Official policy texts in England have long assumed that students make their Higher Education choices in an individualized, rational and context-free manner. Under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government (2010-2015), a greater emphasis was placed on accomplishing higher levels of widening participation in elite institutions. Those…

In the context of active development of further education services many universities become interested in engaging students into further education programs. From this perspective, it is extremely important to determine relevant social factors majorly impacting the students' representation about further education and its role in building and…

This article reports on issues of diversity in the context of "widening participation" in "global higher education" (HE). Mature students represent a third of the HE student population in Australia, Canada, UK and the USA. More research is needed to understand factors that can facilitate or hinder access to HE for this group.…

In this paper John Butcher challenges policymakers and the English higher education sector to act urgently to address the decline in part-time higher education. Although the drop in part-time student numbers has been well-reported in a series of quantitative studies, the problem persists. The dramatic reduction in part-time learners…

Research on the socially-situated nature of learning shows how practices and identities are affected by participation in communities, but very little is known about how mature-age students experience the relational dynamics of university. Based on data from a qualitative study of first-year students, we consider written accounts by older learners…

This paper represents a contribution to the Skills Commission's call in 2009 for more research into the attitudes of apprentices towards advanced further education and higher education. Understanding of the perspective of apprentices has been argued to be important to informing any policy change aimed at increasing the low progression rate of…

The leadership of the United States Fire Service (FS) believes that higher education increases the professionalism of FS members. The research problem at the research site, which is a multisite fire department located in southeastern United States, was the lack of research-based findings on the factors influencing the achievement of higher…

Community colleges serve as the postsecondary college of choice for many adult students. Community colleges are aware of their increased role in postsecondary education and understand that they must continue to analyze student populations and adapt to their needs as well as maintain their open access philosophy. This study was conducted at the 15…

Many African Americans are leaving high school prior to graduation and are entering college for the first time beyond the age of 30 years, a phenomenon that has an effect on school systems, the community, and society as a whole. The research problem addressed was the need to understand the experience of an increasing number of African Americans…

To ensure reliable, accurate, and timely data, which are necessary to monitor the progress of education in the United States, Congress has mandated that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) produce an annual report, "The Condition of Education." This year's report presents 59 indicators of important developments and trends…