Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-28-2019
Abstract
Adult professionals enroll in online graduate programs and rely on social support and on their ability to self-regulate to be successful. The literature on academic self-regulation among emerging adults (traditional college age) is ample, but we do not know how social support interacts with academic self- regulation among adult graduate students at mid-career, particularly among those students who are first generation college goers. This study addressed the following questions: (1) To what degree do parental education level and cohort progression predict academic self-regulation? and (2) What sources of social support – family, friends, loved one (significant other), and classmates – are predictive of academic self- regulation for adult students in an online doctoral program? Findings include evidence that the influence of parental educational level on academic self-regulation persists through midlife. Also, that perceived social support from family, friends, and peers predicts academic self-regulation. We conclude with implications for the design of online programs.
Recommended Citation
Williams, Peter E.; Wall, Natalie; and Fish, Wade W., "Mid-Career Adult Learners in an Online Doctoral Program and the Drivers of Their Academic Self-Regulation: The Importance of Social Support and Parent Education Level" (2019). School of Educational Leadership. 7.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/school_ed_leadership/7
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.