Non-traditional students represent an important group of university students, and that is why their motivation to study is an important factor that affects current university education. This study investigates the academic motivation of Czech students who are considered non-traditional because of their age (they are older than 26) and at the same time have experienced a break of at least one year in their formal educational trajectory. The Czech version of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) has been used to measure academic motivation. The purpose of this study is to examine the factor structure of the Czech version of the AMS on a sample of 1,885 first-year students at Masaryk University and determine if this tool is functional even on a specific group of non-traditional students and to identify differences in particular types of academic motivation between traditional and non-traditional students. The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Czech version of the AMS is a valid scale with a factor structure corresponding to the original model, and based on measurement invariance analysis we can state that the Czech version of the AMS can be used to compare traditional and non-traditional students. The results of regression analyses suggest that non-traditional students had significantly higher values for all types of intrinsic motivation and lower values for most types of extrinsic motivation. In the case of amotivation, it was again the non-traditional students with significantly lower values, which suggests that the absence of a motivation to study tends to be more common in younger students who are continuously receiving formal education.
This article aims to identify, measure, and deeply understand the educational trajectories of non-traditional students (students over the age of 26 who are enrolled following a break in their formal educational trajectory) studying for education degrees in the Czech Republic. To fulfill the aims, we adapted previously identified types of educational trajectories that are traveled by non-traditional students to the circumstances of the Czech higher education system. We measured the distribution of three types (deferrers, returners, and recurrent learners) in a sample of 713 non-traditional students. We found that the types were nearly evenly distributed, with a slight prevalence of deferrers. For a deeper understanding of these types, we analyzed 30 narrative interviews. Qualitative data revealed each group's specific features, including their attitudes toward higher education studies, their academic enculturation, and their academic skills. We suggest that the returner type should be split into two categories for more specific quantitative analysis. On the basis of our research, we offer tailored recommendations for supporting particular groups of non-traditional students.
The needs of the market and of knowledge society, combined with democratic ideals, have justified policies that encourage the adult population to continue their studies. Portugal has been following this political movement, which in turn drives non-traditional students to higher education. In order to uncover the reasons that lead these students to enter higher education and the challenges it poses to them, research was conducted using biographical narratives. These narratives revealed the existence and effects of intrinsic motivations related to the satisfaction of learning and to the pleasures of taking part in stimulating activities and of achieving or overcoming something. They also showed the importance of having strategies to combat dispositional, situational, and institutional barriers in order to prevent non-traditional students from dropping out.
The high dropout rate among working students in higher education in Portugal, including both those who are older and at a mature stage in their professional careers and those who are young and recent workers, is one of the main concerns of educational policy. Identifying the drivers of the academic pathway for these students is essential to promote successful education and increase labour productivity and business competitiveness. Using an extensive longitudinal database of personal, course, and employment variables of 1,561 working students from a Portuguese higher education institution, we perform a duration analysis to determine and compare the factors that drive the dropout and graduation risks of mature and young working students in higher education. The results show that, in general, young working students are more positively influenced by financial aid, their motivation for the course, and the desire to find a new qualified professional career, while mature working students depend more on social and academic integration. The accumulation of knowledge/skills in the 'out of class' experience seems to contribute positively to academic performance.
Pathways to German higher education have diversified considerably during recent decades and approximately one quarter of all first year students enter higher education with a qualification for the skilled labour market. This contribution seeks to identify different types of pathways to higher education and examine the differences among these groups regarding five dimensions of self-reported academic readiness. For our analyses, we used data on Starting Cohort 5 of the National Educational Panel Study. Our results suggest that for most of the indicators of academic readiness, students who entered via non-traditional pathways reported lower levels of academic readiness than traditional students did. In particular, students without a formal higher-education entrance certificate reported lower levels of academic readiness than any other group did. These patterns remained largely stable after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and institutional destination.
This article gives an overview about current research on non-traditional students and alumni in Germany. Its aim is to highlight similarities and differences with their traditional counterparts. The paper concentrates on the motivation to study, study performance, and labor market success (status and income) of those who do not hold a traditional higher education entrance certificate but entered university via occupational qualification. We show a widespread divergence in findings from no statistical difference at all to clear differences between non-traditional and traditional students and alumni. This holds true with regard to student motivation, study performance, and labor market success after graduation. We conclude that biggest challenge is the non-completion rates of non-traditional students, which poses a development task for institutions of higher education.
The notion of employability has been dominating the higher education policies and strategies of the European Union and other western countries for two decades. From an employability perspective, individuals are responsible for acquiring the skills to find and move between jobs, market themselves, and effectively express their social, personal, and cultural capital. This article focuses on non-traditional students' perspectives of their transition from higher education to working life, especially on the pathways they have taken and the struggles they have experienced in becoming employable. A biographical learning perspective is used to analyse biographical interviews with five female students who were 25 years of age or older, with a non-Swedish background, studying full time. In the students' stories, four transition pathways from higher education to working life were identified: a linear, a parallel, a further education, and a changing career pathway. The five non-traditional students struggled with becoming employable and seemed to be anxious about not being good enough at Swedish; being an outsider as a student; being overqualified; and facing discrimination in the labour market. These employability struggles mainly arise due to the assumption that all graduates are young, Swedish, without children or disabilities, and competing only with their employability within an equal labour market. Thus, the notion of employability still gives little attention to non-traditional students and has negative consequences for them.