This document reviews research on the factors affecting the retention of adult students, discusses the relevance of some attrition models for adults, and presents strategies for helping adults adapt to the university and for adapting the university to adults. Reviewing factors affecting retention, the digest says that student characteristics,…

Organizations are being urged to become "high performance work organizations" (HPWOs) and vocational teachers have begun considering how best to prepare workers for them. Little consensus exists as to what HPWOs are. Several common characteristics of HPWOs have been identified, and two distinct models of HPWOs are emerging in the United…

At the heart of the controversy over market-driven continuing education programs is the issue of whether they are necessarily antithetical to the principles and philosophy of adult learning. Opponents identify the following problems of market-driven programs: they perpetuate inequality by neglecting needs of those less able to pay; they may meet…

Trends and issues related to arts and humanities in adult and continuing education can be categorized in three ways: ways of knowing, informal sites of learning, and cultural pluralism. The arts and humanities are vehicles for critical reflection, and they present paths to the individual construction of knowledge that are intuitive, relational,…

The skills most often mentioned in definitions of critical thinking are the ability to think creatively, make decisions, solve problems, visualize, reason, analyze, interpret, and know how to learn. Vocational education should be involved in developing thinking skills for the following reasons: occupations are becoming more reliant on cognitive…

According to surveys of companies employing more than 100 workers, the number of companies with diversity training (DT) programs increased from 40% in 1992 to 50-56% in 1996. Motivations behind DT include compliance with legal mandates, fear of lawsuits, social justice, desire to expand into diverse markets, and overall organizational…

Adult educators concerned with inclusiveness and social justice are addressing issues related to students who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered (GLBT). Although research in mainstream adult education and published adult education materials that include GLBT issues and concerns are scarce, more resources have appeared in the last few…

Incidental learning is unintentional or unplanned learning that results from other activities. It occurs often in the workplace, during the use of computers, and in the process of completing tasks. Incidental learning occurs in many ways, including the following: through observation, repetition, social interaction, and problem solving; from…

The convergence of three trends makes service to minority students an imperative for continuing education: (1) increasing proportions of diverse groups in the U.S. population and work force; (2) continuing education and retraining as keys to survival in a workplace of change; and (3) declining college enrollments of diverse populations and…

Life is more complex than ever for adults in the 21st century as a result of technological advances; the changing nature of work, workplaces, and working relationships; international economic competition; the changing demographics of workers, families, and communities; and longer life spans. Learning to cope with all these changing…

A somatic approach to education implies education that trusts individuals to learn from and listen to the information they are receiving from the interaction of self with the environment. Somatic or embodied knowing is experiential knowledge that involves senses, perceptions, and mind-body action and reaction. Western culture has been dominated by…

Adult learning can be challenging and traumatic events can exacerbate the process. Symptoms such as difficulty beginning new tasks, fear of risk taking, eroded self-esteem, or inability to concentrate can be evidence of past or current trauma and may be manifested by a learner missing class, avoiding tests, or behaving inappropriately during class…