it was about achieving the highest level possible. They wanted to achieve what they believed to be their own personal best and they wanted the recognition for their hard work. just passing, but getting a 1st.” [C56, FT, Q4] “Not was a group of mature students at [name of IT] and we just gelled together “There for security but ended up detesting each other at the end of the degree, the reason was jockeying for position i.e. high achiever.” [C41, FT, Q4] students are a lot more competitive with each other.”[C50, FT, Q4] “Mature not being given enough opportunity to show individual ability when doing “Perhaps assessments…” [C83, FT, Q4] This pressure that mature learners are placing on themselves goes some way to explaining why they achieve higher levels of academic achievement than their younger peers (Shanahan, 2000). Betty expressed concerns about her ability to succeed due to her belief that she is not particularly strong academically, and Emma described feeling very distressed in her first semester. spellings wouldn’t be great now I’d be very bad at writing things… I was afraid “My I wouldn’t be able to keep up or do assignments… I wouldn’t be the best and never have been… I wondered was I able for it when I was going back.” (Betty, PT) the two of us sat down crying so often up to Christmas… going… what are they “… talking about… how do we do it….”(Emma, PT) These feelings of doubt are indicative of one of the most common internal barriers to higher education for mature learners, the fear of failure. The following section further explores the internal barriers that mature learners face in terms of what they reported as being of concern to them and how their previous experience or lack thereof impacted on their mature learner experience. 4.3 Personal experiences and concerns
it was about achieving the highest level possible. They wanted to achieve what they believed to be their own personal best and they wanted the recognition for their hard work. “Not just passing, but getting a 1st.” [C56, FT, Q4] “There was a group of mature students at [name of IT] and we just gelled together for security but ended up detesting each other at the end of the degree, the reason was jockeying for position i.e. high achiever.” [C41, FT, Q4] “Mature students are a lot more competitive with each other.”[C50, FT, Q4] “Perhaps not being given enough opportunity to show individual ability when doing assessments…” [C83, FT, Q4] This pressure that mature learners are placing on themselves goes some way to explaining why they achieve higher levels of academic achievement than their younger peers (Shanahan, 2000). Betty expressed concerns about her ability to succeed due to her belief that she is not particularly strong academically, and Emma described feeling very distressed in her first semester. “My spellings wouldn’t be great now I’d be very bad at writing things… I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep up or do assignments… I wouldn’t be the best and never have been… I wondered was I able for it when I was going back.” (Betty, PT) “… the two of us sat down crying so often up to Christmas… going… what are they talking about… how do we do it….”(Emma, PT) These feelings of doubt are indicative of one of the most common internal barriers to higher education for mature learners, the fear of failure. The following section further explores the internal barriers that mature learners face in terms of what they reported as being of concern to them and how their previous experience or lack thereof impacted on their mature learner experience. 4.3 Personal experiences and concerns
Carol_Moran_Final_Revised_Doctorate_06.01.15.docx