Participation In Further Education Research Articles

Do unions increase participation in further education?

AbstractThe race between education and technology is a key issue for trade unions. Unions often include skill upgrading and training in collective bargains, which might be an important tool to facilitate lifelong learning. In this article, I investigate how trade unions influence workers’ participation in further education using Norwegian‐matched employer–employee panel data on full‐time workers and a fixed‐effects framework. In contrast to most existing studies, which rely on more or less representative surveys, our data comprise the entire working population over a period of 16 years, allowing us to control for unobserved individual heterogeneity. An increase in the workplace union density is estimated to raise the individual propensity to participate in tertiary vocational education. I also find that workers in unionized establishments enjoy higher salaries during further education but at the expense of lower post‐training wage premiums. In addition, unions are found to lower employee turnover. Together, these findings give empirical support to the theoretical prediction of Acemoglu and Pischke (1999), where firms may optimally choose to sponsor investments in workers’ skills in the absence of perfect competition in the labour market.

“A tremendous number of perspectives, and also opportunities, in any and all directions”: The relevance of practical concepts of life for the regulation of participation in further education

ZusammenfassungDer Beitrag diskutiert das Konzept der Beteiligungsregulation als Fluchtpunkt einer relationalen Reflexion von Weiterbildungsbeteiligung. Im Zentrum des Konzepts stehen unterschiedliche Bedeutungsgefüge, in denen Weiterbildung jeweils auf eine bestimmte Weise verortet ist und die sich regulierend auf Bildungsentscheidungen auswirken. Im Rahmen des Beitrags werden nun Lebensentwürfe als solche Bedeutungsgefüge analysiert: Auf Basis einer sinngenetischen Typenbildung (dokumentarische Methode) konnten drei Lebensentwurfsformen herausgearbeitet werden, in die ein pragmatisches (‚Pfad‘), ein affektives, selbstentfaltungsorientiertes (‚Drift‘) bzw. ein eher ambivalentes (‚Fügung‘) Verhältnis zu Weiterbildung eingelassen ist. Zugleich kommt der gegenwärtig zentrale (politische) Begründungsrahmen für Weiterbildung, lebenslanges Lernen, als spezifischer Kontext in den Blick, der seinerseits an der Beteiligungsregulation mitwirkt, insofern er verschiedene und in unterschiedlicher Weise anschlussfähige (teils implizit bleibende) Lern-Appelle umfasst. Die Reflexion dieser Anschlussmöglichkeiten stärkt sowohl die gegenwartsdiagnostische als auch die ungleichheitsanalytische Dimension des Konzepts der Beteiligungsregulation.

Basic Reading and Mathematics Skills and the Labour Market Outcomes of Young People: Evidence from PISA and Linked Administrative Data*

This paper uses Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data linked to administrative data to track the educational and labour market outcomes of young people. Students with lower skills have lower rates of participation in further education. While low‐skilled men out‐earn their higher‐skilled counterparts when they are very young, their earnings are overtaken by those with higher skills when they are in their early 20s, and they earn around 15 per cent less by the age of 25. The differences among women are substantially larger – women with low skills earn approximately 35 per cent less than their higher‐skilled counterparts by age 25.

The long-term effects of school education on further education: a longitudinal view on motivation and behaviour in youth and adulthood.

As school learning should enable people to self-determine their own lives, its long-lasting relevance for participation in further education is an essential outcome. Contemporary adult education research shows that beliefs and memories from one's school years have an impact on the motivation to pursue further education in working life. However, almost no longitudinal research exists that investigates the long-term forces behind adults' motivation to educate themselves. Hence, the present study examined whether students' learning-related behaviour, cognitions and emotions that developed in their school years are related to the subjective value they place on further education, their expectations of success in solving further learning tasks, and thus the likelihood of participating in further education. Corresponding structural equation analyses on data from the German panel study LifE (n = 1,110) revealed that the learning behaviour, ability self-concept and test anxiety at the age of 12, along with their individual change between the ages of 12 and 16, are associated in different ways with the attainment value and subjective costs placed on further education and expectations of success at the age of 35. In contrast, no influence of youth characteristics on the likelihood of participating in further education could be found. The findings indicate that especially the development of learning-related cognitions and emotions in secondary school is sustainably related to the individual's success expectancy and achievement value of further education. Long-term dependencies should be further investigated with regard to academic domains and socio-economic pathways.

Are first jobs in the German public sector more stable? An examination under consideration of the institutional structure

In recent decades, Germany has turned away from regular employment for the non-established, with employment entrance becoming the most insecure phase of a career. The public-sector employment regime, with its specific institutional setting, has been seen as a "model employer” for disadvantaged groups, but reforms and restructuring are increasingly calling this special status over the private-sector into question. This article examines whether the public sector provides more stable employment for entrants than the private sector. It is investigated whether the institutional structure of the public sector positively influences employment stability. In a decomposition-analysis, it tests potentially stabilizing (working in a service relationship, high occupational closure, participation in further education) and destabilizing institutional factors (fixed-term and part-time employment) to explain the stability of first jobs in the public sector. Using the labour market entry cohorts 1995 to 2012 of the retrospective life history data of the Starting Cohort six of the National Education Panel Study (NEPS). The results show that the public sector is offering more stable first jobs, and stabilizing factors, like further education are influential. However, destabilizing factors, like the intensive use of fixed-term contracts, have a significant negative impact. This suggests that the stabilising institutional structure of the public sector, while functioning, is under pressure and thus offers potential for polarisation.

Non-Employed People in the Westpfalz Region (Germany) as Target Group of Continuing Higher Education

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and especially continuing higher education has an influence on the development of a region. By focusing on demands of the regional economy as well as its population, these data contribute to the demand-oriented development of study programmes. Therefore, continuing higher education at HEIs is getting more attractive and the participation rate can be enlarged. Another aspect could be the identification of new target groups, for example regional minorities. In this paper, the Westpfalz region (Germany) is considered as an example, as it has interesting characteristics, such as the structural weakness and the participation in further education that is below national average. For this purpose, a representative Regional Population Survey was conducted to describe the population of the Westpfalz region and their educational needs. The group of non-employed people stood out in this survey because of their size and their willingness to participate in continuing higher education. In contrast to the traditional target group of employed academics, the results of the survey show that there are similarities and differences referring to their educational requirements. These results provide evidence that helps to develop and design study programmes especially for continuing higher education that take into account the needs of this target group. At the end of the paper, the potential impact this may have for the Westpfalz region is discussed.

What Influences Participation in Non-formal and Informal Modes of Continuous Vocational Education and Training? An Analysis of Individual and Institutional Influencing Factors

Participation in further education is a central success factor for economic growth and societal as well as individual development. This is especially true today because in most industrialized countries, labor markets and work processes are changing rapidly. Data on further education, however, show that not everybody participates and that different social groups participate to different degrees. Activities in continuous vocational education and training (CVET) are mainly differentiated as formal, non-formal and informal CVET, whereby further differences between offers of non-formal and informal CVET are seldom elaborated. Furthermore, reasons for participation or non-participation are often neglected. In this study, we therefore analyze and compare predictors for participation in both forms of CVET, namely, non-formal and informal. To learn more about the reasons for participation, we focus on the individual perspective of employees (invidual factors, job-related factors, and learning biography) and additionally integrate institutional characteristics (workplace and company-based characteristics). The results mainly show that non-formal CVET is still strongly influenced by institutional settings. In the case of informal CVET, on the other hand, the learning biography plays a central role.

Economic change and continuous vocational training in the work history: a longitudinal multilevel analysis of the employees\u2019 participation in further training and the effects on their occupational careers in Germany, 1970\u20132008

Human capital theory and the life-course perspective are used to investigate how economic modernisation, as well as developments in the labour market after the West German “economic miracle”, impacted employers’ supply of further education and training on the job, and employees’ increased participation in these arrangements. Additionally—controlling for the aforementioned structural change and economic cycles—it is analysed whether participation in further training minimises employees’ risk of dismissal and heightens their commitment to a company. The hypotheses are tested using longitudinal data and time series—allowing the analysis of employees’ participation in further education and training on the job, and the careers of West Germans born between 1956 and 1978 for the 1972–2008 periods—by procedures of event history analysis and episode splitting in a dynamic multi-level design. Systematic period and cohort effects of structural change in the economy and labour markets on companies’ supply of, and employees’ participation in, continued vocational training on the job have been revealed. Participation in further training reduces employees’ risk of dismissal, as well as their mobility between companies. Participants’ adaptation to structural change via job-related further training is correlated with increased employment security, professional flexibility, and commitment to the employer.

The Growing Gap Between Post-secondary Schooling and Further Education: Findings of 1998, 2004, 2010 and 2016 National Surveys The Employed Canadian Labour Force

This article summarizes the findings of a 2016 national survey of the formal schooling, further education, and job‑related informal learning of the employed Canadian labour force and compares the results with those of prior national surveys conducted in 1998, 2004, and 2010. The major finding is an unprecedented growing gap between increasing post‑secondary school completion and decreasing participation in further education. This gap may have begun in a recessionary labour market but may now be driven by the increasing underemployment of the qualifications of post‑secondary graduates who find little added benefit to further education in their jobs. The incidence of job‑related informal learning may also be declining. Age and economic class differences in schooling and further education appear to be narrowing in this context. Implications of the growing gap between advanced schooling and further education as well as the increasing incidence of underemployment are discussed.

The participation in further education of low educated in international comparison – a multi-level analysis

Weiterbildung steht zunehmend im Fokus bildungspolitischer Steuerungsanspruche auf nationaler sowie supra- und internationaler Ebene. International-vergleichende Large-Scale-Assessments wie PIAAC haben die offentliche Aufmerksamkeit fur die Erwachsenen- und Weiterbildung weiter gesteigert und dabei auch die Geringqualifizierten fokussiert. Der Beitrag analysiert anhand von Mehrebenenmodellen die Relevanz nationaler Kontexte fur die Weiterbildungsbeteiligung insgesamt und von Geringqualifizierten insbesondere. Unter Benutzung der Daten des European Labour Force Survey aus dem Jahr 2013 wird gezeigt, dass die Hohe nationaler Bildungsausgaben einen positiven Einfluss auf die individuelle Teilnahme an Weiterbildung hat und die Benachteiligung Geringqualifizierter bei hoheren Bildungsausgaben geringer ist.

Further Education of Higher Education Graduates — the More, the Better?

In times of rapid technological and organisational change, it is argued that lifelong further education becomes more and more important for labour market success. Especially in labour market segments for the highly qualified, it is essential to constantly update one's qualifications. This is reflected in the finding that graduates with tertiary education are closely involved in further training measures at the beginning of their life courses. Almost all take part in at least one further training measure in the first five years after graduation. The further education strategies of higher education graduates, however, vary greatly in terms of frequency of participation, duration of measures, financing of the measure and the type of skills acquired. Using a German graduate panel which traces a sample of graduates up to five years after they obtained their degree in 1997 (HIS Absolventenpanel), we analyse which of these strategies are most successful in terms of wages. Using random effect panel models, we find — controlling for a variety of other factors — that the frequency of participation in further education only has a significant positive influence on male graduates' wages. Moreover, it is mainly measures paid exclusively by the employer and courses directed at personality development, i.e. management skills, which have substantial wage premiums.

Probing the Icebergs of Adult Learning: Comparative Findings and Implications of the 1998, 2004 and 2010 Canadian Surveys of Formal and Informal Learning Practices

This paper summarizes the findings of the 2010 Work and Lifelong Learning (WALL) survey of self-reported further education and intentional informal learning activities of Canadian adults and compares them with the results of the 2004 WALL survey and the 1998 New Approaches to Lifelong Learning (NALL) survey on the same subject. Basic profiles of participation in further education courses and intentional informal learning activities related to employment, housework, community volunteer work, and general interests are presented. In addition to being one of the most highly formally educated populations in the world, Canadians quite rapidly increased their participation in further education over the past generation. They continued to devote much more of their time to an array of informal learning activities. However, Canadian adults’ array of formal and informal learning efforts face relatively diminishing opportunities for application in jobs as they are currently structured.

Beating the Odds: Impact of the Economic Recession on Young People in the UK

Beating the Odds: Impact of the Economic Recession on Young People in the UK

Determinanten der Weiterbildungsbeteiligung

In this article, we use data provided by the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) to analyse variables influencing the participation in further education at five points in time. Above all, education and an immigratory background are found to be the main factors diminishing an employee’s participation in further education. These effects are consistent across all time periods measured and show that groups at risk with limited opportunities remain disadvantaged. All in all, further education is unable to offer equal opportunities; as such, a discussion of possibilities for overcoming inequality is presented.

Comparative and International Education: A Bibliography (2009)

Comparative and International Education: A Bibliography (2009)

Social class and participation in further education: evidence from the Youth Cohort Study of England and Wales

This paper examines the class distribution of young people, aged 16–17 years, in colleges of further education (FE) using data from the Youth Cohort Study. It finds that, contrary to popular perceptions of FE colleges as being for ‘other people’s children’, middle‐class students as well as working‐class students are well represented. However, this does not imply that FE colleges are institutions of choice; middle‐class representation is often related to lower achievement and, for low‐achieving working‐class students, leaving education entirely is more likely than entry to FE. These findings are explored using notions of habitus and field. Their relationship with studies of the education of middle‐class children is also discussed, and the paper suggests that research on class in FE colleges must come to terms with middle‐class presence.

Negotiating the textuality of Further Education: issues of agency and participation

Students in Further Education colleges in England read and write in many different kinds of ways in different areas of their everyday lives. As part of their participation in Further Education, these students face a multitude of literacy demands: through the bureaucracies of the college, the pedagogic content of their courses, the textual nature of assessment, and the development of new practices of reading and writing relating to their intended workplaces. Drawing upon evidence from research with students and staff at four FE colleges in England and Scotland, this paper presents the argument that students actively participate within this textual world. They elect to engage with some texts and to ignore others, depending upon the value they judge the text to have, the relevance they think it holds to their lives or courses, and the extent to which they are able to access the text and its meanings. This challenges a popular deficit discourse which assumes FE students’ lack of literacy: rather than seeing the student as the ‘problem’ behind the lack of engagement with some texts, the text can be seen as the ‘problem’ if it has failed to engage the student.

How effective are collaborative approaches for widening participation in further education and training?

This study examines the different types, and effectiveness, of collaboration used by providers to widen participation in further education and training in England between 2001 and 2003. The first section, an introduction, sets a scene for the study and definitions are offered for the main terminology – collaboration and widening participation. The political, economic and policy contexts for the study are also briefly introduced. A review of relevant literature, pertaining to collaboration is carried out in the second section to set a context and establish a rationale for the study. A case‐study approach employing multiple methods of data collection is used to answer the questions in the third section. The case‐study locations are described in the fourth section. Conclusions from analysing the data suggest that collaborative practices can be effectively used to recruit members of ethnic minority communities (as defined by the Learning and Skills Council – see Tables 7–10) and the long‐term unemployed onto further education and training programmes. The evidence is, however, less conclusive regarding the contribution of collaborative approaches to enabling members of these communities to achieve their learning aims. A number of recommendations are made for improving collaborative practices.

Key competencies: a new way forward or more of the same?

Abstract This article explores and critiques the different ways in which the concept of has been understood and represented in the curriculum. It is argued that if competencies are to go beyond simply reinforcing the curriculum status quo, the role they play in the curriculum needs to be better understood. The article develops one approach to understanding competencies that will, it is argued, enhance their transformative potential. Introduction The idea/language of key competencies has been around for the past 20 years. The concept has travelled, being taken up in many places at different times, in new forms and with new emphases. Like most educational ideas, key competencies can be vehicles for simply reproducing the curriculum status quo, or for transforming the curriculum for social justice purposes. In my view, their various manifestations have been more of the former than the latter, but it does not have to be that way. I will argue that if key competencies are to fulfil their transformative potential, there is a need to understand how they can be understood, represented, and practised in curriculum terms. The article is in three parts. In the first, I will describe how competencies have been, and are, understood and represented in curriculum, using mainly Australian examples. In the second, I will critique these dominant understandings on two major grounds: (a) that competencies lack a sturdy rationale; and (b) that competencies have not been understood adequately in curriculum terms. I will use this critique to develop a reconceptualised version of competencies. In the third part, I will speculate on the benefits that a different approach to understanding key competencies might bring. Section A: What are key competencies and where have they come from? In its first manifestation, the concept of key competencies was (and still is, in some countries) a term used to describe generic skills for the workplace. That is, key competencies were economically motivated--with the workplace being their major reference point. For example, key competencies, developed in Australia in the late 1980s to early 1990s, were defined in the Mayer (1992) report as: ... competencies essential for effective participation in the emerging patterns of work and work organisation. They focus on the capacity to apply knowledge and skills in an integrated way in work situations. Key Competencies are generic in that they apply to work generally rather than being specific to work in specific occupations and industries. This characteristic means that the Key Competencies are not only essential for effective participation in work but are also essential for effective participation in further education and in adult life more generally. (p. 7) The Australian Mayer Key Competencies comprise competencies that are skills or attributes (see Table 1). They are seen as transcending traditional subject boundaries, and as therefore being cross-curricular. Whilst they can be developed within a specific subject area, the skill or attribute is not exclusive to a particular discipline. For example, working in a team is a generic skill. Students can learn to do this in many different contexts. The Key Competencies are also seen as being important for all young people regardless of the education or training pathway they follow (Mayer, 1992, p. 1), and indeed as a bridge between general and vocational education (Mayer, 1992). That is, while they may have been motivated for economic reasons, they are also applicable to other aspects of life. There were similar moves in other countries, such as the Scottish Core Skills, English Key Skills, New Zealand's Essential Skills, key competencies in a number of European countries, and the US Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills, Workplace Know-How (Werner, 1995). …

Deaf students and their support in further education in the United Kingdom: results from the National Association for Tertiary Education for Deaf People (NATED) survey 2000

A survey was undertaken by questionnaire sent to all further education institutions in the United Kingdom (490). Responses were received from 334 institutions (68%). The purpose of the questionnaire was to investigate the distribution of deaf students, the levels of support provided and the qualifications of teaching and support staff (tutors, teachers of deaf students and communication support workers). The survey reveals increased numbers of deaf students in further education compared to a 1991 survey, reflecting current initiatives towards inclusive learning. This increased participation in further education is encouraging, but there is still a wide disparity between colleges in support provision.