From impostership to mastersness: experiences of a postgraduate student’s transition to higher education reflected through poetry

Abstract

Mature students returning to education after a long absence often lack confidence, experiencing feelings of inferiority and of being unworthy of a student role in higher education institutions. The aim of this paper is to reflect upon my experience when making the transition from a mature, senior nurse to a student on a Master’s programme. My experience as a student describes this journey, using blogging and the language of poetry to articulate feelings of impostership, creating a canvas of words that draw pictures of a mind struggling to come to terms with new learning. During the learning journey I started to pen a poem, eventually called ‘Education at Sea’, which became the ensign of an academic voyage. Reflecting on this process through the use of Driscoll’s reflective model, I realised that I was experiencing what is called impostership. The conclusion asserts that higher education institutions must create cultures that enable students to openly communicate these experiences, and offer supportive scaffolded strategies to assist with transitions to and through Master’s-level learning. While this paper is directed specifically at Master’s-level learning, the recommendations may also apply to other levels of learning.