Lifelong Learning, Young Adults and the Challenges of Disadvantage in Europe

Across Europe, the aspirations of young people contrast radically, often by virtue of the perceptions that their societies hold of them. In this comprehensive publication, the authors explore the frameworks constructing young adults’ disadvantages and in the process create space for the narratives of the unheard. Here, disadvantage is characterised by a lack of progression into secondary or tertiary education, an inability to secure or progress in employment, as well as socially constructed disadvantages like gender, age, and culture.

The knowledge of disadvantage across Europe led the authors to a critical juncture. Through their involvement with the Enliven Project (Encouraging Lifelong Learning for an Inclusive and Vibrant Europe), they sought to examine the experiences of lifelong learning for young adults, and how this contributed to the success of meeting Europe’s 2020 targets. Adult learning is considered across a range of contextual conditions, capturing the influence of policy on participation in lifelong learning and professional development.

Chapter by chapter the authors draw on rich data that speaks to the injustices experienced by young adults in our societies: to those who are marginalised, left behind, and to those who sense that they do not matter. For young people anticipating the opportunity to re-enter education or to retrain for industry, adult education centres, vocational programmes, and workplace training can be the first step towards a more stable future. These spaces offer empowerment and introduce moments in which to become agentic. Young people’s drive to enhance their knowledge demonstrates the importance of providing these spaces to facilitate lifelong learning. The Enliven team argue that individual and structural barriers should be considered equally in the experience of disadvantage and vulnerability, and that deep speculation is required to understand how education and workplace training opportunities can be designed to help overcome these lasting challenges.

Young people are facing new challenges in the workforce. As competition in the labour market continues to soar, so does the significance of adult educational settings, as they act as sanctuaries for individuals whose credentials are limited or unsuitable for employment. The increasing use of technology in the workplace has made many low-skilled workers redundant, replacing them with machines, and thus the decline of these paid roles impacts the quality of life achieved by fellow citizens (Blossfeld et al., 2005). Overqualified individuals are increasingly recruited into low-skilled roles to ‘get their foot in the door’ and to seize opportunities for workplace learning and innovation. This issue is sensitively considered throughout the book, while cleverly drawing the reader’s focus toward the consequences faced by young people, such as exclusion from learning opportunities, lack of employment, immobility, and limited opportunities to change their circumstances.

Adult education centres have notoriously been conceptualised as sites of ‘second chance’. The connotations of these settings in the public realm have not been wholly positive, despite their profound capacity to provide hope, prospects, and care. Throughout the book, the authors confront the urgency for a reimagining of these centres in society, in order that access to knowledge becomes more equitable, and that greater numbers of people eventually have the opportunity to participate in the vast networks that make up society. The importance of these centres also lies in how they create spaces for belonging, where individuals can experience empathetic and relational practices – where they can weather experience together and benchmark their trajectories. Centring learning around the unique needs and circumstances of these participants is likely to enhance the diversity and inclusivity of the cohort, while also having a more holistically positive impact on their lives. Indeed, the authors discuss how adult education also stretches the behaviours, beliefs, and confidence of learners too. Further, the chance to participate in workplace learning can be pivotal during adult development, as lifelong learners strive to expand their interests, and enhance their expertise through acquiring new knowledge and skillsets.

The 16 chapters take the reader on a journey through policy, analytical lenses, conceptions of disadvantage, and introduce adult education and lifelong learning via case studies of organisations and their employees. These are accompanied by detailed tables and charts documenting the experience over time and the opportunities for learning and innovation encountered. Distinctly, rich discussions are offered exhibiting connection with notable scholars of education including Bourdieu, Dewey, Freire, Gelpi, Jarvis, Lindemann, Weber, Marx, and Tawney.

While the knowledge regarding opportunities for lifelong learning in European adult education and employment was fascinating, I felt most compelled to immerse myself in the vignettes provided by participants scattered about the chapters. In these were the voices of the people, telling their tales of triumph, tragedy, and transition. Often woven into the data were intricacies revealing the influence of the life course on mobility both within the workplace and wider society, including parenthood and marriage/divorce, while promotion, training, or altered job specifications also appeared to impress on professional development. The authors shed light on how participation might also be hampered by social imbalances and power relations. Facets of the participants’ circumstances frequently illustrated the barriers to agency, keeping them from creating a more fulfilling life.

Bounded agency (Evans, 2007), the influence of structural factors such as policy or organisations on individual decision making, is employed within this exploration of disadvantage, to critique the experiences of young adults as they attempt to enhance their chances of mobility through lifelong learning. The structural elements influencing lifelong learning are reviewed throughout, exposing their significance for motivation, aspiration, and vulnerability.

Finally, this scholarly work probes the obstacles faced by employees in the early stages of their career. As an early career researcher, I found that many of these dilemmas resonated with my own academic teaching and research practices; some of these challenges include precarious contracts, mystified pathways, limitations on upward mobility, and the perceived contribution to the wider organisation (Campbell, 2024). This speaks to the likely commonalities encountered across disciplines as individuals set the foundation for their careers.

This detailed and compassionate publication undoubtedly puts things into perspective. The authors have superbly synthesised this mammoth project, sharing with us the injustices and discriminations that permeate society, offering much to consider about the changes necessary to existing systems of support. It is indeed a persuasive publication that I am sure will speak to much of the growing literature on embedding employability skills in the curriculum; the growing use of technology in learning and the workplace; and developing suitable provision for non-traditional learners.