Hidden Voices: Insights of Undergraduate Adult Learners Attending a Historically Black College and University

Abstract

In recent years, the number of adult learners entering higher education has surpassed that of traditional students. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have been recognized for their role in educating adult learners from underserved and marginalized groups and populations. Despite this reality, most research on Black undergraduate adult learners at HBCUs focuses solely on their gender, with little attention to their broader institutional experiences. Guided by Malcolm Knowles’ adult learning theory, this qualitative phenomenological research study explored the attitudes and experiences of adult learners pursuing an undergraduate degree at a public four-year HBCU in the Mid-Atlantic region. Thematic analysis from interviews with 17 adult learners revealed four major themes: resource equity exclusion, professional credit knowledge, classroom inclusion/exclusion, and unique identities/needs. Results showed that adult learner characteristics in this study support Knowles’ four principles of andragogy. The HBCU in this study provided respondents with positive experiences; however, results revealed inconsistencies in their shared experiences about knowledge, services, or provisions for adult learners. The implications of these findings for HBCUs are significant, as they provide a roadmap for understanding how institutional logic and organizational culture may hinder the inclusion and visibility of undergraduate adult learners at four-year institutions.

Keywords

adult learners nontraditional students Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bean

J. P.

Metzner

B. S.

(1985). A conceptual model of nontraditional undergraduate student attrition. Review of Educational Research, 55(4), 485–540. https://doi.org/10.2307/1170245.AscitedatU.S.DepartmentofEducationNationalCenterforEducationStatistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs/web/97578e.asp

Bergman

(2020). Adult learners in higher education. In Rocco

T. S.

Smith

M. C.

Mizzi

R. C.

Merriweather

L. R.

Hawley

J. D.

(Eds.), The handbook of adult and continuing education (pp. 266–274). Stylus Publishing, LLC.

Bridges

B. K.

Cambridge

Kuh

G. D.

Leegwater

L. H.

(2005). Student engagement at minority-serving institutions: Emerging lessons from the BEAMS project. New Directions for Institutional Research, 125. https://majorsmatter.net/schools/Readings/Bridges.pdf Wiley Periodicals.

Brockett

R. G.

Donaghy

R. C.

(2005). Beyond the inquiring mind: Cyril Houle’s connection to self–directed learning. Adult education research conference. https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2005/papers/68/

Clarke

Braun

(2013). Teaching thematic analysis: Overcoming challenges and developing strategies for effective learning. The Psychologist, 26(2), 120–123.

Coker

A. D.

(2003). African American female adult learners: Motivations, challenges, and coping strategies. Journal of Black Studies, 33(5), 654–674. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934703033005007

Collins

C. S.

Stockton

C. M.

(2018). The central role of theory in qualitative R\research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 17, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406918797478

Creswell

J. W.

(2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.): Sage.

Creswell

J. W.

Guetterman

T. C.

(2019). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (6th ed). Pearson Education, Inc.

10.

DeSousa

D. J.

Kuh

G. D.

(1996). Does institutional racial composition make a difference in what black students gain from college? Journal of College Student Development, 37(3), 257–267.

11.

Duan

Hoagwood

(2015). Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method implementation research. Administration and policy in mental health, 42(5), 533–544. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-013-0528-y

12.

DuBois

W. E. B.

(1958). Ho! everyone that thirsteth, W.E.B. DuBois papers Special Collections and University Archives (MS 312). University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries. https://credo.library.umass.edu/view/full/mums312-b206-i010

13.

Franke

DeAngelo

(2018). Degree attainment for black students at historically black colleges and universities and predominantly white institutions: A propensity score matching approach. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association NewYork City, Apr York City, NY.

14.

Garibaldi

A. M.

(1997). Four decades of progress and decline: An assessment of African American educational attainment. The Journal of Negro Education, 66(2), 105–120. https://doi.org/10.2307/2967221

15.

Gasman

Esters

L. T.

(2024). The power of historically black colleges and universities. Johns Hopkins University Press.

16.

Goings

R. B.

(2016). Supporting high-achieving nontraditional black Male undergraduates: Implications for theory, policy, and practice. Urban Education Research & Policy Annuals, 4(1), 9–16. https://doi.org/10.55370/uerpa.v4i1.420

17.

Goings

R. B.

(2021). Introducing the black Male adult learner success theory. Adult Education Quarterly, 71(2), 128–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741713620959603

18.

Harper

S. R.

Davis

C. H.

(2012). They (don’t) care about education: A counternarrative on black Male students’ responses to inequitable schooling. Educational Foundations, 26, 103–120. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ968820.pdf

19.

Hatfield

Anderson

(2024). A look at historically black colleges and universities in the U.S. The Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/10/02/a-look-at-historically-black-colleges-and-universities-in-the-u-s/

20.

Houle

C. O.

(1961). The inquiring mind. The University of Wisconsin Press.

21.

Johnson-Bailey

(2005). Matters of race in adult education. In Peterson

E. A.

Brookfield

S. D.

Sheared

Johnson-Bailey

Colin

S. A.

(2005). Racializing the discourse of adult education, Adult Education Research Conference. https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2005/symposia/3

22.

Johnson

J. M.

McGowan

B. L.

(2017). Untold stories: The gendered experiences of high achieving African American Male alumni of historically black colleges and universities. Journal of African American Males in Education, 8(1), 23–44.

23.

Knowles

M. S.

(1980). The modern practice of adult education: From pedagogy to andragogy: Prentice Hall.

24.

Knowles

M. S.

(1984). The adult learner: A neglected species (3rd ed). Houston, TX: Gulf.

25.

Krueger

R. A.

(1994). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research (2nd ed): Sage.

26.

Lambert

S. D.

Loiselle

C. G.

(2008). Combining individual interviews and focus groups to enhance data richness. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 62(2), 228–237. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04559.x

27.

Love

Conroy

Palmer

Satlemeyer

(2023). We shouldn’t have to choose between maintaining and bettering our lives. An analysis of older and parenting college students. New America. https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/reports/we-shouldnt-have-to-choose-between-maintaining-and-bettering-our-lives-an-analysis-of-older-and-parenting-college-students/

28.

Macphail

(2001). Nominal group technique: A useful method for working with young people. British Educational Research Journal, 27(2), 161–170. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920120037117

29.

Maguire

Delahunt

(2017). Doing a thematic analysis: A practical, step-by-step guide for learning and teaching scholars. AISHE-J, 9, 3351. https://ojs.aishe.org/index.php/aishe-j/article/view/3354

30.

Morstain

B. R.

Smart

J. C.

(1977). A motivational typology of adult learners. The Journal of Higher Education, 48(6), 665–679. https://doi.org/10.2307/1979011

31.

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) . (2015). Demographic and enrollment characteristics of nontraditional undergraduates: 2011–12. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2015/2015025.pdf

32.

Nyumba

T. O.

Wilson

Derrick

C. J.

Mukherjee

(2018). The use of focus group discussion methodology: Insights from two decades of application in conservation. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 9(1), 20–32. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12860

33.

Palmer

R. T.

Arroyo

A. T.

Maramba

D. C.

(2016). Exploring the perceptions of HBCU student affairs practitioners toward the racial diversification of black colleges. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 11, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000024

34.

Parry

(2019). Despite obstacles, black colleges are pipelines to the middle class, study finds. Here’s it’s list of the best. . In Here’s its list of the best. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/despite-obstacles-black-colleges-are-pipelines-to-the-middle-class-study-finds-heres-its-list-of-the-best/.

35.

Patton

M. Q.

(2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.): Sage Publications As cited in Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2015). Purposeful Sampling for Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis in Mixed Method Implementation Research. Administration and policy in mental health, 42(5), 533–544.

36.

Ross-Gordon

J. M.

(2005). The adult learner of color: An overlooked college student population. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 53(2), 2–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/07377366.2005.10400064

37.

The Atlantic . (2021). How HBCUS are stepping up for adult black students. https://www.theatlantic.com/sponsored/salesforceorg-2021/how-really-help-adult-learners/3712/