Learning and Life Chances: Rethinking the Dynamics of Inequality and Opportunity

Abstract

Life chances and opportunities for learning are shaped by social, economic, and cultural factors that influence individual behavior and experiences. Context matters in how individual lives develop, including influences from immediate family and community environments, institutional structures, and the wider sociohistorical context. The world of work is being impacted by a so-called fourth industrial revolution, transformed by artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, requiring continued up- and reskilling of the labor force. Against this background, there are persisting inequalities in opportunities for educational participation and attainment that are rooted in early childhood and continue to accumulate over the life course. Yet individuals are not passively exposed to these influences and aim to control and steer their lives in relation to given constraints. The aftermath of the current COVID-19 pandemic has brought new urgency to the search for policy strategies that can effectively support learning throughout people’s lives in the face of increasing uncertainty and volatility. This chapter develops an integrative, interdisciplinary framework to better understand the dynamic interplay of social structures and individual agency throughout the life course. It draws on a wide literature as well as our own research to examine the role of socioeconomic factors in shaping individual endeavors regarding skill development and knowledge acquisition and the potential for lifelong learning policies to make a difference.