Navigating and negotiating: Social processes to describe and explain the student experience of undertaking part-time, taught study on a Master’s level degree course in dementia care

Post graduate education in dementia care is delivered by a number of academic institutions worldwide. Aimed primarily at people in advanced and specialised roles in health and social care, it is designed to develop the knowledge and skills to advance practice and lead to positive changes and benefits to people living with dementia and their social networks. However, undertaking Master’s level education can be challenging, particularly when this is undertaken alongside full-time work and family/domestic commitments. To illuminate this student experience further, this paper takes a case study approach to explore the experiences of three students who have successfully completed a Master’s programme in dementia care in the North West of England. Their individual and collective experiences highlight the challenges of juggling competing demands and the dynamic processes of navigating the student journey and continually negotiating supports in order to successfully complete the course. The study highlights important implications for the design and supportive structures within post graduate Master’s education in dementia care/studies, and potentially in other subject areas also, in order to support students’ transition to post graduate study.