The benefits of higher education study for part‐time students

Abstract

This article presents findings from a study of mature part‐time students and their reported benefits of study. It is based on data from a questionnaire survey of graduates from two major – but very different – providers of part‐time higher education: Birkbeck, University of London and the Open University. Response items were grouped within a ‘three capitals’ framework: human, identity and social capital. The first part of the analysis presents the distribution of responses within this framework, and the relation between benefits in terms of these capitals. The analysis shows considerable benefits in all the areas. Further, the patterns of benefits reported by the respondents from the two institutions were remarkably similar. The second part of the findings, based on a regression analysis, explores associations between benefits reported and the characteristics of the respondents and subject studied. Again, there were significant similarities between the two populations.