Adult Education Quarterly

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click Here for More Information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Oplatka, I.
Right arrow Articles by Tevel, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Adult Education Quarterly, Vol. 57, No. 1, 62-84 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0741713606292153
© 2006 American Association for Adult and Continuing Education

Liberation and Revitalization: The Choice and Meaning of Higher Education Among Israeli Female Students in Midlife

Izhar Oplatka

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Tova Tevel

Adult Education Centre for Natural Medicine

From a life-stage perspective, the purpose of this study was to examine the motivation of female students in midlife to enroll in an undergraduate or graduate program and the meaning they attach to higher education (HE) in general. An additional purpose was to reveal these women’s subjective perceptions of the benefits they gained from HE at this stage of life. Based on semistructured interviews with 15 Israeli women students in midlife, the results show that major processes experienced by women at this stage, such as a search for self-fulfillment and individual change, are related explicitly to the women’s decision to enroll in an HE institution. Likewise, the benefits of HE are constructed in terms of reframing identity, well-being, self-growth, and the like rather than extrinsic motives. Empirical and practical implications are discussed.

Key Words: adult learner • female learner • personal growth • midlife • adult student • gender


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?