Future work

This research has generated a greater understanding of the part-time mature lifelong learner’s experience at Irish IoT’s but there are many areas of further exploration that could be undertaken to deepen that understanding. Primarily, it would be interesting to see if the transformative learning process could be examined in a longitudinal study, to try to verify the claim this research makes in relation to the first interaction with higher education being of most significance. Furthermore, a study across the entire IoT sector or a comparative analysis with the university sector could reveal further knowledge about the transformative learning process and how it is experienced by part-time mature learners in Ireland.

The context in which this research was undertaken was one of an economy coming out of extreme economic difficulty and fiscal constraint. Employment and employability were often quoted as being motivating factors in the part-time mature learners’ decision to return to education. This heavy vocational emphasis is most likely linked to the fact that the IoT sector has historically provided large numbers of part-time and flexible programmes and maintained a high proportion of part-time mature learners as a result. It was heartening to see that for most it was a very positive experience.

European and national policy demonstrate a commitment to increasing the participation rates for mature learners but in recent years the Irish and European targets are not being met. Improving human capital is one of the main reasons why governments invest in education but this improved employability brings with it additional intrinsic rewards such as increased confidence, better health and a more positive outlook. From this study, it was demonstrated that a number of the participants who engaged in education for employability reasons are now intending to undertake additional study which hopefully is the first step to their engagement with lifelong learning.

There are a range of services and supports made available in HEIs. Typically, these are accessed by students studying on a full-time basis and tend not to be uniformly available to part-time and flexible students. A further research could focus on a whole-institution approach

147

to mainstreaming inclusion that recognises and values diversity, ensuring that the teaching and learning environments, student supports and approaches, campus infrastructure, systems and processes, are designed around the needs of all students, and not on any assumption of a “traditional” student population (Kelly & Padden, 2018).

While the range of services depends on the scale of the institution itself, a number of core services are typically available at HEIs. While these services are extended in theory to part- time and flexible students also, they usually function on a “normal working week” basis, with some additional opening around peak times in the academic year. In addition, the availability of all these services is subject to resources, and most have been significantly affected by the reduction in funding since 2010. The reality is, therefore, that these services are not as accessible for students who study on a part-time or flexible basis than their full-time fellow- students.

Moreover, there is a lack of data to help us better understand the profile of students participating on part-time and flexible programmes. For example, while the AHEAD report on numbers of students with disabilities studying in higher education in Ireland in 2016/177 shows significant increases in the numbers of students with disabilities who study part-time, and advocates part-time study as a more sustainable option for many students with disabilities, the broader datasets regarding part-time and flexible participation remain poor. This presents challenges for HEIs in ensuring a robust evidence base to deliver appropriate services and supports for part-time and flexible students. Future research in this area would be of great benefit to the sector.

Future research could also build on some of the responses from the online survey such as going into more detail on the relationship between the educational background of the students and their parental educational background (questions 9 &10). There could be a full study on this alone.

Future research could also focus on the learner as a learner regardless of their mode of study so that HEI’s will not make a distinction between students on such grounds as the mode or duration of study. This study could be the beginning of HEI’s treating all students equally in relation to delivery of services and supports, including to part-time/flexible students as an identified target group in the National Plan for Equity of Access.

148

Education has the ability to change lives and, in doing so, change societies. The power of education should not be underestimated and the opportunity should be open to all. The emerging twenty-first century context clearly demonstrates that lifelong learning, adaptability, creativity and critical thinking are fundamental requirements for everyone. Meaningful access to higher education by the full diversity of the population is essential to enabling sustainability and growth both for the individual person and for the community as a whole.