Ade-Onojobi, Olusola Martin (2024) Unlocking the Ivory Tower: Exploring the Barriers to Postgraduate Education for Ireland's Older Generation. Masters thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.

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Abstract

Despite the growing population of older adults in Ireland and the various initiatives by educational establishments and third-level institutions to encourage more post-retirement engagement of older adults in academic activities, the number that engages in formal postgraduate education is discouraging. Copious amounts of contemporary and worldwide research highlight numerous barriers and other factors that inhibit gerontological access to various learning activities – even at the undergraduate level. Unfortunately, none focuses specifically on the engagement of older adult learners in postgraduate study and statistics for those over retirement age are scant. Using a mixed-method approach employing both quantitative and qualitative analyses, this project sets out to identify why the participation rates of this cadre of older adults are so low and what can be done to address the situation. Findings reveal that the issues involved are multifaceted, with age being one of the major barriers responsible.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Additional Information:	Submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the MEd in Adult and Community Education.
Keywords:	Educational Gerontology; older adults; postgraduate education; Transformative Learning; Lifelong learning; MEd in Adult and Community Education;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Adult and Community Education
Item ID:	19083
Depositing User:	IR eTheses
Date Deposited:	21 Oct 2024 09:13
URI:
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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