Determinants of Adult Motivation to Enroll in Non-Credit Programmes at CEES in The College of The Bahamas: A Factor Analytic Approach

There is a plethora of studies of why adults participate in educational activities, but there is a need for additional information from both unique respondent groups of participants and from a culture with restricted educational facilities. This study reports the results of a group of adult learners facing limited educational offerings, who enrolled in non-credit programmes at Continuing Education and Extension Services (CEES) of The College of The Bahamas. The hypothesis that reasons for adult participation in non-credit programmes would factor into at least eight groups was tested using 134 adult learners enrolled in various non-credit programmes at CEES. Eight groups of reasons were identified using the PFA approach. The results were further interpreted in light of the traditional motivational framework and a model was developed to explain the adult participation motivational orientations in an educational activity.