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...group counseling and peer support. Support relevant to the learners' needs is effective in retaining adult learners, thereby making higher education accessible to a student body inclusive of adult learners.
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College students 25 years and older are known as adult learners and are the fastest growing educational demographic in higher education (Carney-Crompton & Tall, 2002). They differ from traditional-age students not only in terms of age and life stage but also regarding family demands, life experiences, insights, work responsibilities, and/or military experience (Hansen, 1999). Consequently, they encounter significant stress in resolving conflicts about their multiple roles that, in addition to their new role as student, may already include roles as spouse, parent, caregiver of aging parents, employee, and civic or religious leader. These multiple responsibilities can become overwhelming and distressing. Furthermore, adult learners may not have attended a university in many years, if at all, and may experience (a) significant anxiety and doubt about their ability to achieve, (b) insecurity about their technical skills, and (c) concern about how or if college will fit into their already busy schedules (Carney-Crompton & Tan, 2002).
American minority students, international or first-generation immigrant students, and women encounter further stressors that may act as additional barriers to graduation. Some stressors may be unique to each subgroup. For instance, adult learners who are American minority students, also called students of color, may experience cultural messages that reflect the impact of familial, community, and historical influences of their particular ethnic or racial group. These cultural messages may influence a learner's response to stressors and reliance on a campus support system (Jenkins, 1999).
Likewise, international or first-generation immigrant adult learners may be raised with similar cultural messages and may also experience language limitations, homesickness, lack of appropriate assertiveness, and financial or imntigration problems (Poyrazli, Arbona, Nora, McPherson, & Pisecco, 2002). The adjustment issues of spouses and children, who may also experience language limitations and homesickness, may further stress married immigrant or international learners. Learners in these subgroups, although possibly aware that support services are available on campus, may suffer in silence because of a cultural stigma or barrier about...
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