Bieber & Worley (2006) note that when students pay closer attention to their surroundings, and when teachers engage students in a more collaborative manner, students are more likely to set daily schedules that conform with their abilities and adapt to any limitations they may experience while juggling multiple responsibilities.
Anderson (1996) suggests that many Universities need to work with student's to accommodate their unique needs, as long as students are willing to engage in collaborative relationships with their peers (Austin, 2002) and families. One way to teach graduate students how to balance their education, career and any psychological or emotional blocks they may have to success is by teaching students to adopt self-efficient tools, such as creating daily task lists that limit the amount of time they spend on activities to ensure they fulfill all of their obligations (Bandura, 1982). Universities also have an obligation to effectively screen students (Brink, 1999) to ensure that students are well-informed of how much work they will need to take on as a student, and what resources may be available to them to overcome any foreseeable obstacles they might face in the near future.
Conclusion
Graduate students who have family obligations, work obligations and who desire to return to school after an extended absence face multiple challenges,...
Fortunately there are many strategies students can employ to achieve this, including those just mentioned; collaborating with peers and educators, learning to re-socialize with new peer groups and adopting tools like time management tools that will help students better accomplish their daily tasks. While an individual with full-time work responsibilities and part-time family obligations will face many challenges, there is ample evidence they can succeed when supplied with the tools highlighted in this research report.
References
Anderson, M.S. (1996). Collaboration, the doctoral experience, and the departmental environment. The Review of Higher Education, 19, 305-326.
Austin, a. (2002). Preparing the next generation of faculty: Graduate school as socialization to the academic career. Journal of Higher Education, 73, 95-122.
Bandura, a. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanisms in human agency. American Psychologist, 37(2),
Bieber, J.P., & Worley, L.K. (2006). Conceptualizing the academic life: Graduate students perspectives. Journal of Higher Education 77, 1009.
Brink, W.J. (1999). Selecting graduate…
