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Quantitative Results
Motivation to Attend Adult Education
Participants’ were probed regarding their motivation to
attend adult education programs. Responses
were coded into five categories: (1) attending for financial or job-related
reasons, (2) attending purely for the sake of learning, (3) attending for
family-related reasons, and (4) no indication of any motivation to attend. One
participant indicated that it would be socially desirable to attend adult
education classes; however, that participant was not included in this set of
analyses.
There were no differences in motivation to attend
adult education by county (c2 (18) = 21.87, NS), age (F (3, 70) =
2.42, NS), years of schooling (F (3, 71) = 0.30, NS), number of children (F (3,
72) = 0.22, NS), marital status (c2 (3) = 5.76, NS), home ownership
(c2 (3) = 2.65, NS), and whether or not respondents were KTAP
recipients (c2 (3) = 2.27, NS), whether or not friends or family
members have attended adult education programs (c2 (3) = 0.51, NS),
and whether or not the county was a low or high-unemployment county (c2
(3) = 0.93, NS).
Current employment status was broken down into
three categories: employed full-time, unemployed, or other (part-time
employment, job placement, self-employed, etc.).
Current employment status was unrelated to motivation (c2 (6)
= 4.57, NS), and was unrelated to having had friends or relatives who attended
adult education programs (c2 (2) = 1.37, NS).
There were gender differences in motivation to
attend adult education programs, (c2 (3) = 9.63 p<.05). Females
(73.3%) were more likely than males (26.7%) to indicate that they were motivated
to attend for family-related reasons, whereas males (76.2%) were more likely
than females (23.8%) to indicate that they were motivated to attend merely for
the sake of learning. In addition, males (61.1%) were somewhat more likely than
females (38.9%) to report being motivated to attend for job-related purposes.
Participants also were asked about deterrents to
participation. Responses were coded into six categories: (1) job-related time
constraints, (2) child-related time constraints, (3) other types of time
constraints, (4) cost or transportation issues, (5) confidence, and (6) no or
other reasons.
Deterrents were unrelated to county (c2
(30) = 26.07, NS), marital status (c2 (5) = 5.95, NS), home ownership
(c2 (5) = 6.29, NS), number of children (F (5, 71) = 1.67, NS), age
(F (5, 69) = 1.08, NS), or years of schooling, (F (5, 70) = 0.72, NS), and
whether or not the county was a low or high-unemployment county (c2
(5) = 2.40, NS).
Deterrents were related to gender, (c2
(5) = 14.87, p<.01). Job-related time constraints were more typical for males
(78.9%) than for females (21.1%), whereas child-related constraints were more
typical for females (90%) than for males (10%). Concerns about confidence were
more typical for males (66.7%) than for females (33.3%).
Deterrents also were related to whether or not
participants received KTAP (c2 (5) = 15.47, p<.01). Cost and
transportation were greater deterrents for KTAP recipients (75%) than for
non-recipients (25%), whereas job-related time constraints were greater concerns
for non-recipients (84.2%) than for recipients (15.8%).
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