Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | A | Academic Exchange Quarterly

Community collaboration to support reentry adult women.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

The term "reentry woman" is used to describe adult women re-entering educational institutions after an absence ranging from a few years to as many as 35 years and more. While the literature describes the common barriers and challenges to these women, there remains a lack of articles concerned with practical programs geared to meet their needs (Gianakos, 1996). This article describes a mini-educational program designed to encourage adult women to enter or return to higher education. A community organization and a 4-year higher education institution collaborated to design and deliver the program. Financial support was provided to those who entered college after completing the program. The results, lessons learned, and a discussion of areas for further work are presented.

Introduction and Literature Review

Administrators and faculty in higher education became interested in reentry women when the numbers of these individuals attending college increased in the 1960s and 1970s. This trend has continued and, based upon projections, will persist into the future (Rooney, 2002). These women's ages range from 25 to 65 plus years, with most reentry women between 25 and 54 years of age (Padula, 1994). Research in this area is relatively recent (Morgan & Foster, 1999), and the literature has described barriers to reentry women that include financial problems, lack of self-confidence, and institutional administrative procedures (Killy & Borgen, 2000; Morgan & Foster, 1999, Padula, 1994; Pitts, 1992). Authors have reported that reentry women need age-appropriate career counseling (including major selection, job interviewing techniques, and resume writing), help with updating their academic skills, assistance in dealing with multiple role stress, and other coping skills (Killy & Borgen, 2000; Luzzo, 1999; Morgan & Foster, 1999). Pitts (1992) states that women need extra encouragement during the first part of their reentry journey, and she advocates that higher education institutions take a proactive approach with these women. She recommends that mini-educational programs be offered within the community to promote the value of continuing educational programs.

Despite the publication of this research, there remains a lack of articles concerned with nontraditional age students and practical programs geared to meet their needs (Gianakos, 1996). With the percentages of women enrolled in higher education expected to continue to increase through at least 2008 (Allen et al., 2000), the need for programs that support women in attending college is obvious. The remainder of this article describes and presents the results of a community and higher education institution's collaboratively sponsored mini-educational program that encouraged nontraditionai age women to enter or return to a 4-year institution and supported them in their efforts. The program addressed the primary barriers to and needs of reentry women that have been described in the literature. A local branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in conjunction with the 4-year university located in the community sponsored and designed the day-long program. The workshop has been offered for 2 years and is planned for a third year. The...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!