Coughlin, Annika;
(2024)
Mature students and their pathways into higher education: a mixed methods investigation using the 1958 British Birth Cohort Study.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to contribute to holistic understandings of educational decisions made in changing historical and biographical contexts. I use a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design utilising only secondary data from the 1958 British Birth Cohort Study (aka The National Child Development Study) and the Social Participation and Identity Sub-study. I ask: What historical, social and personal factors meant that most people who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s did not study for a degree soon after leaving school? What changed to enable them to become mature students later in life? What is the meaning of gaining a degree for cohort members? Can new insights be gained by combining and analysing existing data guided by lifecourse theory, in researching mature students’ decision-making? Despite policy discourse stating the main purpose of gaining a degree is for individual economic gain, for mature students the meaning and impact of higher education is multi-faceted. My findings illuminate how decisions to enrol are affected by policy, opportunity, life-stage, sex, social class, educational backgrounds, and relationships with other people. The thesis concludes that education is used by individuals to navigate the dynamic relationship between societal and personal change. The evidence presented demonstrates that it is helpful to sub-divide the category of mature students into older and younger mature participants offering a more nuanced analysis of social class. Methodologically, this thesis shows the value of using a longitudinal perspective in the study of educational decisions, in contrast with approaches which view them through the lens of a single snapshot in time. It also demonstrates how analysis of rich and varied secondary data can make a substantial contribution to the field’s understanding of educational decision-making. I argue that applying a cohesive theoretical framework to empirical analysis facilitates the difficult task of integration in Mixed-Methods Research.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Mature students and their pathways into higher education: a mixed methods investigation using the 1958 British Birth Cohort Study |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2024. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| Keywords: | NCDS, 1958 cohort, mature students, sociological imagination, lifecourse theory, mixed methods research, secondary data |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Education, Practice and Society |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10193234 |
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