This book focuses on the voices and experiences of non-traditional students in European higher education. It examines the impact that access to higher education is having on these students' lives and discusses what this tells us about European education and society.

Fergal Finnegan is Lecturer in Adult and Community Education at the Department of Adult and Community Education, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland.

Barbara Merrill is Associate Professor in Lifelong Learning at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, University of Warwick, UK.

Camilla Thunborg is Associate Professor in Education at the Department of Education, Stockholm University, Sweden.

Introduction Part 1: Working Transnationally: Theory and Methodology Theorising Student Experience: Structure, Agency and Inequality Ted Fleming and José González-Monteagudo. Researching Student Experience Linden West, Agnieszka Bron and Barbara Merrill Part 2: Student Voices Capital Matters: Interrogating the Sociology of Reproduction and the Psychosociality of Transition and Potential Transformation in the UK Linden West. Critical Theory of Non-Traditional Students' Experience in Irish Higher Education Fergal Finnegan and Ted Fleming. Ethnicity and Class Matters: Experiences in Swedish Higher Education Agnieszka Bron, Camilla Thunborg and Eva Edström. Gender and Age: Negotiating and Experiencing Higher Education in England Barbara Merrill. Non-Traditional Students and Barriers to Participation in German Universities Frank Schomer. Disability and Learner Identities in Scotland John Field and Natalie Morgan-Klein. Equality and Improving Retention Practices for Non-Traditional Students in Poland Ewa Kurantowicz and Adrianna Nizinska. Social Inequalities and Family Support for Non-Traditional Students in Andalusia, Spain José González-Monteagudo and Miguel Angel Ballesteros-Moscosio. The Unwanted Students: Closure Tendencies in the German University System Peter Alheit Part 3: Comparative Transnational Dialogue: Conclusions Enduring Inequalities and Student Agency: Theorising an Agenda for Change in Higher Education Fergal Finnegan, Ted Fleming and Camilla Thunborg. Retention and Access in Higher Education: Implications for Policy and Practice John Field and Ewa Kurantowicz.

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