Conference Agenda

As lifelong learning is an important condition for employability, social inclusion and active citizenship, the European Council has been emphasizing the importance of adult learning for the last two decades (European Commission, 2001). Despite these predetermined goals, participation in adult learning remains highly unequal: those who are most in need of learning to improve knowledge and skills in a rapidly changing labor market are least likely to find their way into adult learning (Boeren, 2016; Desjardins, 2015). This participation behavior and its failure to be properly addressed by policies only increases the disparities between advantaged and disadvantaged adults. Research on causes of low participation rates among vulnerable adults points to the fact that much more than other groups of adults, disadvantaged adults face different types of barriers that prevent them from learning (e.g., Cross, 1981). Yet policies seeking to remove such barriers and thus aiming to minimize the threshold to adult education (e.g., reducing enrollment costs, organizing learning activities at alternative time points) seem to be failing in their purpose.

One major difficulty with policies focusing on raising participation is that it shifts the responsibility to individual adults taking or not taking the initiative to participate. While an individual’s agency is not to be ignored, the decision-making process, particularly for disadvantaged adults, is a complex and sensitive phenomenon to comprehend (Boeren, 2016). Vulnerable adults are more likely to have experienced a problematic schooling trajectory often resulting in early dropout. Due to previous negative school experiences, these adults are more likely to have adverse self-perceptions as learners, low expectations of what can be achieved, fear and distrust of educational systems, preventing them from taking the step to undertake learning activities again at an adult age (Boeren, 2011; Cross, 1981; Darkenwald & Merriam, 1982; Goto & Martin, 2009; Rubenson, 2010; Vannieuwenhove & De Wever, 2022). In addition, adults differ in what Bourdieu (1984) calls their various forms of capital. Family, friends, school, and the work environment shape an individual’s frame of reference (“habitus”). Within this frame of reference, values are pushed forward, helping to determine what is considered important and what is within an individual’s possibilities. Consequently, interactions within the social context implicitly set boundaries for what is worth aspiring. Lower learning intentions therefore are not so much a conscious individual choice but rather the inherent consequence of socialization processes (Boeren, 2011; Bourdieu, 1984; Cross, 1981).

Understanding sociopsychological hindering processes preventing disadvantaged adults from learning is crucial to gain a better insight in the participation gap between advantaged and disadvantaged adult learners. As research on this subject is challenging and scarce, the symposium aims to broadly illuminate the role of potentially obstructive sociopsychological (demand side of adult learning) and organizational factors (supply side) by bringing together recent empirical findings emerging from three diverse research projects, developing a European perspective on this topic. Specifically, Paper 1 by Ellen Boeren will examine long-term shifts in inequality patterns within the UK and Ireland. Paper 2, authored by Simon Broek, will investigate the relationship between learning culture and individual agency in the Netherlands. Finally, Bea Mertens' Paper 3 will delve into the dynamics of motivation and barriers affecting learning quality of disadvantaged adults in Belgium. Through the variety of theoretical lenses and methodological approaches used, the insights from the research projects represented in the symposium fuel an in-depth discussion on potential levers for participation necessary for both education providers and policy makers to be able to design appropriate interventions to enhance both supply and demand side of lifelong learning for disadvantaged adults.

This presentation will delve deeper into the characteristics of participants versus non-participants in adult learning with a specific focus on future learning intentions, motivations and barriers. Previous research has shown that participation in adult learning remains unequal (Boeren, 2016). Those with higher levels of qualifications, younger adults, and those in knowledge-intensive jobs are more likely to participate. But to what extent have participation patterns, including its drivers and barriers, among these groups remained static during the past 20 years? This contribution to the symposium will introduce the audience to an ongoing adult education project, funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC): A UK-Ireland investigation into the statistical evidence-base underpinning adult learning and education policy-making. We will present a brief methodological overview of the Learning & Work Institute’s Adult Participation in Learning (APiL) survey, a representative cross-sectional survey with near-annual rounds of around 5,000 adults each, totalling around 100,000 for the period 2002 - 2023. The Learning & Work Institute is the UK’s leading non-partisan body generating policy-influence in adult education. Having introduced the audience to the methodological aspects of our research, we will present trend analyses on who did and did not participate during the last 20 years, including the characteristics of adults who indicated a likelihood to participate in the near future. The data also allow us to unpack the motivations (Boeren & Holford, 2016; Boshier & Collins, 1985) of participating adults and which barriers (Cross, 1981; Kalenda, Vaculíková, & Kočvarová, 2022) prevented others. Given our access to representative data for the period 2002 to 2023, we will not only discuss determinants of participation but specifically zoom in to patterns over time. Preliminary analyses of the data confirm a stubborn trend towards higher participation chances for younger and highly educated adults, those in full-time employment, coming from higher social class backgrounds. Additionally, while these socio-economic and socio-demographic background characteristics remain important predictors of future participation, adults’ current or recent participation status appears as the most powerful determinant of learning intentions. Analyses on trends in relation to motivations to participate and barriers preventing participation are ongoing at the time of submission. These will be finalised before the ECER conference and thus represent novel insights to the conference audience. The presentation will end with recommendations for future research, including the need for specialised longitudinal adult education data.

Boeren, E. (2016). Lifelong learning participation in a changing policy context: an interdisciplinary theory. London: Palgrave-Macmillan. Boeren, E., & Holford, J. (2016). Vocationalism Varies (a Lot):A 12-Country Multivariate Analysis of Participation in Formal Adult Learning. Adult Education Quarterly, 66(2), 120-142. Boshier, R., & Collins, J. B. (1985). The Houle typology after twenty-two years: a large-scale empirical test. Adult Education Quarterly, 35(3), 113-130. doi:10.1177/0001848185035003001 Cross, K. P. (1981). Adults as learners: increasing participation and facilitating learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Kalenda, J., Vaculíková, J., & Kočvarová, I. (2022). Barriers to the participation of low-educated workers in non-formal education. Journal of Education and Work, 35(5), 455-469. doi:10.1080/13639080.2022.2091118 Project website: A UK-Ireland investigation into the statistical evidence-base underpinning adult learning and education policy-making. Online available at https://adultlearningpolicies.co.uk/

This presentation will discuss results from a Dutch Research Council (NWO) funded study. The main research question relates to how learning cultures can be established that stimulate individual agency towards learning. The project contributes to a national monitoring approach to better evaluate whether policies do the right things in stimulating adults to learn. The study took the human capability approach (Nussbaum, 2013; Sen, 1999) as starting point (Broek et al., 2023). In this approach, the focus is on whether persons have the freedom to choose adult learning as a valuable life option. The focus is hence less on whether adults participate, but on whether they are in the position to even consider participating in adult learning. The latter does say more about the effectiveness of policies being able to establish a learning culture that stimulates individual agency towards learning. Literature review resulted in a theoretical framework concerning stimulating factors that make adults learn (Broek et al., 2023), focusing on ‘agency-factors’ (motivation, aspiration, self-confidence), ‘conversion-factors’ ((e.g. social, family, work, education background, institutions) and ‘results of adult learning’ (e.g. personal development, health, career). Furthermore, literature was explored to identify success factors in regional level learning environments (Broek, under review). Monitoring therefore whether adults are in a position to learn, requires a methodological approach that allows analysing the whole person addressing the stimulating and hampering factors together and not separately. To allow this, while allowing quantification, a large-scale interview approach based on card-sorting methodology was tested (Cataldo et al., 1970; Conrad & Tucker, 2019). 30 organisations (e.g. training providers, libraries, municipalities, PES, social welfare organisations) and 70 adults were interviewed. The interviews took place in three distinct Dutch regions (Rotterdam, Achterhoek, Groningen). The presentation will present how the learning culture interacts with personal agency-factors. It will cluster adult learners based on their profile of impacting factors and assess what interventions work best to stimulate the learning of those groups. Furthermore, reflections will be provided on the usability, strengths and weaknesses of applying card-sorting in social science research and explore the potential of scaling-up this methodology to be embedded in a national large-scale policy-monitoring instrument for lifelong learning. The thematical and methodological explorations are relevant for other European countries willing to better understand what policy actions could motivate adults to learn. In April 2024, in the context of the Belgian Presidency, the study will facilitate a European workshop on this topic.

Broek, S. D. (under review). Conditions for successful adult learning systems at local level: Creating a conducive socio-spatial environment for adults to engage in learning. Broek, S. D., Linden, J. V. D., Kuijpers, M. A. C. T., & Semeijn, J. H. (2023). What makes adults choose to learn: Factors that stimulate or prevent adults from learning. Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 29(2), 620–642. https://doi.org/10.1177/14779714231169684 Cataldo, E. F., Johnson, R. M., Kellstedt, L. A., & Milbrath, L. W. (1970). Card Sorting as a Technique for Survey Interviewing. Public Opinion Quarterly, 34(2), 202. https://doi.org/10.1086/267790 Conrad, L. Y., & Tucker, V. M. (2019). Making it tangible: Hybrid card sorting within qualitative interviews. Journal of Documentation, 75(2), 397–416. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-06-2018-0091 NRO. (2022). Leren Stimuleren! Een ontwikkelgerichte monitor voor meer LLO door versterkte eigen regie. | NRO. https://www.nro.nl/onderzoeksprojecten/leren-stimuleren-een-ontwikkelgerichte-monitor-voor-meer-llo-door-versterkte Nussbaum, M. (2013). Creating capabilities: The human development approach (1. paperback ed). Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press. Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom (1. Anchor Books ed). Anchor Books.

This presentation will elaborate on the quality of drivers and the role of barriers among low-educated adults participating in second-chance education (SCE). While research points at a Matthew effect in participation behavior, there is a subset of adults who, somewhat against the odds, decide to pursue further education through SCE, aiming to attain an ISCED level 3 degree (European Commission 2016). This degree is often required to have access to a range of jobs and to higher education or adults are being suspended from social assistance benefits if they cannot demonstrate enrollment in education. The quality of motivation for participating in SCE is therefore under pressure (Schuchart & Schimke, 2021; Windisch, 2016). In addition, we lack understanding on the relationship between the quality of participation motivation and the quality of motivation to engage in concrete learning behaviors, ultimately leading to learning outcomes. When reasons underlying participation do not entirely originate from the learner themselves it is overly optimistic to assume that mere participation in SCE inevitably also results in optimal learning motivation. While in most cases, future aspirations that can be achieved by participating in education are a good predictor of successful achievement (Ryan & Deci, 2017), this does not always seem to hold true for disadvantaged minority groups. One possible explanation for this aspirations-achievement paradox is that minorities often have "abstract" mobility beliefs about the value of education for later success in life, but at the same time, they seem to have fewer positive beliefs about the more “concrete” learning processes (Mickelson, 1990; Phalet, 2004). These hindering beliefs seem to be the natural consequence of earlier erratic school experiences and have the potential to undermine the quality of drivers for learning. The current study aims to gain a comprehensive insight into the interplay of drivers and barriers among participating disadvantaged adults, in order to better understand the often vulnerable motivational psychology of these learners. Based on the assumption that the quality of participation motivation is associated with the quality of motivation to engage in learning behaviors, this paper adopts a multidimensional theoretical view on the concept of motivation. Nineteen in-depth interviews probed the aspirations adult learners pursue by participating in SCE, on the one hand, and the drivers and barriers to engage in learning behavior on the other. Analyses are in a final stage and will therefore provide new insights that will be presented and discussed in this symposium.

European Commission (2016) on Upskilling Pathways: New Opportunities for Adults (2016/C 484/01). Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:JOC_2016_484_R_0001 (accessed January, 2024) Mickelson, R.-A. (1990) The attitude–achievement paradox among black adolescents, Sociology of Education, 63(1), 44–61. https://doi.org/10.2307/2112896 Phalet, K., Andriessen, I., & Lens, W. (2004). How future goals enhance motivation and learning in multicultural classrooms. Educational Psychology Review, 16(1), 59-89. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:EDPR.0000012345.71645.d4 Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. New York, NY: Guilford Publishing. Schuchart, C., & Schimke, B. (2022). Age and Social Background as Predictors of Dropout in Second Chance Education in Germany. Adult Education Quarterly, 72(3), 308-328. https://doi.org/10.1177/07417136211046960 Windisch, H.C. (2016). How to motivate adults with low literacy and numeracy skills to engage and persist in learning: A literature review of policy interventions. International Review of Education, 62(3), 279-297. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-016-9553-x