Factors influencing women to return to school and the school experience

The purpose of this research was to study women who had contacted the Center for Continuing Education of Women (CEW) at the University of Michigan to understand why they chose to continue their education, to examine the differences between those who returned to school and those who did not, and to identify those factors that affect the school experience. A random sample of 120 women who had contacted the center from 1964-1972 received the questionnaire; 83 women responded, for a response rate of 69%. Most of the respondents were middle aged, married with children, and had some college education. Data were collected by means of a mailed, self-administered questionnaire consisting of 115 precoded and open-ended items. The questionnaire items dealt with the respondent's past visit to CEW, reasons for returning to school, school experiences, the handling of school and family responsibilities, and background information (e.g., SES, parents' occupations, marital status). In addition, a self-rating personality and social attributes check list, a self-esteem measure, and the Marlowe-Crowne social desirability scale were included in the package. Computer-accessible data are available for 82 subjects.