Deterrents to Participation in Adult Education: Profiles of Potential Learners

Abstract

One of the most difficult tasks confronting program planners in adult education is helping adults overcome the forces that deter their participation. In an earlier investigation, six factors of deterrence to participation were identified: Lack of Confidence, Lack of Course Relevance, Time Constraints, Low Personal Priority, Cost, and Personal Problems. Although these empirical factors represent the basic forces that inhibit adults from participating in organized education, in and of themselves they tell us nothing about the extent to which different types of would-be learners experience these forces. This study sought to identify and describe distinctive types of adults, defined with respect to the six deterrent factors, through a cluster analysis of the original data base. The resultant framework, or typology, has considerable practical and theoretical significance for adult education.