Front Row Friendships: Relational Dialectics and Identity Negotiations by Mature Students at University

@article{OBoyle2014FrontRF,
  title={Front Row Friendships: Relational Dialectics and Identity Negotiations by Mature Students at University},
  author={Neil O’Boyle},
  journal={Communication Education},
  year={2014},
  volume={63},
  pages={169 - 191}
}
When adults enter university after several years of work and life experience, they must negotiate their identity as mature students and their friendship with other students. In this interpretative study, I examined the tensions experienced by 15 such students (aged 28–54) at a university in Ireland where they were attempting to integrate themselves into university life while also striving to preserve a sense of authentic and continuous selfhood. I employed a range of interviewing methods and… 
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