Part-time master’s students’ attitudes towards study and work

Abstract

An increasing number of part-time adult learners have enrolled in master’s programmes globally for career advancement and personal growth. The educational and working backgrounds of these part-time master’s students are diverse. Their motivations for pursuing master’s degrees and continued learning are also varied. We explored part-time master’s students’ attitudes towards study and work through a qualitative research design based on semi-structured interviews with 35 students in Hong Kong from various disciplines. We applied content analysis and qualitative comparative analysis and found that the attitudes of these students towards their study primarily depend on their levels of certainty concerning the master’s degree and their careers and whether they have broad or narrow approaches to career development. We identify various attitudes towards study and work among the master’s students: certificate seekers; career designers; early birds; and deferred dreamcatchers. The findings suggest a better understanding of recent changes in values regarding postgraduate degrees and work is required. We also provide implications for how universities can support part-time students’ learning at the master’s level.