Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The question! And How to Search!

Thank you to Gail!
The Question:
When women return to college after the age of 40, what are their goals and motivations for returning, and how does it change their lives?

I have been looking in many databases to find information. The best database so far has been Eric. I start with Eric and then it moves into EBSCO. I like this one.
I am not having much luck with Gale Virtual Library or ProQuest.
Summit has given some good ideas and I have requested information from it.
Terms that I have found to give me some help:
reentry and students and females
"reentry Students" and females
nontraditional and students
nontraditional and higher education
women* and education
adult and education and women
nontraditional learners
social mobility
I am finding a lot of dated material, but I think that women are going back to school for the same reasons now as they did 15 - 20 years ago.
I am finding that there are a of men going back in their 30's. I have found that one of the big motivators for reentry to school is and has been to set a model for children.
Shannon

4 comments:

  1. Shannon,
    You've got a great start - I know you'll find what you need ! Did you try any other top level domains ? I wonder if .gov would make a difference in your search. Just a thought ...
    Susan :)

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  2. Shannon- There is an article in yesterdays Oregonian in the How We Live section on a 79 year old women who went back two years ago to finish her degree that was working on in the 1940's. It is a inspiring story. Margie Boule' is the columnist. The title :What's a 60 year break when your heart is set on that BA Degree. Thought you might want to check it out.

    As for your search terms.........checking to see if I have any other ideas to get you more current info.
    Suzie

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  3. Hey Shannon,
    Looks like you have a good handle on some search terms. Maybe you could also try including the word "motivation" or "catalyst" to your search statement. I would also suggest truncating women at the m..."wom*".

    I hope this helps
    Rachel :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rachel,
    Thank you for those Ideas. I will do that. I am trying to get some sources for our essay and I am not having much luck.
    Shannon

    ReplyDelete