2019 Annual Conference

Community, Vocational, and Technical Colleges

Fast Format (7 minutes)

This literature review examined adult-learners’ concerns during their initial college years. Results indicated that concerns include not having viable college support services. Results further indicated that adult learners’ economic empowerment and academic success is enhanced by effective college student services and a college’s established relationships with the outside workforce community.

The target audience for this session includes teachers, administrators, department heads, graduate students and researchers who are interested in addressing adult learners’ challenges with maintaining continued participation in higher education – and adult learners' low college completion rates. Particularly, researchers and policymakers who are interested in learning more about the views, concerns, and challenges of adult learners who are socio-economically disadvantaged students, minority students, and/or disabled students.

Attendees of this session will be made aware of the fact that the dilemmas associated with establishing new career paths for adult learners, especially socio-economically disadvantaged students, minority students, and disabled students, are not new - these dilemmas have been occurring for nearly fifty years. Attendees of this session will also be made aware of the fact that because of changing demographics as they pertain to adult learners becoming more of a majority of college enrollees, disadvantaged groups of adult learners are in a better position to finally see some meaningful resolve for some of their concerns.

This study addresses a years-long recurring challenge likely being experienced by many of the 31 million adult learners who are repeatedly returning to colleges in an effort to discover new meaning for their lives. The timeliness and relevance of this study is that we are currently at a crossroads where adult learners need college as much as many colleges need adult learner enrollees. During this significant time in our history, this study’s intent is to keep at the forefront, the following discussion: as adult learners continuously attempt to maintain control of their lives by embracing their commitment of achieving new meaning in their lives – the gatekeepers of higher education should not only open the doors to higher education, but also provide a thoroughfare towards student success. More specifically, as it pertains to adult learners’ development and economic empowerment - when adult learners apply their talents, their time, and their effort towards a goal of attending college and establishing a viable career – the higher education system should hold itself accountable for linking adult learners’ commitments with practicable options for them to establish new career paths.

This session will be organized and presented as a twelve-slide, seven-minute fast-format presentation. Each slide will contain adult learner related images accompanied by text and/or data to support each point being communicated.