1. Mature students in Higher Education: Motivation and benefits UALL March 06 Anne Jamieson Faculty of Continuing Education Birkbeck, University of London

2. Birkbeck (OU) study Aim: to understand more about the economic and social benefits of part-time study. Three-year study of a cohort of graduates: 1. Postal questionnaire survey (year 1) 2. Interviews with sub-sample (year 2) 3. Follow-up survey (year 3)

3. Birkbeck study population Questionnaires to all those who had completed their programme in 2003: 600 undergraduates 1,000 post-graduates 1,100 Certificate/Diploma graduates (Continuing Education) Response rate 58%, yielding a total of 1,539 responses: 356 Undergraduates 589 Post-graduates 594 Certificate and Diploma graduates

4. Open University study Alan Woodley Total population of graduates in Dec 2003: 9,918 UG 17,640 Cert/Dip 4,829 PG 32,387 Total Questionnaire respondents: 1,533 cases Same questionnaire

5. Birkbeck and Open University Number of students

6. Questions asked about: 1.Socio-economic characteristics Employment and income Family Involvement in community 2.Study Reasons for study Reported benefits of study and other ‘outcome’ measures

7. 1. Student characteristics Age, Sex, Ethnicity Award levels Subjects studied Qualifications on entry; occupational status Parental background Household/family circumstances

8. Age distribution

9. Award level by age Birkbeck OU

10. Gender and age BirkbeckOU

11. Subject areas

12. Gender and award level BirkbeckOU

13. Ethnicity

14. Birkbeck Qualification on entry

15. OU Qualification on entry 1= sub-A-level 2= A-level 3= Some HE

16. Self-reported occupational status

19. Marital/partnership status

21. Reasons for study Range of reasons, each of which could be ticked as ‘very important’, ‘quite important’, ‘not very important’ or ‘no reason at all’. Work: new job; change employer Work: improve existing job Progression to further study Personal and intrinsic: self-development; subject interest; meeting people

23. Reasons for study

24. Who pays fees? Birkbeck AllUGPGCE Student77817180 Employer 8 4 11 9 Shared 7 3 12 4 (Remainder: others or not stated)

26. Benefits: work, skills and further study New job Improved existing job and future opportunities Improved current and expected future income Professional contacts Helped them get on to further course of study Generic skills

37. Wider benefits Personal development Increased self-confidence Met new people/made friends Increased level of happiness Relations to family and friends Civic engagement

39. Impact: Family Birkbeck Relations with spouse/partner: Improved: 16% Worse: 8% Relations with children: Improved for 22% and for 33% of parents ability to help children’s education improved Relations with friends: Improved: 24%Worse: 8%

40. Community involvement Voting behaviour Before Birkbeck: 80% yes19% no 48% of under 25s 90%+ of over 60s More likely now: 12% 38% of under 25s

41. Conclusions Birkbeck compared with OU: striking similarities (Pattern of responses to reasons and benefits), but also some differences (e.g. OU: more students w. domestic responsibilities, and their reasons tend to be employment related) Employment benefits: similar – as yet modest - levels of benefit reported Expected income and employment benefits: very strong for both institutions

42. Conclusions – cont. Reported personal development benefits high Social relations: high improvement in inter-generational relations Wider community involvement: some indication of increase

43. Further questions Types of students? Individual centred cluster analysis (WBL team IoE) How does study produce (or not) the various effects? Interviews – life course factors; learning experience Will the effects be stronger with time? Follow-up study Mapping of study pathways. Follow-up study