Qualitative Research on Learning Experience at Continuing Education Institute among New Middle-aged Women Learners in Their 50s and 60s: Focusing on the Continuing Education Institute of E University

This qualitative study of new middle-aged women, who are in the transition period of life and can play a pivotal role, examines the needs and learning experiences of learners who participated in a K-beauty learning program for the new middle-aged. The participants were women learners who had attended a K-beauty learning course offered by the Continuing Education Institute of E University. Data were collected through open-ended, unstructured direct interviews. The findings show that the participants’ motives for joining the program included acquaintance’s recommendation, the challenge of a new area, and the changed perception of personal appearance after entering middle age. Regarding changes after the program, the participants mentioned that they were able to put into practice and graft onto daily life what they had learned, that life was revitalized by self-care, and that the program afforded them opportunities for entering challenging new areas. Most of the participants reported that they would continue to participate in similar courses in the future. Regarding learning at the stage of the new middle age, the participants replied that they had chosen programs in consideration of re-employment and anxiety about life after retirement and that learning gave them self-confidence as well as the willingness to do anything. This study confirms that lifelong education is needed to attain self-fulfillment and live a self-reliant life and that learning acts as a bridge allowing new middle-aged women to prepare for old age.