Working nontraditional adult undergraduate students' development of career identity and life satisfaction: A qualitative examination

This study examined the qualitative factors and processes by which working nontraditional adult undergraduate students developed their career identity and sense of life satisfaction. Career components of various human and adult development theories provided the theoretical framework for the investigation. Sixteen working nontraditional adult undergraduate students were selected and divided into two participant groups. Each participant was assigned a group based on their self stated worker versus student role priority. Participants who stated that their priority was work over college comprised the Employees Who Study (EWS) group and those whose priority was college over work consisted of the Students Who Work (SWW) group. The presence of both a level of career identity and global life satisfaction was assumed in the research questions for each group and measured quantitatively by administering the Vocational Identity Scale of the My Vocational Situation and the Satisfaction with Life Scale survey instruments. Additionally, each participant was interviewed twice to understand how individuals developed their level of career identity and global life satisfaction. The first interview followed a semi-structured interview guide. The second interview included follow-up and clarifying questions not asked in the first interview and questions that explored reflections from the quantitative survey instruments' responses. Results of the survey instruments discovered a moderate level of vocational identity and global life satisfaction for each participant group. Results from the interviews for EWS resemble previous research with nontraditional students in terms of life role pressures, a focus on maintaining pre-existing relationships, and career motivations for going to college. Meanwhile, SWW resemble more traditional aged students needing more unique institutional attention and support, a focus on establishing new relationships, and personally fulfilling reasons for going to college. Findings are presented in separate chapters summarizing the career identity and life satisfaction development for each work-priority sub-group of working nontraditional adult undergraduate students and in a between groups comparison chapter. This study concludes with a chapter outlining implications for career theory, career counseling, and higher education practice for their EWS and SWW and suggestions for future research.