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    ‘Don’t let anyone bring me down again’: applying ‘possible selves’ to understanding persistence of mature-age first-in-family students.

    79983.pdf (501.3Kb)
    Access Status
    Open access
    Authors
    Delahunty, Janine
    O'Shea, Sarah
    Date
    2020
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Delahunty, J. and O'Shea, S. 2020. ‘Don’t let anyone bring me down again’: applying ‘possible selves’ to understanding persistence of mature-age first-in-family students. Higher Education Research & Development.
    Source Title
    Higher Education Research & Development
    DOI
    10.1080/07294360.2020.1771682
    ISSN
    0729-4360
    Faculty
    Faculty of Business and Law
    School
    School of Management
    Funding and Sponsorship
    http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP170100705
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79881
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    This article applies the framework of possible selves to the motivation and persistence behaviours of one group of university students. We draw on possible selves to consider how particular goal-focused actions and life experiences may significantly shape movements towards imagined futures. Utilising a narrative approach from longitudinal data, this article considers the ways in which possible selves were articulated by five first-in-family students, all of whom were mature-aged women returning to formal learning. A series of vignettes enabled us to explore how students themselves conceived of this movement into university, and how hoped-for selves were considered and enacted (or not). The ways in which societal expectations and expected life trajectories impact (re)conceptualisation of ‘selves’ are discussed, particularly when individuals choose an unexpected or non-normative life course.

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