A long way to university
Second chancers
Abstract
In this article, we study profiles and educational paths of mature university students (so called second chancers). We ask how they differ from other students and why they have applied to university at an older age. We answer the research questions with two sets of complementary data. The first set of data, a person-based register created by Statistics Finland, consists of a 50 percent random sample (N = 23 826) of master’s degree students in Finland in 2014. In the cluster analysis, four different student groups were distinguished, one of which was called Second Chancers: the students in this group had already completed a degree and had also been in working life. They had started their studies clearly as mature students. As the second set of data, we utilize educational biographies written by students, who studied adult education as a main or secondary subject (N = 42) at University of Turku in 2011–2015. For a more detailed analysis, we chose four stories in which the writers describe how they had ended up at the university. On the basis of educational biographies, typical reasons for admission to university were the desire for career progress, becoming bored with the former profession and changing professional field, discovering motivation for learning only later in life, and finding new challenges. Studying could also act as an escape route from a challenging life situation.
Translation: Markus Palmén
Copyright (c) 2018 Hanna Nori, Markku Vanttaja
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
