Dropout of adult learners returning to university: Interactions of motivational and environmental factors
| Author | A. Jacot - M. Frenay - A.-M. Cazan |
| Pages | 83-90 |
A. Jacot - Psychological Sciences Research Institute (IPSY), Université catholique de Louvain (UCL). This study was supported by a grant from the FRS-FNRS entitled 'Effects of self-determination, self-efficacy and perceived instrumentality on involvement and performance in university continuing education'. Supervisors: E. Bourgeois, F. Nils & F. de Viron.
M. Frenay - Psychological Sciences Research Institute (IPSY), Université catholique de Louvain (UCL). This study was supported by a grant from the FRS-FNRS entitled 'Effects of self-determination, self-efficacy and perceived instrumentality on involvement and performance in university continuing education'. Supervisors: E. Bourgeois, F. Nils & F. de Viron.
A.-M. Cazan - Department of Psychology, Transilvania University of Brasov.
Page 83
Even if the number of adults returning to university is growing up, [11] a lot of them dropout before diploma completion. Many obstacles, to which this population is confronted, may have an impact on the successful completion of their program: adult learners have personal, family and professional commitments on top of their educational commitment. [29] As few research explored this population, the interactions between these specific contextual and motivational variables used to predict the engagement of traditional students should be examined thoroughly.[33] Moreover, although a lot of researchers showed the relevance of the expectancy-value model for traditional students, [17] [28] few observed that this paradigm is also relevant for studying motivation of adult learners returning to university. [5] Given these considerations, the purpose of this article is to propose a motivational and environmental modelling built from seventeen semi-structured interviews and to explain the interactions between the different factors leading to dropout.
Before explaining how the expectancy- value model can be useful to understand the motivational dynamic of adult students, we focus on personal characteristics ofPage 84these adults and the reasons why they engage in a university program. Afterwards, we consider the different contexts in which they are committed and that can act as an obstacle or a stimulus on persistence. Finally, the specific expectations of this population concerning the learning situation are discussed.
The literature distinguishes these adults called "nontraditional students‟ [6] from traditional students. The first ones are 25 and older and have interrupted their education for at least one year, [22] [23] They are more likely to be married and have family and professional responsibilities. [3] Given their life trajectory, several authors showed that age, previous educational training, and family and professional status and health can have an impact on the non perseverance in the attended program. [25] Even if dropout may take different forms, it is generally defined as a departure from the university without adult learner achieving his degree. [31]
Adult learners engaged in a program have personal and/or professional goals. Based on the taxonomy of entry motives for nontraditional students [8], researchers showed that epistemic (for the knowledge itself), self promotional (for the self- image), vocational (for a professional project) and professional operatory (to acquire professional competencies) reasons are the most quoted reasons to explain their enrolment in an academic program. [35]
The major concepts of expectancy and value proposed by Eccles and Wigfield, [16] [17] [36] in their model (see those references for a full explanation) were used to understand how motivational and contextual factors interact in the dropout of adult learners returning to university.
According to these two authors, the strongest determinants of achievement behaviours, namely task choice, self- regulated learning, perseverance and performance, are meaning and value taken by the task (task value) and individual‟s judgments about his/her likelihood of success (expectancy).
The task value refers to four distinct components: attainment value, interest value, utility value and cost. Attainment value, which is closely related to the self-promotional motive, [8] refers to the perceived importance for the self-image of doing well on a task. The task will be considered important if the individual perceives his/her engagement in the task as central to his own sense of himself/herself. In the context of adult learners and according to the identity dynamic theory, their engagement depends on the relevance and efficiency of the educational program to reach their identity goals. [4]
Interest or intrinsic value is the enjoyment or pleasure felt by the individual performing the activity or the subjective interest that he/she has developed in the subject. This component is related to the concept of intrinsic motivation as defined by Deci and his colleagues [14] and to the concept of epistemic motive. [8]
Utility value, the more extrinsic component, is determined by how well a task relates to individual‟s future goals, such as acquiring a specific competence or degree linked to vocational and professional operatory entry motives of the adult student. [2] [8] [34] Even if the individual is not intrinsically motivated for the task, the latter can have positive value because it facilitates important future goals of the individual.
The last component of value concerns the cost which is a critical component of value, in particular for adult learners who withdraw their academic program. The cost‟s conceptualization refers to thePage 85negative aspects of engaging in the task which include the amount of effort needed to succeed in the task, the time required for training that could be used for other valued activities and the emotional aspects such as performance anxiety and fear of failure. [12] Furthermore, in the adult learner‟s literature, a lot of authors studied costs dimension trough the question of barriers, sacrifices...
To continue reading
Request your trial