Abstract

This study investigated the factors influencing students’ participation in a master’s programme. The findings of this study suggested that a majority of the respondents were driven by social, physical, and psychological factors with psychological factors ranked the highest. The study also sought to investigate the relationship between the demographic profiles of the respondents with the identified factors of participation. The findings suggested that age and marital status had an influence on the students’ physical factors. Besides confirming relevant past research’s findings, the study also confirmed the discussions by Knowles (1990) and Imel (1989) on the role of adult learners’ characteristics in their learning process. Several implications were discussed and some suggestions were made based on the findings which all aim to increase the participation of the adults in the postgraduate programmes. Among others, it is suggested that emphasis on the convenience and relevance to the potential adult learners’ profession be addressed in attracting adult learners to enrol in postgraduate studies.