research, the semi interview, as it would have resulted in just one part time student being interviewed. Instead, four part time and six full time students were selected. 4.1.2 Phase three semi-structured interview overview The findings from the second phase of the research, the semi structured interviews, are also presented in this section. The interviews were conducted in person or by telephone and were recorded with the consent of the participants and interview notes were taken also. I then transcribed all of the interviews using an alias for each participant to protect their anonymity; these are the names that appear below along with the letters PT (part time) or FT (full time) to denote the mode of delivery of their programme. The transcripts were imported into NVivo10™ to assist with the qualitative data analysis. Using this software the transcripts were coded to eleven different nodes using open coding and the findings from the interviews are presented in this section by node title. The nodes included, in alphabetical order: Assessments Employment Experience Fears or concerns Finance Learner supports Lecturers Life balance Other students Reasons for study Teaching and learning methods 4.2 Barriers to higher education for mature learners Many barriers to higher education that face mature learners are well documented in the existing literature. While it could be argued that external barriers are not in fact the only or main reason why mature learners do not participate in higher education, for the purpose of this research barriers to higher education are interpreted as factors that make accessing education more difficult for mature learners. The survey sought to verify that the reported barriers exist for this cohort and to identify any new barriers that may not have previously been reported. Question four was the most complex question on the questionnaire, it sought ordinal data on six categories which may or may not have been of concern to the
research, the semi interview, as it would have resulted in just one part time student being interviewed. Instead, four part time and six full time students were selected. 4.1.2 Phase three semi-structured interview overview The findings from the second phase of the research, the semi structured interviews, are also presented in this section. The interviews were conducted in person or by telephone and were recorded with the consent of the participants and interview notes were taken also. I then transcribed all of the interviews using an alias for each participant to protect their anonymity; these are the names that appear below along with the letters PT (part time) or FT (full time) to denote the mode of delivery of their programme. The transcripts were imported into NVivo10™ to assist with the qualitative data analysis. Using this software the transcripts were coded to eleven different nodes using open coding and the findings from the interviews are presented in this section by node title. The nodes included, in alphabetical order: Assessments Employment Experience Fears or concerns Finance Learner supports Lecturers Life balance Other students Reasons for study Teaching and learning methods 4.2 Barriers to higher education for mature learners Many barriers to higher education that face mature learners are well documented in the existing literature. While it could be argued that external barriers are not in fact the only or main reason why mature learners do not participate in higher education, for the purpose of this research barriers to higher education are interpreted as factors that make accessing education more difficult for mature learners. The survey sought to verify that the reported barriers exist for this cohort and to identify any new barriers that may not have previously been reported. Question four was the most complex question on the questionnaire, it sought ordinal data on six categories which may or may not have been of concern to the