‘Situational barriers are keeping me from participating’, but are they situational? Examining low-educated adults’ psychosocial views on adult learning

Abstract

Despite the attention devoted to situational and institutional barriers in studying participation in adult education, psychosocial barriers are often overlooked in research. However, low-educated, and non-participating adults are more likely to experience them. In this study, we examine low-educated, both participating and non-participating, adults’ psychosocial views on learning. We interviewed 15 adults by using vignettes to elicit discussion on a delicate and difficult to interview theme and carried out a qualitative content analysis. Our findings demonstrate that adults point to situational barriers for not participating and, contrary to what we anticipated, have positive general attitudes towards learning. However, there are several prerequisites to having this attitude. For instance, learning has to be useful, a learning trigger is needed, spare hours should not be devoted, and there should be no exams or tests. As a result, our research demonstrates the complex nature of perceived ‘situational’ barriers, which frequently pertain to psychosocial stances.