Session Information
23 SES 04 A, European Lifelong Learning and the Challenges of Global Recession: Realities and Prospects for Efficiency, Equity and Cohesion (Part 2)
Symposium, continued from 23 SES 03 A
Time:
2009-09-28
16:00-17:30
Room:
HG, HS 28
Chair:
Sheila Riddell
Discussant:
Terri Seddon
Contribution
In recent years, policy discourses emerging from various national and European scales have focused on lifelong and workspace learning as means of promoting economic development, active citizenship and social inclusion (CEC, 2002; Scottish Government, 2007, HM Treasury, 2006). This paper examines the experiences of employees’ participation in formal adult education in England and Scotland. Data are drawn from interviews with managers and employees participating in formal adult education.
Findings suggest that although SMEs offer employees opportunities of formal education, traditional patterns prevailed, in which highly educated employees had greater prospects to gain further portable qualifications, while low-skilled employees were more likely to participate in in-house job-specific training. As many managers viewed cost as the greatest barrier to employee development and training, the opportunities for low to medium skilled employees to gain portable qualifications are likely to decrease further during recession, damaging the chances for low skilled workers to compete in an insecure labour market. In light of the European agenda to become “the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth” (CEC, 2000), our paper outlines the relationship between contemporary lifelong learning policy, portable qualifications for all, and implications of the current recession.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
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