Conditions fostering adult participation in learning and training

Abstract

Apparently, training courses that aim at retraining workers in order to equip them with skills useful to avoid the risk of expulsion from the labour market due to delocalisation or automation processes in the companies where they are employed should be widely attended, but this is not always the case.

Even in the presence of incentives, the participation of low-skilled workers, who could develop their skills by participating in adult education activities, is low across the OECD area. It is, however, higher for workers with tertiary education. Individuals with low qualifications are also less willing to take up learning and retraining opportunities for cultural reasons related to a lack of awareness of the direct and indirect benefits of learning: as a result, many do not recognise their own needs for improvement and therefore do not seek training opportunities.