Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Leann M. Stadtlander

Abstract

The number of older adult online students (over age 30) has continued to grow over the past 10 years, but their perceptions of how the online experience affects their family and friendship relationships were unknown. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the experiences of 6 graduate students over the age of 30 years enrolled in an online program, using the lens of Bowen’s family systems theory and Elder’s life course theory. The research questions focused on the experiences of being an older online graduate student, including motivation, factors that helped or hindered adjustment, perceived stress, social supports, and coping skills. Data were collected using in-depth semistructured interviews and were analyzed based on Moustakas’s method. Results indicated that older online graduate students chose to be online students for convenience; however, they tended to feel isolated, and their supportive friendships tended to be exclusively online. Their motivation was primarily to earn a degree, and they believed that online graduate school was more stressful than brick-and-mortar programs. The majority of participants saw social support as instrumental in achieving their academic goals and cited this as their primary coping mechanism. The results of this study may be used by instructors and administrators to better understand the experiences of older online graduate students, and to develop ways to enhance social support for these students.

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