THE EXPERIENCE OF ACADEMIC SUCCESSAMONG NON-TRADITIONAL AGED LEARNERS:THE ROLE OF POSSIBLE SELVES IN THE PERSISTENCEOF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY STUDENTSBy Susan TonsThis study explored how non-traditional aged students in professional leveloccupational therapy programs persisted through their long and challenging academiccurriculums despite facing obstacles. Non-traditional aged students are gravitating tomajors in the professions and there are very few studies in which theoretical frameworkson student departure or persistence have been applied to students in the professions, suchas the health care profession of occupational therapy. Most retention studies focus onstudents in non-specified majors. It was suspected that students majoring in a health careprofession such as occupational therapy may have characteristics and needs that differfrom students seeking degrees in other majors.This qualitative study asked participants who successfully persisted despiteobstacles to tell their story in the narrative inquiry tradition. Cross-case analysis was alsodone to discover common patterns of experience related to the phenomena being studied.Sixteen non-traditional aged students from four institutions with accredited occupationaltherapy academic programs were interviewed.A distinctive finding was related to the motivation of the participants. Theparticipants in this study expressed unique motivations for pursuing their degree, whichare not explicitly mentioned in the education retention literature. Participants all spoke ofa desire to become someone different or someone better, the majority stating that theywanted to be in a position to help others or contribute to society. Enrollment in theirprogram was viewed as a way to enact this desire to become "a new possible self" andwas intertwined with strong determination, what some participants described as"mindset."The findings also reflected that these occupational therapy students were similarto other non-traditional aged students in some ways. Their persistence was affected by thetype and amount of support they received, and they also faced challenges balancingcompeting roles in their life such as employee, student, parent, and spouse. However, themajority of these participants faced an additional challenge to balance. Many were alsostruggling with a medical condition in themselves or had a close family member whofaced significant health issues.
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