Nontraditional Students' Perceptions of Marginalization in Baccalaureate Nursing Education: Pushed to the Periphery.

BACKGROUND

Despite the continued efforts to diversify the population of nursing students in the United States, marginalization and attrition remain significant issues for nontraditional students.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between marginality and nontraditional student status in nursing students enrolled in a baccalaureate nursing program in Texas.

METHOD: A nonexperimental, descriptive, correlational design was used for data collection. Participants (n = 192) completed a demographic survey, and marginality was measured using the Koci Marginality Index-70.

RESULTS

There was a statistically significant difference in mean scores for a number of variables including gender, age, race/ethnicity, marital status, total household income, completion of a previous college degree, being a parent, and a student for whom English is a nonnative language.

CONCLUSION

The findings from this research study suggest that marginalization remains a significant issue for nontraditional, prelicensure nursing students.