Drivers of job-related learning among low-educated employees in the Nordic countries

ABSTRACT

This study explored drivers of participation in job-related lifelong learning (LLL) among low-educated mature-aged employees and compared them across four Nordic countries. Workplaces can be low-threshold, effective arenas for development of their skills in work and learning. The paper builds on the Bounded Agency Model and theories of learning motivation, human capital, and workplace learning. We used data from the Survey of Adult Skills (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The average participation rate was 36%. Results of the logistic regression analyses showed that income, skills use at work, sector and gender were significant drivers of participation in all countries. Additionally, being under-skilled was significant in Finland and parents’ education in Sweden. Totally, these variables explained a quarter of the variation in participation. Thus, the drivers of participation appeared more similar than different across the countries. Implications of the findings are discussed in relation to how to support skills development among low-educated older workers, and to some challenges in cross-country comparative research.

KEYWORDS:

• Job-related learning
• participation
• low-educated
• mature employees
• Nordic countries
• PIAAC

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. While the conceptualisations of LLL vary across countries, most definitions build on the view promoted by major international organisations, UNESCO and the OECD and the European Union (UNESCO, 2016), acknowledging that the concept of LLL covers all ages, all levels of education and all modalities of learning (formal, informal, non-formal), in all life contexts.

2. To make this table more economic and readable, we categorised continuous variables and, for some variables, we merged some original categories. In actual statistical analyses and modelling, we used the original values and categories. This may cause seeming inconsistencies between this table and results of logistic regression analyses.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Norwegian Research Council [228298].

Notes on contributors

Tarja Tikkanen

Tarja Tikkanen, PhD, is Professor in Education at the University of Stavanger, Norway, and a Professor II at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. She has a long experience in research in lifelong learning within job-related skills and competence development. Most of her research has been international - Nordic and European. She has published widely on the thematic. Tarja Tikkanen lives in Sandnes, Norway.

Kari Nissinen

Kari Nissinen, PhD in Statistics, works as a senior researcher at Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. He has long experience as a statistician in international and national large-scale assessments. His expertise area is statistical data analysis, in particular linear, generalized linear and mixed models, multivariate methods and survey methodology.