Responding to the Challenges Experienced by Working Adult Students
Responding to the Challenges Experienced by Working Adult Students at Paññasāstra University of Cambodia:
A Pilot Study
Susan Hagadorn, EdD, MPA
Faculty of Education
Pannasastra University of Cambodia susanhpuc@yahoo.com September 2010
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract . . . . . . . . . 3
Introduction . . . . . . . . 3
Conceptual Context . . . . . . . 7
Research Questions . . . . . . . 13
Research Methods . . . . . . . . 15
Data Presentation . . . . . . . . 18
Data Analysis . . . . . . . . 25
Bibliography . . . . . . . . 29
ABSTRACT
This pilot study explores the challenges faced by working adult graduate students at the premier private university in Cambodia. It utilizes survey research methods to elicit student opinions about the challenges they face as working adults and what they believe the university, their instructors, their peers, and they themselves can do to address these challenges and achieve a better work-life balance. The conceptual context for the research reviews literature pertaining to higher education in developing countries, the needs of adult learners, and the work-life balance challenges experienced by adult learners. Because this literature is based on western research, this study seeks to understand the challenges faced by adult learners in the particular cultural context of Cambodia. It concludes that, based on the data collected from a limited sample, Cambodian working adult students face many of the same challenges as working adult students in other cultural contexts. It recommends that a broader study on the topic be conducted and offers preliminary recommendations for how the university, instructors, student peers, and individual students can address challenges faced by working students in Cambodia.
INTRODUCTION Having emerged in the late 1990s from three decades of armed conflict and political instability, Cambodia is one of the poorest nations in the world. With 36% of its
A Pilot Study
Susan Hagadorn, EdD, MPA
Faculty of Education
Pannasastra University of Cambodia susanhpuc@yahoo.com September 2010
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract . . . . . . . . . 3
Introduction . . . . . . . . 3
Conceptual Context . . . . . . . 7
Research Questions . . . . . . . 13
Research Methods . . . . . . . . 15
Data Presentation . . . . . . . . 18
Data Analysis . . . . . . . . 25
Bibliography . . . . . . . . 29
ABSTRACT
This pilot study explores the challenges faced by working adult graduate students at the premier private university in Cambodia. It utilizes survey research methods to elicit student opinions about the challenges they face as working adults and what they believe the university, their instructors, their peers, and they themselves can do to address these challenges and achieve a better work-life balance. The conceptual context for the research reviews literature pertaining to higher education in developing countries, the needs of adult learners, and the work-life balance challenges experienced by adult learners. Because this literature is based on western research, this study seeks to understand the challenges faced by adult learners in the particular cultural context of Cambodia. It concludes that, based on the data collected from a limited sample, Cambodian working adult students face many of the same challenges as working adult students in other cultural contexts. It recommends that a broader study on the topic be conducted and offers preliminary recommendations for how the university, instructors, student peers, and individual students can address challenges faced by working students in Cambodia.
INTRODUCTION Having emerged in the late 1990s from three decades of armed conflict and political instability, Cambodia is one of the poorest nations in the world. With 36% of its
Bibliography: Higher Education in Developing Countries The World Conference on Higher Education (UNESCO, 1998) created a vision statement and action framework for higher education in the 21st century