysis research categorized and described reasons adults participate in educational activities. Not examined was how different groups of adults compare on motivational dimensions. other kinds of studies, Although such as Johnstone and Rivera and Carp, Peterson and Roelfs,1 reported on group differ­ ences b y sex, age and socio-economic status, they employed checklists of reasons that tended to limit statistical correlation of important interrelationships. Recently some researchers linked motivations with socio-economic factors by factor analysis. identified Grabowski the existence and nature of motivations of adults enrolled in a self-study bachelor's degree program. He found seven motivational clusters: 1) the desire to know, 2) the desire to reach a personal goal, desire to take part in social activities, to reach a social goal, desire to study alone, security. 3) the 4} the desire 5) the desire to escape, 6} the and 7) the desire for intellectual He related these to characteristics such as sex, age, marital status, level of income, kind of e m ­ ployment, and previous college experience. He reported that men and women differed, with women showing a greater tendency than men to enroll because of the desire to know ^■Johnstone and Rivera, Volunteers for L e a rning; A. Carp, R. Petersen, and P. Roe l f s , Adult Learning Interests and Experiences," in Planning Non-traditional Pr o g r a m s , edited by K. Patricia Cross, John Valley and Associates (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Pub., 1974), pp.41-52. 35 and the desire to study alone. Age groups differed, with younger respondents having a tendency to enroll for the desire to reach a personal goal.1 Boshier, on the other hand, attempted to explain learner motivations by describing psychological concomitants and antecedents of life-space and life-chance motivation. He proposed a deficiency/growth model that explains some of the psy­ chological foundations of adult learner motivations. He confirmed that important variables such as age and socio­ economic status can be related to expressed educational motivation orientations. Morstain and Smart challenged typical methods of constructing groups a priori by demographic variables and then asking whether these groups differed in their educational motivations. They restructured their research to ask the new question: Can adult learner groups be identified on the basis of having generally similar motivational profiles? If so, do these motivational groups have distinguishing demographic features? ■^Stanley M. Grabowski, "Motivational Factors of Adult Learners in a Directed Self-study Bachelor's Degree Program," (Ph. D. dissertation, Syracuse University, 1972), abstract. 2Roger Boshier, "Motivational Orientations Re­ visited: Lifespace Motivation and the Educational Partic­ ipation Scale," Adult Education 27 (1977): 89-115. 36 Morstain and Smart, sampling students enrolled for part-time credit work in evening classes, statistically derived 5 learner groups: 1) Non-directed— having no compelling motivation or no specific goals or purposes; 2) Social— having interest in social interaction or personal association; 3) Stimulation Seeking— having interest in escaping from routine or involving themselves in stim­ ulating activities; 4) Career Oriented— having interest in fulfilling job related needs; and 5) Life Change Oriented--having interest in improving several personal aspects of their lives. They found that males more than females were career oriented and life change oriented, and females more non-directed and social oriented.^ Among the many studies of educational motivations, few have examined the adult in regular college programs. All typologies and motivational factors have been developed from research with adults in evening colleges, conferences, extension programs, external degree programs, and other kinds of continuing' education. Various student typologies and subcultures have been proposed for traditional aged ^■Barry R. Morstain and John C. Smart, "Reasons for Participation in Adult Education Courses: A Multivariate Analysis of Group Differences," Adult Education 24 (1974): 83-98; Barry R. Morstain and John C. S m art, "A Motivational Typology of Adult Learners," Journal of Higher Education 48 (November/December 1977): 668-6 75. 37 students,^ but not for adults in traditional graduate or undergraduate programs. This does not mean that the educational motivations of adult college students have been ignored. On the con­ trary, many researchers have examined motivations. Schlossberg studied undergraduate males and produced a rank order of motivators and deterrents that affected their decisions to return to college. or deterrents— predominated.2 Job factors— as motivators Erickson used a checklist to rank order reasons undergraduate adults expressed for deciding to enter or re-enter Michigan State University. She concluded that males were slightly more utilitarian, whereas females placed greater emphasis on intellectual stimulation.3 Durchholz and O'Connor determined what was going on in the lives of over-25 female undergraduates that prompted them to become students. They found that life situations— death of a spouse, a divorce, financial V o r example, B. Clark and M. Trow, "The Organ­ izational Context," College Peer Groups; Problems and Prospects for Research, edited by T . Newcomb ancT c . K . Wilson (Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co., 1966), pp. 17-70? T. M. Newcomb, et al., Persistence and Change; Bennington College and Its Students After Twenty-four Years (New York: Wiley Publishing C o ., 1967)". 2 Nancy K. Schlossberg, "Adult Men: Education or Re-education," Vocational Guidance Quarterly 19 (September 1970): 36-39. 3Erickson, "Undergraduates at MSU," p. 169. 38 problems, and identity crises— were important motivating forces in these students' lives.1 Rawlins found that mature women students were more likely than traditional ones to be preparing for future jobs or self-enrichment. 2 Mathews, studying the relationship between educational goals orientation and selected status characteristics, a priori established these goals as predominantly work or knowledge oriented, or a combination of both. She found the only relationship was between work orientation and work status.3 Importantly, none of these studies employed factor analysis. Moreover, none were found that used factor analysis to examine adult undergraduates1 educa­ tional motivations. Summary Chapter III has selectively reviewed the research and writing about adult college students, especially with reference to characteristics, needs and services, and ipat Durchholz and Janet O'Connor, "Why Women Go Back to College," Change 5 (October 1973): 52, 62. 2Melanie E. Rawlins, "The Needs Identified by Over-Thirty Undergraduate Students Concerning their Ex­ periences of Returning to College," (Ph. D. dissertation, University of Nebraska, 1977), abstract. ^Marion Ellen Mathews, "Educational Goals Orienta­ tions Related to Selected Status Characteristics of Adult Students at Wichita State University," (Ph. D. disserta­ tion, The American University, 1976), abstract. 39 educational motivations. It was found that the charac­ teristics of many adult students have been surveyed, but generalizations are tenuous because of variance in age, sex, level of enrollment, and institutional setting. Research related to needs and services confirmed the importance of pre-admission and initial registration support, for continuous academic advising, assistance, and for financial aid. for career These and other ex­ pressed needs of adult students may vary according to sex and age differences, but the research is inconclusive. Research related to educational motivations confirmed that although adult learner motivations are complex, about six basic motivations are identifiable. These motivations can be related to socio-economic and psy­ chological variables. Although the educational motivation research has been extensive, the examination of the ed­ ucational motivations of older students in traditional undergraduate programs has been neglected. CHAPTER III DESIGN OF THE STUDY Introduction A principal purpose of this study was to identify and describe a sample of mid-life undergraduates' demo­ graphic characteristics, educational motivations, self­ expressed pre-entry and post-entry academic and non-aca­ demic needs, and satisfaction in meeting those needs by using University services. Other purposes were to deter­ mine the extent to which the variables of sex, age, and college impacted on this group, and the extent to which the group could be subdivided by their educational moti­ vations. A final purpose was to draw implications from the data for development or revision of University services. Consequently, the following data collection and analysis procedures were implemented. Data Collection Procedures After considering other alternatives, the inves­ tigator decided to conduct a questionnaire survey, the method considered most effective for gathering data com­ prehensively and analysing it statistically. 40 41 Questionnaire design;^ To address the purposes of the study and to answer the research questions posed in Chapter I, The Adult Student Survey Questionnaire was constructed. Items were formulated as follows: 1) Demographic Variables: Eighteen questions were designed to determine demographic characteristics according to the variables of age, sex, residency, academic background, socio-economic status, and financial status. Academic background consisted of class level, credit load, previous college attendance, age of first enrollment in college, and period stopped attending college. Socio­ economic status consisted of marital status, number and kind of financial dependents, occupations, and hours worked in regular and temporary jobs, at home, or as volunteers. Financial status consisted of annual cost and pay foregone to attend college, and number and kind of financial support sources used to attend college. Residency consisted of location of residence and distance commuted to classes one way daily. 2) Educational Motivation Variables: A special scale to measure educational motivations was developed. ^References consulted were: Donald Corlich, Design­ ing Sensible Surveys (Pleasantville, New York: Redgrave Publishing Co., 1978); Steven Isaac, in collaboration with William B. Michael, Handbook in Research and Evaluation: A Collection of Principles, MetHods, and Strategies Useful Tn the Planning, Design, and Evaluation of Studies in Education And the Behavioral Sciences (San Diego: Edits P u B s ., 1978). 42 It consisted of 35 items. Some duplicated, or were adap­ tations of, items used in previous research. Others were constructed using suggestions from educators working currently with adults at Michigan State University. The final scale had the drawback of not being tested and retested for reliability, although a group of students did examine it for clarity. It had the advantage of being tailored for this University and refined empirically by analysing raw data obtained from the questionnaire. The scale was constructed so that respondents circled a numerical rating from 5 to 0, with 5 representing "very strong influence," 4 "strong influence," 3 "moderate influence," 2 "weak influence," 1 "very weak influence," and 0 "no influence." The directions requested that no items be left blank, and any questionnaires returned with more than 3 items left blank were discarded. 3) Pre-entry Needs and Services Variables: The investigator chose these six pre-entry needs for inclusion in the questionnaire: 1) choosing and planning a program of study, 2) choosing and making career plans, 3) assessing interests and aptitudes, 4) obtaining financial support, 5) updating reading and other learning skills, and 6) de­ ciding which college to attend. Eight University services were chosen: 1} a faculty or staff member in a college or department, 2) the Office of the Assistant Dean for 43 Lifelong Education,1 3) Adult Counseling and Testing Ser­ vice, 4) Office of Admissions and Scholarships, 5) Career Resources Center, 6) Office of Financial Aids, 7) Evening College/Learning Resources Center Adult Learning Skills Course, and 8) Off-campus Extension and Continuing Ed­ ucation offices. University services were appropriately matched with the several pre-entry needs chosen. Respon­ dents were requested to indicate that they 1) had no need, 2) had the need but received no assistance from the University, and 3) had the need and received assistance from the University. Additionally, those who said they had a need and received assistance from the University were asked to rate the University services used by them. The satisfaction scale was a rating from 0 (not at all satisfied) to 5 (extremely well satisfied). 4) Post-entry Needs and Services Variables: The investigator chose these six post-entry needs for inclusion in the questionnaire: 1) choosing and planning a program of study, 2) exploring career options or making career plans, 3) working out personal or social problems, 4) obtaining financial support, 5) updating reading or other learning skills, and 6) finding out where to go for ^Dr. Mildred B. Erickson's name was listed with this service because of her long association with adult students prior to being designated Assistant Dean. Students were assumed to know her and not the office. 44 service on campus. Ten University services were chosen: 1) academic advisors, 2) other faculty or staff members in a college or department, 3) the Office of the Assistant Dean for Lifelong Education, 4) the Counseling Center, 5) Career Resources Center, 6) Placement Services, 7) Office of Financial Aids, 8) Student Employment Service, 9) Learn­ ing Resources Center, and 10) Women's Resource Center. The procedure for matching these services with post-entry needs and rating their use and satisfaction was the same as described above for pre-entry needs. Questionnaire evaluation: An initial questionnaire was critiqued by several faculty and staff persons at the University, as well as by the investigator's doctoral committee. After modification, a preliminary questionnaire was administered to a sample of six graduate students in adult education at the University, and to two over-30 employees who had recently completed their baccalaureate degrees. These persons completed the questionnaire, evaluated it for clarity, comprehensiveness, relevance of items, and ease of completion. Their comments were in­ corporated in the final questionnaire. Sample selection and questionnaire administration: In mid-January 1979 the Office of Institutional Research generated by computer a list of all mid-life undergraduates enrolled the first week of Winter term. 45 Names and addresses, separated by sex and ordered con­ secutively by oldest to youngest, were obtained for 707 persons ages 30 through 49. A random sample of 350 subjects, stratified by sex, was selected. The sample was disproportionately stratifed by age to assure greater representation of those 40 years old and over. Age stratification had to be approximated from known age distributions in the population because subjects' ages were not provided. The questionnaire (see Appendix A ) , with cover letter and a stamped self-addressed envelope, was mailed on February 15, 1979 to each of 350 initial subjects. First returns were received by February 17. By March 1, the initial deadline, 149 (42.6%) had been returned. At that time a follow up letter was sent requesting the return of outstanding questionnaires. By March 21, the second deadline, 207 (59.1%) were returned. count was 217 (62%) . The final Ten of these were excluded from analysis because reported ages were tinder 30 or because major portions of the questionnaire were left blank. Data Analysis Procedures First, data collected from the survey were coded and transferred to MSU Data Sheets (NCS Trans-optic E. F5709-54 321) that were read mechanically at the Scoring Office, Learning and Evaluation Services. This produced 46 a tape that punched out all raw data on computer cards. Once these were punched (6 per subject), they were made ready for analysis using the MSU CDC 6500 Computer. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)1 procedure "Frequency" counted responses for every variable on the questionnaire to aid in checking for program or data card errors. Additional procedures were then employed to answer the research questions. To answer questions 1, 2, and 3 about the sample's demographic characteristics, educational motivations, pre-entry and post-entry needs, and satisfaction with University services used, the SPSS procedures "Frequency" and "Breakdown" were programmed. "Frequency," when applied to items in Sections I (demographic characteristics), III-A, B, and C (pre-entry needs and services), and IV-A, B, and C (post-entry needs and services), provided a summary by number and percentage distribution. It also produced means, modes, medians, and standard deviations for each continuous variable. "Breakdown," when applied to items in Sections II (educational motivations), III-D (pre-entry satisfaction ^Norman H. Nie, et al., SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, 2nd Edition (New Y o r k : M c G r a w h TTI Book C o . , 1975)-. 47 with services u s e d ), and IV-D (post-entry satisfaction with services u s e d ), produced a summary by number and percentage distribution as well as sample means and standard deviations. To answer research question 4 about significant relationships or differences attributed to the indepen­ dent variables of sex, age, and major college, procedures "Crosstabs" the SPSS and "Breakdown/Oneway" were pro­ grammed. "Crosstabs," when applied to items in Sections I (demographic characteristics), III-A (pre-entry n e e d s ) , and IV-A (post-entry n e e d s ) , determined significant re­ lationships by the chi-square statistic. Chi-square compares frequencies of two or more responding groups and is useful with nominal data.^ "Breakdown/Oneway," when applied to items in Sec­ tions II (educational m o t ivations), III-D isfaction with services used), and IV-D (pre-entry sat­ (post-entry satis­ faction with services u s e d ) , determined significant mean score differences by the analysis of variance F-test. The F-test answers the question whether the between groups and within groups variance justifies the inference that llsaac, Handbook in Research and Evaluation, p. 116. 48 the means of different groups sampled are not all the same. ^ The .10 significance level was set to determine significant chi-square and F-test. Use of .10 is accept­ able when not generalizing to the population, as was this case. Also, risk from committing a Type I error— to con­ clude falsely that a difference does exist in the data when in fact it does not— is minimal for this non-sensitive topic. Moreover, practical differences might have been overlooked by setting a lower significance level that increased the chance of committing a Type II error--to conclude falsely that a difference does not exist in the data when in fact it does. To answer research question 5 about clustering subjects according to educational motivations, the program PACKAGE^ was used. analysis. PACKAGE provided two types of factor First was R-type correlation between each pair of motivational factors. Second was Q-type correlation between each pair of subjects. R-factor analysis developed unidimensional motiva­ tional clusters from the 35 pre-determined factors. ^Isaac, Handbook in Research and Evaluation, p. 140. 2John E. Hunter and S. H. Cohen, "PACKAGE: A System of Computer Routines for the Analysis of Correlational Data," Educational and Psychological Measurement 29 (1969): 697- w:----------------- ------- --------------------- 49 First, these factors were partitioned into scales a priori by content and then correlated for each subject. This involved implementation of an "oblique multiple groups analysis." According to Hunter and Gerbing:1 A 'group factor' is simply the trait mea­ sured by a given cluster or a group of items. The word 'oblique' means that the traits may be correlated with one another. The word 'multiple' refers to the existence of several clusters of items in the analysis. The input to a multiple groups analysis is the matrix of sample correlations between each pair of items on the questionnaire and the designated partitioning of the items into clusters. The output of a multiple groups analysis includes the parameter estimates which provide information for use in the evaluation of the unidimensionality of a set of clusters. Unidimensionality and subsequent reliability was deter­ mined by using the resultant inter-item correlation matrix. Unidimensional clusters met three tests: 1) they were internally consistent, 2) they were parellel or externally consistent, and 3) they shared a similar meaning. Q-factor analysis developed educational motivation groups. Because of computer limitations, a "Write Cases" procedure randomly selected about 70% of the original sample, excluding second bachelor's candidates. The Ijohn E. Hunter and David W. Gerbing, Unidimensional Measurement and Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Occasional Paper No. 20 (Michigan State University, Tfie Institute for Research on Teaching, 1979), p. 12. 50 procedures followed were similar to Refactor analysis, except a Blind Multiple Groups Program was used. meant that no groups w e r e •set a p r i o r i . ’'Blind" Using the unidi­ mensional clusters developed from R-factor analysis, PACKAGE sorted subjects according to highest factor load­ ings using a varimax rotation. Summary A brief review of the purposes of the study was presented. Then data collection procedures, including questionnaire design, evaluation, sampling, and admin­ istration, were discussed. Finally, data analysis pro­ cedures employed to answer the research questions were described and explained. Results of the data analysis are presented in Chapter IV. CHAPTER IV REPORT AND ANALYSIS OF DATA Introduction This chapter reports the data collected from the questionnaire to answer the research questions posed in Chapter I. First/ the sample will be described according to demographic characteristics, educational motivations, pre-entry and post-entry needs, and satisfaction with University services used. Second, the analysis of sample data by the variables of sex, age, and college will be re­ ported. Third, the analysis of the sample's educational motivations by factor analysis, and the description of ed­ ucational motivation groups, will conclude the report. Description of the Mid-life Sample Demographic Characteristics Age and Sex. In the Winter term 1979, 707 mid-life undergraduates were initially registered. The population distribution was: age 30-34 (452— 63.9%), age 35-39 (146—— 20.7%), age 40-44 (63— 8.9%) , and age 45-49 (46— 6.5%). Females numbered 435 (61.5%) and males 272 (38.5%). 51 The 52 sample distribution was: age 30-34 (64— 30.9%), age 40-44 15.5%). (67— 32.0%), age 35-39 (44— 21.3%), and age 45-49 (32— Females numbered 435 (61.5%) and males 272 The sample, (38.5%). therefore, was 31.9% underrepresented at age 30-34, and 9% to 12.4% overrepresented in the other three age categories. It was also slightly overrepresented by females. Academic Background. Questions about academic status were: 1) What college are you enrolled in? 2) What is your present class level? and 3) How many credits are you carrying Winter term 1979? Questions about previous academic experience were: 1) What was your age when you first enrolled in any college? 2) After first enrolling in any college, what was the largest continuous period you stopped attending college? 3) What colleges did you attend before coming to Michigan State University? and 4) Have you previously earned a baccalaureate degree? Colleges: Thirteen colleges were represented with ten enrolling 95.6% of the sample. The largest enroll­ ments were in the College of Social Science the College of Arts and Letters (13.5%). Class Level: Nearly 90% were juniors or seniors. Credit Load: Credit loads ranged from 2 to 21, with a mean of 9.5 of 9.2. (23.7%) and (S.D. 4.4), a mode of 4, and a median About 60% were enrolled part-time (11 credits or less), with 40.8% of these enrolled for one course only. 53 Nearly three-quarters were enrolled for 6 to 16 credits. Previous Degree: Twenty-four (11.6%) reported having earned a baccalaureate previously. Previous College: About four-fifths attended another college before entering the University. Half at­ tended one other college# and one-fifth two other colleges. The largest previous enrollments were in junior and community colleges (79.6%) and four year public colleges (34.3%). Age of First Enrollment: First enrollment ages ranged from 16 to 45# with a mean of 23.5# a mode of 18, and a median of 18.6. in their teens. More than half had started college About a quarter entered college after age 30. Period Stopped Out: Periods of stopping out ranged from zero to 30 years, with a mean of 7.1# a mode of 10# and a median of 6. More than half had stopped out five years or less. Residency. Questions about residency were: 1) While attending MSU# where do you live? and 2) If living off-campus, how many miles (one-way) do you commute daily? A majority of 87.9% (182) lived off-campus. The mean miles commuted was 14.7# with a mode of 10, and a median of 9. 54 TABLE 4.1— Academic characteristics of the mid-life sample Variables # Z (N-207) Colleges: Social Science . Arts and Le tte rs................ Education Human Ecology................... Justin M orr i l l ................. Natural Science Agriculture and Natural Resources . . Business Engineering University College .............. Communication A r t s James Madison Urban Development................ ....................... Unknown 49 28 20 19 18 16 16 15 9 8 3 1 1 4 23.7 13.5 9.7 9.2 8.7 7.7 7.7 7.2 4.3 3.9 1.4 .5 .5 1.9 9 13 74 109 2 4.4 6.3 35.7 52.7 1.0 125 79 3 60.3 38.1 1.6 40 116 51 133 76 19.3 56.0 24.7 64.3 36.7 Class Level: Freshmen Sophomores ................ Juniors........................ Seniors Unknown........................ Credit Load: Part-time (2-11 credits) Full-time (12 or more credits) . . . Unknown........................ Previous College: Attended Attended Attended Attended Attended no other college......... one other college....... more than one othercollege. a community college . . . . a four year college . . . . 55 TABLE 4.1 (cont'd) Variables # % (N-207) Age of First Enrollment: Teens.................... , Twenties................ . . . . . Thirties ................ , Forties .................. , 47 54.1 22.7 16.9 6.3 Period Stopped Out: Zero to 5 years........... . 6 to 15 years.............. More than 15 y e a r s ....... . 55.1 35.2 9.6 56 Socio-economic Background. Questions about the family were: 1) What is your present marital status? and 2) How many persons are financially dependent on you? Questions about work were: 1} What is your present occupa­ tion? and 2) While attending college, how many hours weekly do you work a) as a homemaker? b) at a temporary job? c) at a regular job? and d) as a volunteer? Marital Status: Two-thirds were married living with a spouse, and one in five were divorced. Financial Dependents: Slightly more than half had some person financially dependent on them. About a quarter had financially dependent children in elementary school, or children in junior or senior high school, or a dependent spouse. Less than 15% had financially dependent pre-school children. Occupations: Sixty-one occupations were listed. Using the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, the inves­ tigator ordered these into 7 major occupational categories.^The largest occupational group was Services, with 43 out of 51 classified as "homemakers." Second was Professional-Technical, with nearly two-thirds classifed as Medicine and Health (nurses and lab technicians) and Education (teachers, instructors, counselors, and education 1U. S. Department of Labor, Dictionary of Occupa­ tional Titles, Fourth Edition, 1977, pp. xxxiv-xTi. 57 directors). Nearly a fifth listed their occupation as student. Work Experience: Slightly less than half worked at a regular job while attending college. Hours worked weekly ranged from 2 to 70, with a mean of 36.7, a mode of 40, and a median of 39.9. temporary job. About 15% worked at a Hours worked weekly ranged from 4 to 40, with a mean of 13.4, a mode of 10, and a median of 12.5. A slight majority worked as homemakers. Hours worked weekly ranged from 3 to 99, with a mean of 32.7, a mode of 20, and a median of 25.1. volunteer. Nearly 20% worked as a Most worked 20 hours or less per week, with a mean of 5.7, a mode of 3.0, and a median of 4.1. Financial Background. Questions about finances were: 1) What do you spend annually to attend MSU? 2) How much pay did you forego this year to attend MSU? and 3} Which sources have you used to finance your college education? Annual Cost: Pay Foregone: Two-thirds spent $2,000 or less. Pay foregone ranged from $0 to $25,000, with a mean of $4,712.42, a mode of $0, and a median of $319.00. Financial Sources: The primary financial sources were the students' own or their spouse's earnings or savings. The principal institutional source was financial aids arranged through the University. 58 TABLE 4.2— Socio-economic characteristics of the mid-life sample Variables if % (N-207) Marital Status: Married living with s p o u s e ....... Divorced....................... Never Married.................... Separated 139 43 20 5 67.1 20.8 9.7 2.4 30 54 14.4 26.1 56 18 5 51 5 27.1 8.7 2.4 24.6 2.4 46 22.2 26 12.6 25 51 5 12.1 24.6 2.4 12 5.8 42 20.3 101 30 108 38 48.9 14.5 52.2 18.4 Financial Dependents: Pre-school children .............. Elementary children.............. Junior or senior high school children . . . . . . . . . . . . . College age c hildren............ Out of school children ......... Spouse Parents......................... Occupations: Pro fessional-Technical (architec ts, engineers, medical workers, edu­ cators) ....................... Manager-Administrative (commercial and public).................... Clerical-Sales (secretaries, typists, and salesmen).................. Service (domestic and protective) . . Agricuture and Forestry........... Tradesmen (foundry, skilled, and transport) Miscellaneous (self-employed and students)...................... Work: Regular j o b ..................... Temporary j o b .................... Homemaker....................... Volunteer....................... 59 TABLE 4.3— Financial characteristics of the mid-life sample Variables # % (N-207) Annual Cost: Up to $2,000 $2,001 to $4,000 $4,001 to $6,000 Over $6,000 Unknown 133 44 14 8 8 64.3 21.3 6.8 3.9 3.9 72 22 52 61 34.8 10.6 25.1 29.5 59 148 155 96 28.5 71.5 74.8 46.4 61 39 33 30 29.5 18.8 15.9 14.5 28 13.5 14 6.8 13 6.3 8 3.9 Pay Foregone: Zero $5,000 or l e s s More than $5,000 No answer Financial Sources: Used one source only . . . . . . . . Used multiple sources Used own earnings and savings . . . . Used spouse's earnings and savings . Obtained scholarships, fellowships, or other grants from M S U Used G1 or other veterans benefits . Obtained educational loans from MSU . Used employer's educational plan . . Used an Inheritance or loans and gifts from family Obtained loans from banks or other lending Institutions Obtained paid release time from employer Used other sources: (welfare, private scholarship, vocational rehabilita­ tion, LEEP)................... 60 Educational Motivations Factors. Two mean scores were calculated for each of the 35 educational motivation factors surveyed. first summed all ratings from 0 to 5. The The second excluded the rating of 0 in the summing. The overall factor means ranged from 3.82 to 0.13. When ranked, 3 of the 10 highest rated factors related to career concerns, 3 to life goals and directions, and 2 to knowledge interests. from 4.34 to 1.98. The adjusted factor means ranged This calculation resulted in several changes in factor rankings. For example, "to prepare to re-enter the labor market after a long absence" changed from rank 23 to rank 9; "to prepare to enter the labor market for the first time" changed from rank 30 to rank 13; and "to meet standards set by professional or trade associations" changed from rank 17 to rank 6. This dual method of calculation was useful in identifying some strong minority held educational motivations that, overall, were rated low. Clusters. Using the Multiple Groups Program PACKAGE, the investigator organized the 35 educational motivation factors into 12 unidimensional clusters. These were subsequently labeled: 1) Knowledge Interest (KI)— an orientation toward learning for its own sake (questionnaire items 18 and 30). TABLE 4.4— Educational motivation factor mean scores of the mid-life sample Variables To prepare for a career in a new field .......... To improve my financial future ................. To satisfy personal intellectual curiosity ....... To learn for the enjoyment of learning .......... To meet requirements of potential employers . . . . To prepare to cope with changing life goals . . . . To examine future life goals .................. To reflect on my life's directions ............. To be able to better serve humanity ............ To prepare for a specialized role in my field of work..................................... To gain greater status and prestige ............ To examine future academic goals ............... To change the routine of daily life ............ To consider different life values ............. To learn about alternative academic opportunity . . To gain fresh perspective on problems I deal with To meet standards set by professional associations . To refresh information and skills not used awhile To better understand community problems ........ To prepare to change from one job to another in my present field ....................... To become a better citizen .................... Overall Hank Adjusted Rank % who rated factor zero 3.82 3.63 3.51 3.19 2.86 2.79 2.68 2.63 2.38 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 4.34 4.13 3.91 3.79 4.32 3.65 3.89 3.59 3.32 1 3 5 8 2 11 7 12 14 13.5 12.1 10.1 15.5 33.8 23.7 26.1 26.6 28.5 2.32 2.22 2.17 2.09 2.00 1.89 1.88 1.73 1.62 1.57 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 3.97 3.16 3.28 3.27 3.17 3.05 3.13 3.90 2.96 2.75 4 20 16 17 19 22 21 6 25 28 41.6 30.0 33.8 36.8 37.2 38.2 40.6 55.6 45.4 43.0 1.48 1.46 20 21 3.71 2.89 10 26 60.4 49.3 TABLE A.4 (cont'd) Variables To keep up with changing knowledge in my field of work ........................... To prepare to re-enter the labor market after a long absence ....................... To acquire skills or knowledge required by changes in my current job .................. To improve personal relationships with others . . . To update knowledge in fields studied earlier . . . To find ways to cope with personal problems . . . . To make new friends ......................... To meet congenial people ...................... To prepare to enter the labor market for the first time ............................ To have time away from my family ............... To belong to a group ......................... To get away from personal problems ............. To meet requirements of my present employer . . . . To keep my license of certificate valid ........ Overall Rank Adjusted Rank % who rated factor zero 1.45 22 3.24 18 55.1 1.37 23 3.77 9 63.8 1.34 1.29 1.25 1.14 1.08 .93 24 25 26 27 28 29 3.31 2.64 3.00 2.86 2.10 2.23 15 29 24 27 34 33 59.4 51.2 58.5 60.4 48.8 58.5 .72 .59 .56 .46 .43 .13 30 31 32 33 34 35 3.54 2.41 1.98 2.40 3.03 2.25 13 30 35 31 23 32 79.7 75.4 72.0 80.7 85.0 94.2 63 2) Upward Mobility (UM)— an orientation toward improving financial or personal position (items 22 and 28). 3) Life Exploration (LE)— an orientation toward examining life goals, directions and values (items 5, 8, 11 and 14). 4) External Career Interest (EC)— an orientation toward meeting requirements or standards of external employment or professional groups (items 32 and 35). 5) Career Entry/Re-entry (CE)— an orientation toward preparing to enter or re-enter the labor market (items 4 and 34). 6) Academic Exploration (AE)— an orientation toward examining future academic goals or opportunities (items 26 and 29). 7) Social Concern (SC)— an orientation toward preparing to serve the community or society (items 6, 9 and 12). 8) Renewal Interest (RI)— an orientation toward updating information, knowledge and skills not used for awhile (items 10 and 24). 9) Career Improvement (Cl)— an orientation toward improving skills and knowledge in a present job or toward preparing for specialization within a present field of work (items 7, 13, 16, 21 and 25). 10) Life Concerns (LC)— an orientation toward pre­ paring to deal with personal problems or inter­ personal relationships (items 20 and 27). 11) Social Interest (SI)— an orientation toward associating with others (items.1, 3 and 15). 12) Escape Interest (El)— an orientation toward getting away from family or personal problems (items 23 and 33). Four factors intercorrelated poorly: 1) "to prepare for a career in a new field," 2) "to change the routine 64 of daily life," 3) "to gain fresh perspective on problems I deal with," and 4) "to keep my license or certificate valid." The first was retained for further analysis because it was rated consistently high overall. Therefore, reference will be made to 13 educational motivations, whose standard score coefficient alphas (a measure of reliability) were: Career Change (1.00), Life Exploration (.84), Social Interest (.82), Career Improvement (.78), Social Concern (.78), Knowledge Interest (.72), Academic Exploration (.70), Escape Interest (.69), Life Concerns (.65), Career Entry/Re-entry (.63), Upward Mobility (.60), and Renewal Interest (.60). Two mean scores were calculated for each of the 13 educational motivation orientations. The highest rated orientations overall were Career Change, Knowledge In­ terest, and Upward Mobility. Interest and Escape Interest. The lowest were Social The adjusted means resulted in minor changes of rank order except for Career Entry/ Re-entry, which changed from rank 11 to rank 7. Generally, two orientations were strong influences (over 3.00), five moderate influences (1.75 to 3.00), and six weak influences (below 1.75). Three of the moderate to strong orientations were career associated. More than half the sample rated Career Entry/Re-entry and External Career Interest as having a zero influence. 65 TABLE 4.5— Educational motivation cluster mean scores of the mid-life sample Cluster Overall Rank Adjusted Rank % who rated cluster zero ......... 3.75 1 4.34 1 13.5 Knowledge Interest . . . . 3.35 2 3.56 2 5.8 Upward Mobility ....... 2.92 3 3.27 3 10.6 Life Exploration ....... 2.52 4 2.89 5 12.6 External Career Interest . 2.30 5 3.17 4 27.5 Academic Exploration . . . 2.03 6 2.71 6 25.1 Social Concern ......... 1.80 7 2.32 8 22.2 Renewal Interest ....... 1.43 8 2.25 9 36.2 Career Improvement . . . . 1.40 9 1.99 11 29.5 Life Concerns 1.21 10 2.07 10 41.5 1.04 11 2.57 7 59.4 .85 12 1.51 13 43.5 13 1.61 12 67.1 Career Change ......... Career Entry/Re-entry . . Social Interest ..... Escape Interest ....... c c K I u L M E E C A E S C — <— —I-- — I— — 1— — 4— — h - — 1— R c I i L C -H— — 1— -H— c E — ORIENTATIONS FIGURE 4.1— Educational motivation orientation mean ratings t— S I E I — 1— — t- 67 Other Factors. Thirty respondents listed other factors that influenced their decision to attend the University. These factors, often similar to those listed in the questionnaire, were: career change (6), personal growth and self-esteem (7), preparation for professional school (2), gaining special skills (4), desire to fulfill delayed goals classifiable (3), a pleasurable activity (3), and un(5). Pre-entry and Post-entry Needs Pre-entry. needs. A quarter had no expressed pre-entry Of the three-quarter with some expressed needs, a majority (54.6%) wanted assistance only with planning their program of study. Only 6.3% wanted help with updating reading and other learning skills. The other four needs expressed by a minority ranged from 20.3% to 29.5%. For each pre-entry need listed, 2.9% to 11.3% expressed having it but never seeking service to satisfy it at the University. This occurred most frequently with those needing assistance to assess interests or aptitudes (54.8%), to update learning skills (46.2%), and to plan or choose a career (40%). Other pre-entry needs for which service to satisfy them was received from the University were: information on requirements, procedures, housing, and daycare (7), effective service to solve procedural problems (5), per­ sonal counseling (3), and flexible programming (4). 68 Other pre-entry needs for which service to satisfy them was not received from the University were: on services information (7), help to solve procedural problems flexible evening programs understanding (2), an sonal counseling (4), (2), reasonable treatment and adult oriented service (2), and per­ (1). Other pre-entry needs for which service to satisfy them was received outside the University were: assistance (10), academic and career planning to solve procedural problems testing financial (3), help (2), interest and aptitude (2), and encouragement to pursue the degree (3). TABLE 4.6— Pre-entry needs of the mid-life sample Needs Yes, had a need Assistance not sought at HSU # % (N-207) # Planning studies ....... 113 Obtaining finances . . . . 61 Planning a career . . . . 50 Choosing a college . . . . 48 Assessing aptitudes . . . 42 Updating learning skills . 13 54.6 29.5 24.2 23.2 20.3 6.3 17 9 20 10 23 6 Had no needs .......... Had one need .......... Had multiple (2-5) needs . 26.1 26.1 24.2 54 54 50 % of Yes % (N-207) 8.2 4.3 9.7 4.8 11.1 2.9 15.0 14.8 40.0 20.8 54.8 46.2 69 Post-entry. needs. A sixth had no expressed post-entry Of the 86% with some expressed needs, a majority (61.4%) wanted assistance only with planning their program of study. Only 11.6% wanted help with updating reading and other learning skills. The other four needs expressed by a minority ranged from 37.2% (obtaining finances) to 18.4%. For each post-entry need listed, 1% to 7.4% ex­ pressed having it but never seeking service to satisfy it at the University. This occurred most frequently with those needing assistance to solve personal or social problems (39.5%) and to update learning skills (37.5%). Other post-entry needs for which service to satisfy them was received from the University were: effective service to solve procedural or personal problems (7), encouragement and support (2), and medical care (1). Other post-entry needs for which service to satisfy them was not received from the University were: information on-campus students receive regularly (3), flexible evening programs (2), guidance to prepare for graduate school (2), personal counseling (3), encouragement (2), special services such as daycare, parking, and self-paced instruction (5). Other post-entry needs for which service to satisfy them was received outside the University were: financial aid (5), psychotherapy (3), encouragement (2), academic and career counseling (2), transportation (1), and daycare (1). 70 TABLE 4.7— Post-entry needs of the mid-life sample Needs Yes, had a need Assistance not % of sought at MSU Yes # Planning studies ....... Obtaining finances . . . . Finding University services ............ Planning a career . . . . Solving problems . . . . Updating learning skills . Had no needs . ......... Had one need .......... Had multiple (2-5) needs . % (N-207) # % (N-207) 61.4 37.2 2 8 1.0 3.9 1.5 10.4 67 32.4 53 25.6 38 18.4 24 11.6 12 9 15 9 5.8 4.3 7.2 4.3 17.9 17.0 39.5 37.5 127 77 33 15.9 57 27.5 58 28.0 Pre-entry and Post-Entry Service Use and Satisfaction Pre-entry U s e . More than 300 pre-entry service contacts were reported, with 83.8% of these accounted for by faculty and staff (44.2%), the Office of Admission and Scholarships (16.5%), the Office of the Assistant Dean for Lifelong Education (12.2%), and the Office of Financial Aids (10.9%). Faculty and Staff: Listed with all six pre-entry needs, faculty and staff were checked as contacted more than any other service for planning studies, planning a career, choosing a college, and assessing aptitudes. Office of Admissions and Scholarships: Listed twice, this service was checked as contacted 21.4% for planning studies and 30.6% for obtaining finances. 71 Office of the Assistant Dean for Lifelong Ed­ ucation: Listed with all six pre-entry needs, this service was checked as contacted except for updating learning skills. Thirteen percent contacted the office for planning studies, 11.1% for obtaining finances, 15.6% for planning a career, and 11.9% for choosing a college. Office of Financial Aids: Listed only with obtaining finances, it was contacted 45% by those having that need. These other services, listed with need, were contacted at pre-entry: planning studies (V. A. Office— 1)j planning a career (V. A. Office— 1, and Placement Services— 1); assessing aptitudes (Office of Admissions and Scholar­ ships— 2, and Off-campus centers— 1); obtaining finances (V. A. Office— 5, University Staff Benefits Office— 2)? updating learning skills (none); and choosing a college (Office of Admissions and Scholarships— 2, V. A. Office— 1, and University telephone operator— 1). Pre-entry Satisfaction. Pre-entry satisfaction mean scores ranged from 2.43 (Office of Admissions and Scholarships used for planning studies) to 5.00 (Office of the Assistant Dean for Lifelong Education used for planning a career and choosing a college). Among services contacted 10 or more times overall, mean scores ranged from 2.45 to 4.41. The Office of Financial Aids and the Office of Admissions and Scholarships received the lowest ratings (2.45 and 2.56), and the Office of the Assistant Dean for Lifelong Education the highest (4.41). Post-entry Use. Nearly 4 50 post-entry service contacts were reported, with 85.3% of these accounted for by an academic advisor (39.2%), other faculty and staff (22.9%), the Office of Financial Aids (12.5%), the Coun­ seling Center (5.8%), and the Office of the Assistant Dean for Lifelong Education (4.9%). Academic Advisor: Listed with all six post-entry needs, academic advisors were checked as contacted more than any other service for planning studies, finding Uni­ versity services, planning a career, and solving problems. Other Faculty and Staff: Listed with all six post­ entry needs, faculty and staff were checked as contacted 25.6% for planning studies, 36% for finding University services, and 39.8% for planning a career. Office of Financial Aids: Listed only with ob­ taining finances, it was contacted 62.9% by those having that need. Counseling Center: Listed with four needs, it was contacted 26.7% by those having a need for solving problems. Office of the Assistant Dean for Lifelong Education Listed with all six post-entry needs, this service was checked as contacted except for updating learning skills. TABLE 4.8— Pre-entry satisfaction with University services of the mid-life sample Services Faculty and staff . . . . Office of Admissions and Scholarships ........ Office of the Assistant Dean for Lifelong Education .......... Office of Financial Aids . Adult Counseling Center . Off-campus extension offices and centers . . Career Resources Center ............. Evening College/Learning Resources Center Evening College class . Other services ........ Planning Obtaining Deciding Career Assessing Updating Total Uses Mean Studies Finances College Planning Aptitudes Skills # Mean # Mean # Mean # Mean # Mean # Mean 2 2.50 28 3.71 19 3.53 10 3.80 2 4.50 73 3.66 28 2.43 22 2.73 17 4.23 8 4.25 33 2.45 1 n.a. 5 5.00 2 4.50 7 n.a. % (N=294) 134 45.6 3.63 50 17.0 2.56 4 3.25 4 2.75 # 4 n.a. 5 5.00 2 4.50 2 3.50 5 3.60 0 n.a. 37 12.6 4.41 33 11.2 2.45 11 3.7 3.45 2 2.50 8 2.7 3.13 2 3.00 2 .7 3.00 2 17 .7 3.00 5.8 n.a. 2 n.a. 3 n.a. 2 3.00 0 n.a. 74 It was contacted most for obtaining finances (9%). These other services, listed with need, were contacted at post-entry: planning studies (University Ombudsman--1, V. A. Office— 1, and Career Resources Center— 1); planning a career (none); solving problems (Volunteer Office— 1, University Employment Office— 1, and Psychology Clinic— 2); obtaining finances (V. A. Office--2, undergraduate student government— 1, and Office of Admis­ sions and Scholarships— 1); updating learning skills (Wo­ men's Resource Center— 1, Math review session— 1, and Even­ ing College— 1); and finding University service (printed in­ formation— 2, and Office of Admissions and Scholarships— 1). Post-entry Satisfaction. Post-entry satisfaction mean scores ranged from 1.86 (Counseling Center for solving problems) to 5.00 (advisors and other faculty and staff for updating learning skills). Among services contacted 10 or more times overall, mean scores ranged from 3.02 to 3.82, with the lowest for the Office of Financial Aids and the highest for other faculty and staff. Unsolicited Comments about Univer­ sity Services Slightly more than 10% (23) appended special com­ ments or wrote letters describing their perceptions of and experiences with University services. Of these, 5 were males and 18 females, with 15 under age 40. TABLE 4.9— Post-entry satisfaction with University services of the mid-life sample Services Planning Obtaining Finding Career Solving Updating Total Uses Mean Studies Finances Services Planning Problems Skills # Mean # Mean Academic advisors ....... Other faculty or staff . . Office of Financial Aids Counseling Center ....... Office of the Assistant Dean for Lifelong Education ............ Student Employment Service . . . . ....... Learning Resource Center Placement Services . . . . Women's Resource Center . . Career Resource Center . . Other services ........ 103 3.55 42 3.82 6 3.86 3 3.33 56 3.02 7 2.57 5 4.75 8 4.71 # Mean t Mean it Mean # Mean 32 3.77 24 3.21 31 3.67 20 3.50 9 4.63 5 4.50 5 3.80 6 2.17 8 1.86 3 4.00 5 4.00 1 3.00 2 5.00 2 5.00 0 n.a. 9 3.33 7 4.17 6 3.00 5 3.80 7 n.a. 7 n.a. 10 n.a. 4 2.75 0 n.a. 7 n.a. 4 n.a. # Z (N=449) 176 39.2 3.80 103 22.9 4.07 56 12.5 3.02 26 5.8 2.50 22 4.9 4.38 9 7 6 5 4 35 2.0 1.6 1.3 1.1 .9 7.8 3.33 4.17 3.00 3.80 2.75 n.a. 76 Generally, their comments were critical. Some reported difficulty obtaining financial aid from the Univer­ sity. They felt that the Office of Financial aids placed obstacles before older students— . .support was more likely to be provided for someone younger or just starting out I was told"— and displayed insensitivity to their feelings by printing forms containing such items as "parental financial statements." Others complained about academic advising, saying that their advisors were too busy to see, or too insensitive to the feelings and needs of, older, part-time, or fully employed students. over-40 female wrote: One "Advising for the non-traditional students leaves much to be desired." A majority of these students complained about problems obtaining University service. They were con­ cerned about scheduling conflicts, getting information, inconvenient times for conducting business on campus, inavailability of services for part-time students, and inadequate orientation for adult students. Some specific comments were: 1) ". . . nothing geared to anyone over 22 and working full time"; 2) "A big aid to adult students would be a brochure describing services availabilty, etc."; 3) "I called the Counseling Center just now and found students under 7 credits do not qualify"; 4) "I couldn't drop or add classes at night, so had to miss work"; and 6) "The only way I could get knowledge (answers) and 77 services was to subject myself to the Freshman Orientation Program Summer 1976. I was from Redford and got sick of making long distance phone calls and visits for nothing." If one comment summarized these students' feelings, it would be that of a 49 year old female: "All I can say about the whole thing is— how numbing1” Analysis of Sample Data by the Variable of Sex Demographic Charac teris tic s A chi-square procedure tested the null hypothesis: The variable of sex was not significantly related .10 to any of the demographic characteristics of the mid-life sample. Appendix B reports those non-significant items not discussed in this section. Academic Background. Two items related signif­ icantly: previous degree and college. Males were more likely than females to have earned a baccalaureate degree previously. Overall, both sexes were similarly enrolled in the College of Social Science. But 20.7% more females enrolled in Professional/Human Services colleges (especially the College of Education and the College of Human Ecology) and the Liberal Arts colleges (especially the College of Arts and Letters and Justin Morrill College). Also, 21.9% more males enrolled in Professional/Technical colleges (especially the College of Engineering). 78 Socio-economic Background. Both marital status and financial dependents were related significantly. More males were never married while more females were divorced. Females had 21.8% fewer financial dependents. No statistical test could be performed on individual categories of dependency because of multiple responses. However, males had more pre-school dependents and elementary dependents (+16.7%). (+23.4%) Females had more junior and senior high school dependents (+6.3), as well as more dependent spouses (+46.9%) Occupations and work also were related signif­ icantly. Males were represented more often in Manager- Administrative and Tradesmen occupations, and females more often in Service occupations, primarily as home­ makers. Females worked more as homemakers and volunteers, and males worked more in regular jobs. Financial Background. Two items related signif­ icantly: annual cost and total sources of financial aid. Females tended to spend less annually. Males tended to use a greater variety of financial resources. No statistical test could be performed on individual categories of finan­ cial support. However, males tended more to finance their education by using their own savings and earnings, GI benefits, and employers' plans. Females tended more to use their spouse's earnings or savings and scholarships, fellowships, and grants arranged through the University. 79 TABLE 4.10— Demographic characteristics related significantly to the variable of sex Variables Males Females # % (N-137) # Differ­ ence % (N-70) % Slgnif icance Previous Degree: Y e s .............. .014 10 9.3 14 20.0 +12.7 M Colleges: Liberal Arts: . . . . Arts and Letters Justin Morrill . . University College. Social Sciences: . . Social Science . . James Madison . . . Professional/Human Services: . . . . . . Education ....... Human Ecology . . . Business ....... Communication Arts. Urban Development . Professional/ Technical: ....... Natural Science . . Agriculture and Natural Resources . Engineering . . . . No answer ......... .000 37 25 8 4 32 32 0 27.0 18.2 5.8 3.0 23.4 23.4 .0 17 24.3 3 4.3 10 14.3 4 5.7 18 25.7 17 24.3 1 1.4 48 18 18 8 3 1 35.0 13.1 13.1 5.8 2.2 .7 10 14.3 2 2.9 1 1.4 7 10.0 0 .0 .0 0 +20.7 F +10.2 F +11.7 F 17 11 12.4 8.0 24 5 34.3 7.1 +21.9 M 6 0 3 4.4 .0 2.2 10 14.3 9 12.9 1.4 1 + 9.9 M +12.9 M +13.9 F .001 Marital Status: Never married . . . . Divorced ......... Separated . . . . . . Married with spouse . 7 5.1 35 25.5 3.6 5 90 65.7 13 8 0 49 18.6 11.4 .0 70.0 +13.5 M +14.1 F .004 Financial Dependents: N o n e ............ One to 3 ......... Four or more . . . . 75 54 8 54.7 39.4 5.8 23 36 11 32.9 51.4 15.7 +19.8 F +12.0 M + 9.9 M 80 TABLE 4.10 (cont'd) Variables Females it Pre-school children Elementary children Junior or senior high school children . Children in college Children out of school ........ S p o u s e .......... Parents .......... % (N-137) Males it % (N-70) 9 28 6.6 20.4 21 26 30.0 37.1 . 40 . 13 29.2 9.5 16 5 22.9 7.1 4 12 2 2.9 8.8 1.5 1 39 3 1.4 55.7 4.3 . . Differ- Signifence Icance +23.4 M +16.7 M +46.9 M .000 Occupations: Professional-Tech­ nical .......... Manager-Adminlstratlve........ Clerical-Sales . . . Services........ Agrlculture/Forest r y ............ Tradesmen........ Miscellaneous . . . . 33 24.1 13 18.6 12 18 44 8.8 13.1 32.1 14 7 7 20.0 10.0 10.0 2 2 26 1.5 1.5 19.0 3 10 16 4.3 14.3 22.0 +12.8 M 51 95 32 37.2 69.3 23.3 50 13 6 71.4 18.5 8.6 +34.2 M +51.1 F +14.7 F +12.2 M +22.1 F Work: Regular j o b ....... Homemaker........ Volunteer........ .067 Annual Cost: Less than $2,000 . $2,001 to $4,000 . $4,001 to $6,000 . More than $6,000 . No answer........ .003s .003 .000 . . . . 93 28 6 3 7 67.9 20.4 4.4 2.2 5.1 40 16 8 5 1 57.1 22.9 11,4 7.1 1.4 +10.8 F aChi-square based on breakdown of hours worked per category. 81 TABLE 4.10 (cont'd) Variables Females % (N-137) Males 9 Differ- Signifence lcance % (N-70) % .000 Financial Sources: Used one only . . . . Used two ......... Used three ....... Used four ......... Used own earnings or savings ......... Used spouse's earn­ ings or savings . . Obtained scholarship, fellowships, or other grants from M S U ............ Used GI benefits . . Obtained educational loan from MSU . . . Used employer's plan. Used Inheritance, loan, or gift . . . Obtained loans from other Institution . Obtained paid re­ leased time . . . . 40 46 34 10 29.2 33.6 24.8 7.3 19 20 12 15 27.1 28.6 17.1 21.4 +14.1 M 93 67.9 62 88.6 +20.7 M 79 57.7 17 24.3 +33.4 F 44 7 32.1 5.1 17 24.3 32 45.7 +40.6 M 21 16 15.3 11.7 12 17.1 14 20.0 21 15.3 7 10.0 10 7.3 4 5.7 9 6.6 4 5.7 82 Educational Motivations Factors. An F-test analysis of variance procedure tested the null hypothesis: Males and females in the sam­ ple did not differ significantly .10 in their overall ratings of educational motivation factors. Twelve factors differed significantly. Of these, eight were career oriented, two knowledge oriented, and two life goal oriented. Career Oriented: Females rated these higher: 1) "to prepare to re-enter the labor market after a long absence," 2) "to prepare to enter the labor market for the first time," and 3) "to prepare for a career in a new field," Males rated these higher: 1) "to prepare to change from one job to another in my present field of work," 2) "to acquire skills or knowledge required by changes in my present job," 3) "to prepare for a special­ ized role in my field of work," 4) "to keep up with chang­ ing knowledge in my field of work," and 5) "to meet the requirements of my present employer." Other Factors: Females rated two knowledge and life goal oriented factors higher: 1) "to satisfy personal intellectual curiosity," 2) "to learn for the enjoyment of learning," 3) "to prepare to cope with changing life goals," and 4) "to examine future life goals." 83 TABLE 4.11— Educational motivation factors related significantly to the variable of sex Factors To prepare for a career in a new field ..................... To satisfy personal intellectual curiosity ................. To learn for the enjoyment of learning ................... To prepare to cope with changing life goals ................. To examine future life goals . . . To prepare for a specillzed role in my field of work ......... To prepare to change from one job to another in my present field . To keep up with changing knowledge in my field of work ......... To prepare to re-enter the labor market after a long absence . . To acquire skills or knowledge required by changes in my current job ............... To prepare to enter the labor market for the first time . . . To meet the requirements of my present employer ............ Females Malesa Differ­ ence Signif­ icance Mean Mean 4.01 3.42 + .59 F .005 3.80 2.92 + .88 F .001 3.47 2.63 + .84 F .002 3.07 2.87 2.26 2.46 + .81 F + .41 F .009 .062 2.17 2.66 + .49 M .060 1.16 1.97 + .81 M .005 1.30 1.76 + .46 M .061 1.70 .61 +1 .09 F .001 1.15 1.81 + .66 M .017 .94 .27 + .67 F .008 .31 .67 + .36 M .020 ^eans calculated for 137 females and 70 males. 84 Clusters. An F-test analysis of variance proce­ dure tested the null hypothesis: Hales and females in the sample did not differ significantly at .10 in their overall ratings of educational motivation orientations. Five orientations differed significantly. Females rated Career Entry/Re-entry, Knowledge Interest, Career Change, and Escape Interest higher. Males rated Career Improvement higher. Overall, females rated 8 orientations higher, and males rated 5 higher. Differences in mean for non-signif­ icant orientations were less than .17 except for Life Exploration (+.35), Life Concerns Exploration (+.32). (+.24), and Academic When means were adjusted, differences were confirm­ ed for Knowledge Interest Entry/Re-entry (females .53 higher) (females .61 higher). and Career By this method, fe­ males rated 9 orientations higher, and males 4 higher. Pre-entry and Post-entry Needs A chi-sguare procedure tested the null hypothesis: The variable of sex was not significantly related .10 to any of the expressed pre-entry and post-entry needs of the sample. Pre-entry. icantly. At pre-entry, two needs related signif­ Both sexes had similar need for planning their studies, but females indicated an 8% greater incidence 85 TABLE 4.12— EducaClonal motivation orientations related signif­ icantly to the variable of sex Orientations Females Malesa Significance Overall Adjusted Overall Adjusted Overall Adjusted Mean Mean Mean Mean Career Change . . * * 3.97 4.42 3.31 4.14 .01* .13 Knowledge Interest * • 3.64 3.72 2.79 3.19 .00* .01* Upward Mobility . • ■ 2.92 3.31 2.92 3.20 .99 .53 Life Exploration . • • 2.63 2.90 2.27 2.84 .12 .78 External Career • • 2.29 3.26 2.32 3.01 .89 .29 Academic Exploration . 2.13 2.79 1.81 2.54 .17 .23 Social Concern . . • • 1.81 2.29 1.80 2.37 .96 .70 Renewal Interest . a • 1.39 2.33 1.51 2.11 .60 .32 Career Entry/Re-entry. 1.35 2.68 .44 2.07 .00* .10* Life Concerns * • 1.30 2.15 1.06 1.91 .26 .32 Career Improvement • * 1.21 1.93 1.78 2.08 .00* .44 Social Interest * * .83 1.46 .90 1.61 .65 .47 * • .62 1.60 .35 1.63 .07* .93 Escape Interest . . . ^Significant at .10 ^eans calculated for 137 females and 70 males. 86 4.C. 3.C- W ORIENTATIONS FIGURE 4.2--Differences in educational motivation orientations by the variable of sex 87 of not seeking University service to satisfy that need. Females had a 12.8% greater need for planning a career, and they also indicated an 8.1% greater incidence of not seeking University service to satisfy that need. Overall, need levels were similar for each sex, except for planning a career. Females were more likely to indicate incidences of not seeking University service to satisfy needs at pre~entry. P o s t - e n t r y. significantly. A t post-entry, one need related Males had a 6.2% greater need for up­ dating learning skills, whereas females indicated a greater incidence of not seeking University service to satisfy that need. Overall, need levels were similar for each sex at post-entry; however, females tended more often not to have sought University service to satisfy their post­ entry needs. Both indicated a 20% incidence of this for solving problems, while females indicated a 13% to 35% greater incidence for updating learning skills, planning a career, and finding University services. Pre-entry and Post-entry Service Use and Satisfaction No reliable statistical procedure could be applied to University service use and satisfaction data because the distribution per category of sex was usually less than 25. 88 TABLE 4.13— Pre-entry and post-entry needs related significantly to the variable of sex Needs Female Male # % (N-137) Differ- Signifence Icance # % (N-70) % 74 40 39 32 30 7 54.0 29.0 28.5 23.4 21.9 5.1 39 21 11 16 12 6 15 7 17 6 19 4 10.9 5.1 12.4 4.4 13.9 2.9 2 88 51 45 35 26 13 61.4 37.2 32.8 25.5 18.9 9.5 Yes, had a need at pre­ entry for: planning studies . . obtaining finances . planning a career . choosing a college . assessing aptitudes updating skills . . . . . . . 55.8 30.0 15.7 22.9 17.1 8.6 +12.8 F .096* .66 .088* .87 .17 .38 Had a need a pre-entry, but sought no University service to satisfy it: planning studies . . obtaining finances . planning a career choosing a college . assessing aptitudes updating skills . . 2.9 2.9 3 4.3 4 5.7 4 5.7 2 2.9 + 8.0 F 2 + 8.1 F + 8.2 F Yes, had a need at post­ entry for: planning studies . obtaining finances finding services . planning a career solving problems . updating skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 26 22 18 12 11 55.7 37.1 31.4 25.7 17.1 15.7 + 6.8 M .32 .59 .42 .28 .66 .07* 89 TABLE 4.13 (cont'd) Needs Female # % (N-137) Male Differ- Slgnifence icance # % (N-70) % Had a need a post-entry, but sought no University service to satisfy It: planning studies . obtaining finances finding services . planning a career solving problems . updating skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4 10 8 9 7 *Signifleant at .10. 1.5 2.9 7.4 5.9 6.6 5.2 0 4 2 1 6 2 .0 5.7 2.9 1.4 9.0 2.9 90 A review of the data did show that from 54.5% to 62% of the pre-entry usage was accounted for by females, except for the Office of the Assistant Dean for Lifelong Ed­ ucation, which had a 97.3% female share. At post-entry 60.2% to 71.1% was accounted for by females, except for the Assistant Dean's office, which had a 86.4% female share. A review of satisfaction ratings for University services used showed that at pre-entry females rated faculty and staff .53 higher for assistance with planning their studies. Males rated faculty and staff .53 higher for career planning assistance and .79 higher for assist­ ance with choosing a college; and .52 higher for assistance received from the Office of Financial Aids. At post-entry, females rated advisors 1.21 higher for career planning assistance and .68 higher for assistance with finding services. They also rated other faculty and staff .52 higher for assistance with planning their studies and .56 higher for career planning assistance. Males rated advisors .29 higher for assistance with planning their studies. Overall ratings of particular services at both pre-entry and post-entry showed no important differences. TABLE 4.14— Pre-entry satisfaction with University services summarized by the variable of sexa Service/Sex Faculty and Staff . . . Planning Obtaining Choosing Career Assessing Updating Studies Finances College Planning Aptitudes Skills Overall X by sex # Mean # Mean # Mean # Mean # Mean (Female) 39 3.94 (Male) 34 3.41 2 2.50 0 n.a. 12 3.33 7 3.86 16 3.38 12 4.17 6 3.83 4 3.75 1 5.00 1 4.00 76 3.69 58 3.66 56.7 43.2 17 4.23 0 n.a. 8 4.25 0 n.a. 5 5.00 0 n.a. 5 5.00 0 n.a. 1 5.00 1 4.00 0 n.a. 0 n.a. 36 4.47 1 4.00 97.3 2.7 17 2.35 11 2.55 14 2.79 8 2.63 31 2.55 19 2.58 62.0 38.0 20 2.25 13 2.77 20 2.25 13 2.77 62.0 38.0 6 3.17 5 3.40 54.5 45.5 Assistant Dean Lifelong Ed­ ucation . . . (Female) (Male) Office of Ad­ missions and Scholarships . (Female) (Male) Office of Fi­ nancial Aids . (Female) (Male) Adult Counsel­ ing Service (Female) (Male) 3 3.33 1 3.00 1 5.00 1 2.00 2 3.00 3 4.00 9 Mean 9 Mean ^Contacts for Off-campus Extension, Career Resource Center, and Evening College/LRC Class were less than 10 and not reported. TABLE 4.15— Post-entry satisfaction with University services summarized by the variable of sex3 Service/Sex Advisors . . . . (Female) (Male) Faculty and Staff . . . . (Female) (Male) Office of Fi­ nancial Aids . (Female) (Male) Assistant Dean Lifelong Ed­ ucation . . . (Female) (Male) Counseling Center . . . . (Female) (Male) Solving Planning Obtaining Finding Career Studies Finances Services Planning Problems Updating Overall Skills X by sex # Mean # Mean # Mean # Mean # Mean 75 3.46 28 3.75 5 4.00 1 3.50 19 4.06 13 3.38 14 3.71 10 2.50 6 4.80 3 4.33 0 n.a. 119 3.68 2 5.00 57 3.52 71.7 28.3 24 4.05 18 3.53 3 3.33 0 n.a. 21 3.70 10 3.60 11 3.78 9 3.22 3 5.00 2 4.00 0 n.a. 2 5.00 62 3.89 41 3.57 60.2 39.8 36 2.94 20 3.16 64.3 35.7 19 4.61 3 3.00 86.4 13.6 17 2.42 9 2.67 65.4 34.6 # Mean 36 2.94 20 3.16 4 5.00 1 4.00 3 2.00 4 3.00 8 4.71 0 n.a. 3 4.00 0 n.a. 3 5.00 2 2.50 1 3.00 0 n.a. 3 3.00 2 5.00 4 2.75 2 1.00 7 2.17 1 0.00 0 n.a. 0 n.a. # Mean a Contacts for Career Resource Center, Placement Services, Student Employment Service, Learning Resource Center, and Women's Resource Center were less than 10 and not reported. 93 Analysis of Sample Data by the Variable of Age Demographic Characteristics A chi-square procedure tested the null hypothesis: The variable of age was not significantly related .10 to any of the demographic characteristics of the mid-life sample. Appendix B reports those non-significant items not discussed in this section. Academic Background. icantly: Three items related signif­ age of first enrollment, period stopped out, and credit load. Since the first two would naturally have an age relationship, they are not reported further. Those ages 30 to 34 tended to be enrolled more full-time, while those 40 years old and over tended to be enrolled more for one course only. Although not statistically significant, there were important percentage differences in college enrollment. About 13% more students age 40 or older enrolled in the Liberal Arts colleges, and about 11% more students under age 40 enrolled in the Professional/Technical ones. Socio-economic Background. Both marital status and financial dependents related significantly. Those in their early thirties were more likely never to have married. Those in their mid to late thirties were more likely to be separated or divorced. Those 40 years old and over were most likely to be married living with their spouse. Those in their mid to late thirties were most 94 likely to claim financial dependents. Those ages 30 to 34 were likely to have more pre-school children dependents, those ages 35 to 39 more elementary children, those 35 and older more junior and senior high school students, and those age 40 and over more children in college. As age increased, fewer students claimed a spouse as a dependent. Financial Background. related significantly. Annual cost and pay foregone Those in their early thirties claimed the highest annual cost and the most pay foregone. Summary. Generally, differences in demographic characteristics related to age were difficult to decipher. It appeared that sometimes a division existed at about the mid-thirties, and other times at about age 40, depending on the characteristic being examined. Educational Motivations Factors. An F-test analysis of variance procedure tested the null hypothesis: Age groups in the sample did not differ significantly .10 in their overall ratings of educational motivation factors. Six factors differed significantly. patterns of difference were unclear. However, the Those in their early thirties rated "to prepare for a career in a new field" highest. Those in their late forties rated "to learn for the enjoyment of learning” highest. They also rated "to gain fresh perspective on problems I deal with" 95 TABLE 4.16— Demographic characteristics related significantly to the variable of age Variables 30 to 34 35 to 39 40 to 44 45 to 49 # # # % (N-67) % (N-64) # % (N-44) % (N-32) .068 Credit Load: Part-time Full-time No answer Signif­ icance .... .... .... 34 32 1 50.8 47.8 1.4 43 21 67.2 32.8 29 65.9 13 29.5 2 4.6 19 13 59.4 40.7 Major College Group: Liberal Arts . . . Social Sciences Professional/Human Services . . . . Professional/Tech­ nical ....... No answer . . . . .565 36.4 27.3 10 8 31.3 25.0 32.8 8 18.2 10 31.3 21.9 1.6 7 15.9 1 2.3 3 1 9.4 3.1 15 15 22.4 22.4 13 15 20.3 23.4 19 28.4 21 17 1 25.4 1.5 14 1 16 12 .023 Marital Status: Never married . . Divorced or separated . . . Married with spouse ....... 13 19.4 4 6.3 1 2.3 2 6.3 11 16.4 20 31.3 10 22.7 7 21.9 43 64.2 40 62.4 33 75.0 23 71.8 .007 Financial Dependents: None . . . . . . . Pre-school childr^n » » * # • • Elementary childrGQ • > • • • • Junior or senior high school children . . . . Children in college . . . . Spouse ......... Parents ....... 34 50.7 17 25.4 16 23.9 22 9 13.4 0 21 2 35.9 21 47.7 9 14.1 3 6.8 1 3.1 34.4 11 25.0 5 15.6 22 34.4 16 36.4 9 28.1 .0 2 31.3 15 2 3.0 3.1 23.4 3.1 23 8 18.1 9 20.5 0 .0 20 62.5 8 25.0 6 18.8 1 3.1 96 TABLE 4.16 (cont'd) Variables 30 to 34 # % (N-67) 35 to 39 40 to 44 45 to 49 # % (N-64) # % (N-44) # % (N-32) Annual Cost; Less than $2,000 . $2,001 to $4,000 . $4,001 to $6,000 . Over $6,000 . . . No answer . . . . .038 33 49.3 43 67.2 17 25.4 12 18.8 5 6 9.0 7.8 6 9.0 2 3.1 5 7.5 2 3.1 36 81.8 21 65.6 5 11.4 10 31.3 2 4.5 1 3.1 0 .0 0 .0 1 2.3 0 .0 Pay Foregone; Zero . . . . . . . Less than $5,000 . Over $5,000 . . . No answer . . . . Signif­ icance 15 22.4 25 39.1 18 40.9 14 43.8 8 12.5 4 9.1 4 12.5 6 9.0 7 15.9 5 15.7 24 35.8 16 25.0 22 32.8 15 23.4 15 34.1 9 28.0 highest. Ratings for "to improve my financial future" decreased as students got older. "To have time away from my family" was rated lowest by those ages 30 to 34. "To meet requirements of my present employer" was rated highest by those ages 35 to 39. .Although not statistically signif­ icant at .10, "to examine future life goals" was rated highest by those in their early thirties, and "to improve personal relationships with other people" was rated highest by those in their late forties. Clusters. An F-test analysis of variance procedure tested the null hypothesis: Age groups in the sample did not differ significantly .10 in their overall ratings of educational motivation orientations. Two orientations differed significantly. Ratings for Upward Mobility decreased from 3.17 to 2.47 as students got older, and for Escape Interest they were lowest among those in their early thirties. Overall, the pattern of ratings was mixed. Five highest ratings were reported by both those in their early thirties and their late forties. Three highest ratings were reported by those ages 40 to 44, and two by those ages 35 to 39. Some patterns suggested were: Single Age Group Differences: Highest ratings were reported for Career Change by those ages 30 to 34, and for Life Concerns by those ages 45 to 49. 98 TABLE 4.17— Educational motivation factors related significantly to the variable of age Factors 30 to 34 45 to 49 Signif­ icance Mean (N-64) Mean (N-44) Mean (N-32) 4.16 3.60 3.63 3.69 .025 3.97 3.73 3.45 3.06 .038 2.99 2.92 3.25 4.06 .016 1.81 1.62 1.88 2.53 .056 .25 .77 .81 .66 .018 O' CM ■ .75 .39 .13 .030 3.07 2.34 2.87 2.48 .105* 1.27 1.19 1.09 1.81 .104* Mean (N-67) To prepare for a career in a new field ......... To improve my fi­ nancial future . . To learn for the enjoyment of learning ....... To gain fresh per­ spective on prob­ lems I deal with . To have time away from my family . . To meet the require­ ments of my pre­ sent employer . . To examine future life goals . . . . To improve personal relationships with other people . . . 35 to 39 40 to 44 *Not related statistically by the .10 definition. 99 Linear Relationship: Ratings for Upward Mobility decreased, and for Career Entry/Re-entry increased, as students got older. Thirties/Forties Division: Ratings for Knowledge Interest were higher for those in their forties, and higher for External Career Interest for those in their thirties. Middle Years Division: Those in the middle years from age 35 to age 44 rated Career Improvement and Escape Interest higher, and Social Concern and Academic Explor­ ation lower. No Pattern: Ratings for Social Interest and Re­ newal Interest were similar across all age groups, and for Life Exploration they were irregular. Pre-entry and Post-entry Needs A chi-square procedure tested the null hypothesis: The variable of age was not significantly related .10 to any of the expressed pre-entry and post-entry needs of the mid-life sample. Pre-entry. No needs were significantly related. Overall, few important percentage differences were found. From 14.7% to 18.5% more of those under age 45 expressed the need for obtaining finances, while 10.3% to 13.8% more of those in their forties expressed the need for planning a career. 100 TABLE 4.18— Educational motivation orientations related significantly to the variable of age Orientations 30 to 34 Mean (N-67) 35 to 39 40 to 44 45 to 49 Signif­ icance Mean (N-64) Mean (N-44) Mean (N-32) .72 1.04 1.30 1.44 .11 . . 3.17 3.05 2.68 2.47 .09* Career Change . . . 4.16 3.48 3.55 3.69 .14 Life Concerns . . . 1.03 1.20 1.18 1.69 .18 . . 2.58 2.35 1.97 2.05 .30 Knowledge Interest . 3.22 3.16 3.49 3.83 .15 Academic Exploration 2.18 1.87 1.92 2.19 .61 Social Concern . . . 1.95 1.68 1.68 1.90 .67 Career Improvement . 1.26 1.57 1.44 1.33 .60 .26 .64 .80 .50 Renewal Interest 1.36 1.42 1.51 1.50 .94 Life Exploration . . 2.60 2.36 2.69 2.46 .69 .94 .84 .79 .80 .85 Career Entry/Re­ entry ........ Upward Mobility External Career Escape Interest Social Interest . . . . *Signifleant at .10. .03* 101 30 to 34 ★ 4.0 40 to 44 © 45 to 49 □ 3.0 2.0 1.0 ORIENTATIONS FIGURE 4.3— Differences in educational motivation orientations by the variable of age 102 Post-entry. No needs were significantly related. Overall, few important percentage differences were found. Those in their late forties, however, tended to express needs less often, except for planning their studies. Summary data on needs are reported in Appendix B. Pre-entry and Post-entry Service Use and Satisfaction No reliable statistical procedure could be applied to University service use and satisfaction data because the distribution per age group was usually less than 10. These data were not reported. Analysis of Sample Data by the Variable of College Demographic Characteristics A chi-square procedure tested the null hypothesis: The variable of college was not significantly related .10 to any of the demographic characteristics of the mid-life sample. For analysis, four major college groups were des­ ignated: Liberal Arts (College of Arts and Letters (28), Justin Morrill College (18), and University College (8)— total 54); Social Sciences and James Madison College Human Services (College of Social Science (49), (1)--total 50); Professional/ (College of Education (20) , College of Human Ecology (19), College of Business (15), College of Communication Arts (3), and College of Urban Development 103 (1)— total 58); and Professional/Technical (College of Natural Science (16), College of Engineering (9), College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (16)— total 41). Appendix B reports those non-significant items not dis­ cussed in this section. Sex. It was reported previously (page 77) that the variable sex realted significantly to college of enrollment. Academic Background. Class level, previous degree, and credit load related significantly. Those in the Professional/Technical colleges were more likely to be seniors and to have earned a baccalaureate degree pre­ viously. Those in Professional/Human Services colleges were leastly likely to have earned a baccalaureate degree previously. Those in the Liberal Arts and Social Sciences colleges were more likely enrolled part-time. Socio-economic Background. significantly. Occupations related Those in the Professional/Technical and Professional/Human Services colleges were more likely employed in professional-technical occupations. Those in Liberal Arts and Social Sciences colleges were more likely employed in clerical-sales occupations. Financial Background. significantly. Annual pay foregone related Those in Liberal Arts and Social Sciences colleges were more likely not foregoing pay to attend college. TABLE 4.19— Demographic characteristics related significantly to the variable of college Variables Liberal Arts Social Professional/ Professional/ Signif­ icance Sciences Human Services Technical # % (N=54) # X (N*50) # % (N=58) # % (N=41) Class Level: .081 Freshmen ............... Sophomores ............. . . . Juniors ................. Seniors ................. No answer ............... 4 7.4 1 3 19 27 2.0 6.0 38.0 54.0 1 4 26 27 1.7 6.9 44.8 46.6 3 2 5 29 2 7.3 4.9 12.2 70.7 4.9 .006 Previous Degree: Y e s .................... 5 10.0 1 1.7 10 24.4 30 60.0 19 38.0 1 2.0 31 53.4 27 46.6 20 48.8 20 48.7 1 2.5 Credit Load: Part-time ............... . . . Full-time ............... No answer ............... 42 77.7 Occupations: Professional-Technical Manager-Administrative .004 . . . . . . . . . 11 20.4 7 14.0 8 16.0 17 29.3 2 3.4 16 39.0 5 12.2 TABLE 4.19 (cont'd) Variables Clerical-Sales ............ . . Agriculture and Forestry . . . Tradesmen ................. Miscellaneous ............. Liberal Arts Social Professional/ Professional/ Sciences Human Services Technical * % (N=54) # % (N=50) t % (N=58) 11 20.4 2 3.7 7 14.0 0 .0 3 6.0 11 22.0 3 5.2 0 .0 4 6.9 16 22.6 I Z (N=41) 3 2 3 8 7.3 4.9 7.3 19.5 Pay Foregone: Z e r o .................... . . Less than $5,000 .......... . . Over $5,000 ................ No answer ................. . . Signif­ icance .001 26 48.1 6 11.1 15 27.8 24 48.0 1 2.0 13 26.0 12 24.0 10 12 18 18 17.2 20.6 31.0 31.0 11 2 13 15 26.8 4.9 31.8 36.5 106 Educational Motivations An F-test analysis of variance procedure tested the null hypothesis: College groups in the sample did not differ significantly .10 in their overall ratings of ed­ ucational motivation orientations. A test of factors was not attempted. Two orientations differed significantly. Those in Professional/Human Services colleges rated External Career Interest .70 to 1.30 higher, and those in Liberal Arts colleges rated it .57 to 1.30 lower. Those in Professional/Technical colleges rated Career Improvement .42 to .76 higher than any other college group. Pre-entry and Post-entry Needs A chi-square procedure tested the null hypothesis: The variable of college was not significantly related .10 to any of the expressed pre-entry and post-entry needs of the mid-life sample. Pre-entry. No needs were significantly related. Overall, those in the two professional college groups expressed fewer needs. Those in Liberal Arts and Social Sciences colleges expressed a 21.8% to 22.9% greater need than other college groups for planning their studies, and 12.2% to 14% greater need for assessing their aptitudes. TABLE 4.20— Educational motivation orientations related significantly to the variable of college Orientations External Career .......... Career Improvement ........ Life Concerns ............ Life Exploration .......... Knowledge Interest ........ Career Change ............ Social Concern ............ Academic Exploration ....... Career Entry/Re-entry . . . . Renewal Interest .......... Social Interest .......... Escape Interest .......... Upward Mobility .......... ^Significant at .10. Liberal Arts Professional/ Professional/ Social Sciences Human Services Technical Mean (N=54) Mean (N=50) Mean (N-58) Mean (N=4l) 1.70 1.14 1.17 2.67 3.49 3.42 1.77 2.25 .91 1.50 .65 .50 2.82 2.27 1.14 1.47 2.73 3.33 3.94 2.16 2.06 .92 1.17 .96 .72 2.93 2.99 1.48 1.41 2.42 3.53 4.11 1.70 2.06 1.35 1.40 .92 .50 3.04 2.29 1.90 .78 2.11 2.88 3.63 1.62 1.63 .98 1.68 .83 .38 2.93 Signif­ icance .00* .02* .11 .14 .14 .19 .26 .35 .36 .39 .48 .58 .91 108 Those in Social Science colleges expressed 9.9% to 19.8% greater need for choosing a college, 8.1% to 14.9% greater for planning a career, and 6.7% to 11.6% greater for ob­ taining finances. They also expressed a greater incidence of not seeking University service to satisfy five out of the six needs surveyed. Post-entry. Only the need for planning studies was significantly related. Those in Professional/Technical colleges expressed 16% to 30% lesser need overall. Generally, those in Social Science colleges ex­ pressed 11.5% to 19.7% greater need for assistance with solving problems. Otherwise, differences were minimal. Summary data on needs are reported in Appendix B. Pre-entry and Post-entry Service Use andsatisfaction No reliable statistical procedure could be applied to University use and satisfaction data because distribution per college group was usually less than 25. Summary data are presented in Appendix B. Analysis of Selected Sample Data by the Variable of Previous Degree The researcher had intended to, but could not, exclude second bachelor's candidates from the study. It was assumed that these more educationally experienced students would differ greatly from the students with less academic experience. A further analysis of some of the 109 data, reported in Appendix C, supported this assumption. For example, second bachelor's were significantly over­ represented among males. They were more likely than other students in the sample to be seniors, to have had exper­ ience in a four year public college, to be enrolled in Professional/Technical colleges, to have never married, to have enrolled the first time in college in their teens, to be in their early thirties, and to have used GI benefits. They generally rated all educational motivation orientations lower, except for Career Improvement for which their rating was .46 higher. Their expressed needs were generally less, especially for planning their studies and finding Univer­ sity services. Formation of Educational Motivation Groups by Factor Analysis The Blind Multiple Groups Program PACKAGE analysed the educational motivation orientations of 136 students. The proportion of variance accounted for by the 12 orien­ tations ranged from .24 to .2. Ten groups were formed based on the 136 subjects largest factor loading in the final varimax rotation. The number of subjects in each group and their reliability coefficient alphas were: Group A--47 (.99), Group B— 44 Group D— 8 (.92), Group E--5 (.98), Group C— 19 (.68), Group F— 4 (.76), Group G — 2 (.36), Group H — 4 (.76), Group I--2 Group J — 1 (1.00). (.96), (.69), and Because the number of subjects was 110 was small, or the alpha scores low and thus not reliable, Groups E through J were dropped from further analysis. Differences Among Educational Motivation Groups A major question was: In what ways did these groups differ in their overall pattern of educational motivation orientations? Therefore, an F-test analysis of variance procedure tested the null hypothesis: Educational Motiva­ tional Groups A, B, C, and D did not differ significantly .10 in their educational motivation orientations. Escape Interest and Social Interest were not significantly different. An examination of the data showed that, among the eleven significantly different orientations, Knowledge Interest and Social Concerns were not powerful discriminators. The following are the ways in which these four groups appeared to differ: Group A — External Career Influence Oriented: Com­ posed of 47 subjects, they rated Upward Mobility, Career Change, External Career Interest, and Knowledge Interest high. Generally, they were career oriented, rating Exter­ nal Career Influence 1.51 to 2.78 higher than any other group. Group B— Exploration Oriented: Composed of 44 sub­ jects, they rated Upward Mobility, Career Change, Life Exploration, Academic Exploration, and Knowledge Interest Ill high. Although they rated Life Concerns 1.44, that was the highest rating overall for that orientation. Generally, they were exploration oriented, rating Life Exploration 1.15 to 1.70 higher, and Academic Exploration 1.40 to 1.67 higher than the other groups. They rated Career Improve­ ment .54 to 2.06 lower, and External Career Interest .89 to 2.78 lower than the other groups. Group C— Career Improvement Oriented: Composed of 19 subjects, they rated Upward Mobility, Career Improve­ ment and Knowledge Interest high, and External Career In­ terest moderately. Generally, they were career oriented, rating Career Improvement 1.06 to 1.66 higher than the other groups. They rated Career Change 3.24 to 3.70 lower than the other groups. Group D— Renewal Oriented: Composed of 8 subjects, they rated Career Change, Career Entry/Re-entry, Renewal Interest, and Knowledge Interest high, and Life Exploration moderately. Generally, they were renewal oriented, rating Renewal Interest 1.17 to 1.70 higher, and Career Entry/ Re-entry higher than any other group. They rated Upward Mobility 1.95 to 2.65 lower than any other group. Description of Educational Motivation Groups Demographic Characteristics The examination of several demographic character­ istics showed that in several respects these educational 112 TABLE 4.21— Educational motivation orientations of educational motivation orientation groups Orientations External Career Explora­ tion Mean (N-47) Mean (N-44) 4.64 4.18 .94 4.63 .000 Knowledge Interest . . 3.07 4.00 2.87 3.81 .002 Upward Mobility . . . 3.65 2.95 3.34 1.00 .000 External Career . . . 3.77 .99 2.26 1.88 .000 Life Exploration . . . 1.73 3.43 1.84 2.28 .000 Academic Exploration . 1.48 2.98 1.58 1.31 .000 Social Concern . . . . 1.17 2.29 1.16 1.96 .000 Renewal Interest . . . 1.18 1.38 1.71 2.88 .060 Career Improvement . . 1.34 .80 2.86 1.20 .000 Career Entry/Re-entry .87 .92 .37 3.00 .000 Life Concerns .62 1.44 .55 .63 .001 Career Change .... .... Career Improve­ ment Mean (N-19) Renewal Signif­ icance Mean (N-8) Social Interest . . . .57 .93 .54 .62 .240* Escape Interest . . . .44 .30 .50 .19 .610* *Not significant .10. 113 □ ★ External Career Oriented □ Exploration Oriented • Career Improvement Oriented 0 Renewal Oriented 4.0 □ o □ 3.0 - c □ 2.0 o □ I □ □ ■< 1.0 □ c c K u E T JL JL L E A F S C R C I c E L C S I ORIENTATIONS FIGURE 4.4— -Differences in educational motivation orientation ratings of educational motivation groups 114 motivation groups were similar. Most were enrolled part- time, had attended one college previously (usually a junior or community college), had stopped out of college 10 years or less, were married with a spouse, had financially de­ pendent children in elementary or junior and senior high school, expended $2,000 or less annually to attend MSU, and used thir own or their spouse's earnings and saving to pay for college. In other respects, they were different as follows: External Career Influence Oriented: They were youngest overall (36.1 mean years), with 77% of them under age 40. The sex mix was 70% female to 30% male. They enrolled frequently in Professional/Human Services colleges (40%), were likely to have first enrolled in their teens (68.1%), had the most full-time enrollment (44.6%), were principally seniors separation rate (60%), had the highest divorce and (29.8%), and held Professional-Technical positions or were homemakers. Exploration Oriented: They were most evenly dis­ tributed by age, with about half above and below age 40. The sex mix was about 70% female to 30% male. They were most likely to have first enrolled in college in their thirties or forties (40.9%), were enrolled frequently in Liberal Arts colleges (38.9%), were principally juniors (54.5%), had the greatest representation among freshmen and sophomores (20.4%), and held Professional-Technical, 115 Manager-Administrative, Clerical-Sales, or homemaker pos­ itions . Career Improvement Oriented: They were highly represented by those in their late thirties (52.6%), and had the greatest representation of males (42.1%). They were just as likely to have first enrolled in college in their teens or their twenties, were frequently enrolled in Professional/Technical colleges (36.8%), and held the greatest percentage of Professional-Technical (42.1%) and Manager-Administrative (26.3%) positions. Renewal Oriented: They were the oldest group overall (39.9 mean years), with 75% in their forties. They were all females, had first enrolled in college in their teens, were frequently enrolled in Professional/ Human Services colleges (50%), and were principally sen­ iors (75%) . All were married living with a spouse. virtually had no financially dependent children. All And most were not employed. Pre-entry and Post-entry Needs Pre-entry. Expressed need for planning studies, planning a career, and choosing a college were similar among these groups. The Renewal Oriented group expressed 12.5% to 24.3% lower need for obtaining finances. The Exploration Oriented group expressed 8% to 19.7% greater need for assessing aptitudes and for updating learning skills. 116 TABLE 4.22— Selected demographic characteristics of educational motiva­ tion groups Variables External Career Exploraation if % (N-47) if % (N-44) Career Improve­ ment if % (N-19) 18 38.3 18 38.3 6 12.8 5 10.6 (36.1) (31.0) (35.0) 13 29.5 9 20.5 14 31.9 8 18.2 (38.7) (42.0) (39.0) 2 10.5 10 52.6 5 26.3 2 10.5 (38.7) (37.0) (39.0) 2 25.0 0 .0 4 50.0 2 25.0 (39.9) (40.0) (40.0) 33 70.2 14 29.8 30 71.4 14 28.6 11 57.9 8 42.1 8 100.0 0 .0 11 23.4 8 17.0 11 26.2 16 38.9 5 26.3 3 15.8 2 25.0 2 25.0 19 40.4 9 19.1 10 23.8 5 11.9 4 21.1 7 36.8 4 50.0 0 .0 3 6.4 16 34.0 28 59.6 9 20.4 24 54.5 11 25.0 1 5.3 8 42.1 10 52.6 1 12.5 0 .0 7 75.0 26 55.3 21 34.7 (10.5) (12.0) (10.0) 31 72.1 13 27.9 (8.7) (4.0) (8.0) 15 79.0 4 21.0 (8.3) (4.0) (8.0) 5 62.5 3 37.5 (9.1) (9.0) (8.5) Renewal if % (N-8) Age; 30 to 3 4 ............ 35 to 3 9 ............ 40 to 44 ............ 45 to 49 ............ Mean ............... M ode ............... Median .............. Sex; Female .............. M ale .......... . College Groups: Social Sciences . . . . Liberal Arts ........ Professional/Human Services .......... Professional/Technical . Class Level: Freshman and Sophomore . Junior .............. Senior........ . Credit Load: Part-time .......... Full-time .......... Mean............... Mode............... Median .............. 117 TABLE 4.22 (cont'd) Variables External Career # % (N-47) Explora­ tion # % (N-44) Career Improve­ ment # % (N-19) Renewal # % (N-8) Previous College: 23.4 66.0 12.8 31.9 8 28 3 5 19.0 63.6 13.6 11.9 68.1 17.0 12.8 2.1 14 12 12 6 31.8 27.2 27.2 13.7 8 42.1 8 42.1 3 15.8 0 .0 (6.0) 23 52.3 16 36.4 5 11.3 (6.3) ( .0) (9.0) 10 52.6 8 42.1 1 5.3 (6.5) (5.0) (5.0) 2 25.0 6 75.0 0 .0 (12.4) (12.4) (12.0) 28 59.6 14 29.8 5 10.6 30 68.2 9 20.5 5 11.3 14 73.7 4 21.1 1 5.3 8 100.1 0 .1 0 .1 . . 7 14.9 13 27.7 4 9.0 13 29.5 2 10.5 6 31.6 0 0 . . . 11 23.4 5 10.6 1 2.1 17 38.6 4 9.0 2 4.5 9 47.4 3 15.8 1 5.3 1 12.5 .0 0 0 .0 None ................ Community college . . . Private four year . . . Public four year . . . . 11 31 6 15 3 14 3 6 15.8 73.7 15.8 31.6 3 3 1 2 37.5 37.5 12.5 25.0 First Enrollment Age: Teens ......... Twenties ....... Thirties ....... Forties ....... 6 75.0 .0 0 2 25.0 .0 0 Period Stopped Out; Less than 5 years . . . More than 5 years . . . No answer Mean . . . .......... Mode . . . Median . . .......... 22 46.8 22 46.8 (7.6) Marital Status; Married living with spouse ............ Divorced or separated Never married ....... Lnancial Dependents: Pre-school children . Elementary children . Junior or senior high school children . . Children in college . Children out of school .0 .0 118 TABLE 4.22 (cont'd) Variables External Career # % (N-47) Exploration Career Improve­ ment Renewal # X (N-44) # X (N-19) # X (N-8) Major Occupations; Professional-Technical . Manager-Administrative . Homemakers ........... Clerical-Sales ....... Tradesmen ........... Service . . ......... Miscellaneous ....... No answer ......... 38.3 4.3 21.3 8.5 4.3 .0 .0 23.4 7 6 11 8 2 2 4 4 15.9 13.6 25.0 18.2 4.5 4.5 9.1 9.1 8 5 0 2 0 2 0 1 42.1 26.3 .0 10.5 .0 10.5 .0 5.3 0 .0 0 .0 6 75.0 ,0 0 0 .0 0 .0 1 12.5 1 12.5 31 66.0 12 25.5 4 8.5 .0 0 31 7 3 3 70.5 15.9 6.8 6.8 13 3 2 1 68.4 15.8 10.5 5.3 6 75.0 2 25.0 0 .0 0 .0 35 74.5 33 75.0 18 94.7 4 50.0 20 42.6 18 40.9 9 47.7 6 75.0 15 31.9 13 29.5 5 26.3 2 25.0 11.4 13.6 18.2 9.1 4.5 2 2 3 1 2 10.5 10,5 15.8 5.3 10.5 0 0 0 0 0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 5 11.4 0 .0 0 .0 18 2 10 4 2 0 0 11 Annual Cost; $2,000 or less ....... $2,001 to $4,000 . . . . Above $4,000 ......... No a n s w e r ......... . . Financial Sources; Own earnings or savings. Spouse earnings or savings ........... Scholarship, fellowship, or grant from MSU . . Educational loan from M S U .............. GI benefits ......... Employer's plan .. . . Paid release plan . . . Loan outside MSU .. . . Inheritance, loans, or gifts ............ 7 8 6 2 4 14.9 17.0 12.8 4.3 8.5 6 12.8 5 6 8 4 2 119 The Exploration Oriented group appeared most often not to seek University service when they had a need. How­ ever, the numbers represented are small and percentage differences are misleading. Post-entry. Expressed need for planning studies was similar among these groups. The Renewal Oriented group tended to express the least needs overall. The other three groups were similar in their expressed need for ob­ taining finances and solving problems. The Exploration Oriented group had the greatest need for finding University services and planning a career, followed next by the Ex­ ternal Career Oriented group. The Exploration Oriented group and the Career Improvement group had the greatest expressed need for updating learning skills. The Exploration Oriented group and the External Career Oriented group appeared most often not to seek University service when they had a need. However, the numbers represented are small and percentage differences are misleading. Pre-entry and Post-entry Service Use an