Life Tasks of Adult Graduate Learners in Public Universities of Ethiopia: Departments as Developmental Niches

Abstract

The major objective of this study was to assess life tasks of adult learners in the graduate program and support systems available in two developmental niches of the system in six public universities of Ethiopia using an open-ended questionnaire. The research further attempted to examine the relationship between adult life tasks and age and marital status of graduate students. The research design employed a qualitative approach particularly a socio-phenomenological design. The unifying life tasks among the married and bachelor graduate students were professional development, social networking, conceptions about the self and participating in academic, social, and religious circles. The analysis showed that there were no fixed series of tasks neatly tied to each age group. Rather combinations of marriage, rearing children, and career development were the developmental milestones across the different groups. Although there were variations across universities, some common elements were identified in relation to the support system and challenges. Individual advising, cohesion between students and teachers, clear and scheduled course delivery, two-way communication to attain goals, program links with institutions and organizations in the community and abroad, availability of hard and soft copy learning materials, forum for experience sharing between staff and students and inviting guest professors were factors that helped to meet adult responsibilities at institutional and societal levels. Unfairness in treating students by some professors, no responsive individual, and institutional framework, absence of systematically synchronized curriculum, uncommitted instructors, and bias were challenges graduate students faced in the course of achieving adult developmental milestones