Researching expanded notions of learning and work and underemployment : Findings of the first canadian survey of informal learning practices

Abstract

The paper offers an analysis of the results of the first country-wide survey of the informal learning practices of adults in Canada, conducted in 1998. The survey was based on expanded conceptions of both learning (including informal learning and continuing education as well as schooling) and work (including community volunteer work and housework as well as paid employment). Respondents were found to be devoting unprecedented amounts of time to learning activities, including an average of 15 hours per week in informal learning projects. The patterns and interrelations of all of these dimensions of work and learning are summarized. Multiple dimensions of the underemployment of achieved learning in paid employment are briefly identified. The existence of widespread underemployment suggests that we are living in a knowledge society but not yet in a knowledge-based economy. The paper concludes with possible implications of the empirical research findings using these expanded conceptions of learning and work for policy and program initiatives.