THE ENTRY OF WOMEN INTO HIGHER EDUCATION FROM THE AGE OF 40: MEANINGS, CHALLENGES AND TRANSFORMATIONS FROM A PHENOMENOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Entering higher education from the age of 40 may have different meanings for women whose trajectories include previous experiences, responsibilities and life projects. This article aims to understand, through the literature, the meanings, challenges and transformations related to this entry, in dialogue with the phenomenological perspective. It is a qualitative bibliographic study based on a narrative review of nine studies, supplemented by literature from high-impact journals. Motivations, academic and technological demands, emotional aspects, the reconciliation of education, work and family, persistence, interpersonal relationships, self-esteem, identity and life projects were analysed. The studies converge on the weight of social conditions and gender roles but differ in age group, educational trajectory and institutional context. Technological difficulties were rarely investigated in the corpus and did not appear to be determined by age alone. Feelings of guilt, shame and not belonging were associated with overload and lack of support, while reports of increased self-esteem and self-reconstruction coexisted with experiences of insecurity. Phenomenology helps interpret education as an experience situated in the lived world, and Frankl's reflection on meaning broadens the discussion of personal projects, without conflating the two frameworks. Entering university in maturity is thus a plural experience that calls for attention to concrete circumstances and individual meanings. Further empirical research is needed on women beginning their first or an additional degree after the age of 40.