Corruption-Driven Inequalities in Access to Adult Education

The article aims to show that taking into account diverse characteristics of the wider social environment is indispensable for a better understanding of participation in adult education (PAE). It explores the association of corruption as a macro factor with PAE, arguing for an integrated approach to PAE. By using two indexes for corruption at country level Corruption Perception Index and the Index of Public Integrity—and micro-data for adults aged 25–64 from 29 European countries in the Adult Education Survey, 2016, as well as by applying random-effects logit models, this study has demonstrated that a country's higher corruption level is associated with the lower probability of PAE. Our article also reveals that the relationships between individual-level variables such as gender, higher education, social background, and PAE are embedded in a wider social milieu, and corruption is an essential characteristic of that milieu which deepens some of the inequalities in PAE.

Foreign language skills and employment status of European natives: evidence from Germany, Italy and Spain

This article examines the relationship between foreign language skills and the employment status of natives in Germany, Italy and Spain. Using a probit model and data from Eurostat’s Adult Education Survey 2011, this article studies the conditional correlation between knowledge of English and French as foreign languages, and the probability of being employed, comparatively, for men and women. The results reveal that skills in English increase the probability of being employed for men in the three countries, respectively, by 3.4, 4.3 and 5.2%. Knowledge of English increases the probability of being employed for women in Germany and Italy—respectively, by 5.6 and 5.7%—but not in Spain. The results also show that very good skills are associated with a higher probability of being employed than sufficient or good skills. The conditional correlation between knowledge of English and employment status for men is larger in countries where skills in this language are less common among the population, and where the unemployment rate is higher. This is consistent with the fundamental economic concept of scarcity. Estimates for French are not statistically significant.

Een leven lang leren in Nederland

Een leven lang leren staat al jaren hoog op de internationale en nationale politieke agenda. Het werd in 2000 als belangrijke pijler opgenomen in de zogenoemde Lissabon-strategie, die als doel had Europa één van de meest dynamische en concurrerende kenniseconomieën ter wereld te maken. In 2010 werd de Europese strategie op het gebied van onderwijs en opleiding voortgezet. Uit de Adult Education Survey (AES) van CBS over het verslagjaar 2016 blijkt dat twee op de drie werkenden een werkgerelateerde opleiding of cursus hebben gevolgd in de afgelopen twaalf maanden. De deelname aan opleidingen en cursussen is het hoogst onder 25- tot 35-jarige mannen, hoogopgeleide vrouwen en onder werkenden met een vast dienstverband. Het is vooral in de bedrijfstakken verhuur en handel van onroerend goed, financiële dienstverlening en overheid dat men zich laat bijscholen en datzelfde geldt voor de grote bedrijven. De informatie die werkenden over opleidingen en cursussen ontvangen, is meestal afkomstig van een onderwijsinstelling of de werkgever. Niet alle werkenden die scholing voor het werk zouden willen, nemen daaraan daadwerkelijk deel. De zorg voor gezin of huishouden is daarbij de meest genoemde belemmering. Informeel leren komt vooral voor onder degenen die nog relatief kort werkzaam zijn in hun functie.

Adult Education as a Stepping-Stone to Better Jobs: An Analysis of the Adult Education Survey in Turkey

The objective of this article is to investigate whether adult education (AE) can be used as a tool in facilitating transitions to/in the labor market, using the cross-sectional Adult Education Survey of Turkey (2012). AE is defined as the nonformal education for individuals aged older than 25 years. The outcome of AE is measured by changing jobs for employed and finding a job for the unemployed. Concentrating on employed people, we analyze both the determinants and the outcome of participation in AE for the purpose of changing jobs; and second, concentrating on unemployed people, we analyze both the determinants and the outcome of participation in AE for the purpose of getting employed. We find that once young males who are already working participate in AE for changing work, independent of their education or how AE is financed, they can be successful in doing so. The results of the paper suggest that AE programs offered by the government can serve as a tool in increasing income of the less educated and the unemployed by facilitating their transition to the labor market.

Between Inclusion and Fairness

The article claims that equity is an indispensable dimension of the widening of access to adult education. Building on the understanding of social justice in adult education as a complex phenomenon, two indicators are developed: an index of inclusion and an index of fairness in participation in adult education. The article analyses social justice separately in formal and nonformal education for two social groups—people with low and high education. Using data from the Adult Education Survey from 2007 and 2011 for 25 countries, it is shown that in most of the countries, there are signs of improvement in the fairness aspect of social justice as a result of a decrease in the overrepresentation of people with high education and in the underrepresentation of people with low education. However, the inclusion of people with low education in adult education remains considerable lower in comparison with the inclusion of people with high education.

Non-Formal Education in International Comparison: Patterns of Participation and Investment in Selected European Countries

This investigation focuses on participation and related investment patterns in job related non-formal education (NFE) in selected European countries. Broadening previous research formats of NFE are distinguished by investment including financial and time investments by employers, employees and public authorities. By this, company-sponsored and individual-financed NFE are distinguished sharply and cases with shared investment between employers and employees (co-financed NFE) and between employers, employees and public funding (co-financed pooled NFE) are accounted for, additionally. For explaining participation in NFE supply and demand models are referred to. Hypotheses on cross-country differences for investment in NFE refer to the Varieties-of-Capitalism approach and countries are selected representing different varieties of capitalism (Norway, Sweden, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Spain, France, UK). Analyses are based on data of the Adult Education Survey (AES) 2011/12.

Estimation of Some Proportion in a Clustered Population

The aim of this paper is to show that the traditional design-based estimator for the proportion of population units, associated with at least one subunit having an attribute of interest using the two-stage sampling design, is biased. We face such a situation in the Adult Education Survey of official statistics of the European countries when estimating the share of individuals in non-formal education, involved in job-related learning activities. The alternative design and model-based estimators are proposed.