Non-Traditional Entrants to Higher Education: "They Talk About People Like Me"

This book explores the reality of access to higher education for working class and ethnic minority adults. The four year action research project on which the book is based draws on the experiences of thirty-two people. They reflect on what held them back from engaging with further and higher education for so long, what eventually motivated them to aim for university and how they experienced life and study when they got there.

Marion Bowl’s study reveals some of the paradoxes of current national policy and institutional practice on widening participation and makes practical suggestions on what needs to change if the chances of mature students from non-traditional backgrounds are to improve. The author shows how the diversity of non-traditional students’ experience could be harnessed to promote learning and to improve the life chances of such students.

The book will be invaluable to academics and policy makers in further and higher education and in careers guidance. It offers constructive solutions for all those who have an interest in widening participation and fostering social justice in education - including students themselves.