Abstract
Purpose. It was the purpose of this study to determine if there were any significant differences in the personal, social and familial characteristics between older adult female students and traditional aged female students with respect to persistance in college. Research Methodology. This study was descriptive research-criterion group, expost facto design. A questionnaire was designed to collect data from 510 persons in a stratified random sample. The four groups were: older adult persisters, older adult dropouts, traditional aged persisters, and traditional aged dropouts. Findings. Of the variables examined in this study, numerous significant differences were found. Examination of the data revealed: (1) Within both the older and traditional aged respondent groups, significant differences were found between persisters and dropouts in the area of personal characteristics with reference to the following variables: motivation to complete college, academic ability, evaluation of self as a student, and level of self-confidence. (2) Within both the older and traditional aged respondent groups, significant differences were found between persisters and dropouts in the area of social characteristics with respect to the level of peer interaction regarding personal and social matters. (3) Within the older respondent group, numerous significant differences were found to exist with respect to familial characteristics. Specifically, differences were found between older persisters and older dropouts on all familial variables examined except mother's educational level. (4) No significant differences were found between persisters and dropouts in the traditional aged learner subgroup with respect to familial variables. (5) Women who persist in school, whether older or younger, reported feeeling good about themselves, their ability to perform in college and their purpose for being there, while drop-outs reported a lack of direction, self-confidence and commitment to complete goals. Conclusions. Two major conclusions emerged as a result of this study: (1) Older women and younger women did not differ with respect to personal and social characteristics and persistence in or dropping out of school. (2) The main area of difference between older and younger students was of familial characteristics. Older women needed approval and support of families to persist in college. Implications. Separate services are not needed for older women. Instead, community college personnel need to focus on the various ways that existing services can be modified to meet the diversified needs of the women by helping them to feel good about themselves, attain clarity of goals, and become integrated into the college setting while helping them deal with the unique needs that they bring to the college.