| This study describes the factors that promote or deter participation in voluntary education programs aboard U.S. Navy ships. Participation in the Navy Voluntary Education Program, the adult learning activity of achieving a high school diploma, vocational certificate, or college degree while serving on active duty, has gained much attention in the Navy community. Despite the emphasis on education at higher levels of the Navy, the average participation rate among sailors at individual commands throughout the Navy is only about twelve percent. Understanding the factors that influence participation is difficult because there is very little scholarly research that has studied them in-depth within a military environment. A case study method was used, following an emergent, exploratory, inductive qualitative approach for a single U.S. Navy ship. Specifically, the study sought to discover any differences in perceptions about the identified factors by gender, rank and race.; Different perceptions about the participation factors are observable at the various rank levels among the crew for a single case U.S. Navy ship from the themes, patterns and trends that emerge in the study. The researcher concludes that a major factor affecting participation in voluntary education aboard a U.S. Navy ship is the degree to which the programs are incorporated into the ship's normal environment. The findings reveal that there are no observable differences in the perceptions by gender or race. This may be due to the fact that the Navy has focused continuously on issues related to gender and race in the past. |
