This paper assesses motivation to adult education and training in the Czech Republic, utilising the newest empirical evidence on work-related (proactive and reactive) and non-work-related (social and personal) reasons for participation.

Motivation is one of the key concepts in adult education and training research (Houle, 1961; Boeren, 2016; Alfaifi, 2024), as it allows us to understand why some adults engage in organise learning activities  while others do not participate in them (Gorges & Kandler, 2012; Gorges, 2016). Since the 1960s, research has consistently aimed to identify the reasons behind participation and to develop typologies that reflect the various motives (Houle, 1961; Boshier, 1971, 1977; Boeren & Holford, 2016).

Despite a broad conceptualisation of motivation, empirical research has most often examined motivation through predefined categorical frameworks, particularly the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2019, 2020; Pihlainen et al., 2022). However, it has not examined whether participation in adult education and training is initiated in response to a specific change or problem, or whether it represents a proactive, continuous investment in the future.

In this presentation,  participation in adult education and training is interpreted through the analytical distinction between reactive and proactive reasons for participation in work-related organised learning. Reactive participation refers to engagement, which is motivated primarily as a response to an immediate change, disruption, or externally imposed demand, most commonly related to employment conditions, job requirements, or institutional obligations. In contrast, proactive participation denotes engagement in adult education and training, that is oriented towards long-term personal or professional development, and is characterised by anticipatory behaviour, continuity, and a forward-looking investment in competencies and identity formation (Dweck, 2016).

By distinguishing between reactive and proactive participation, this study seeks to move beyond what can be described as a static categorisation of reasons for participation. Previous survey-based research has often relied on simplified and predefined categories of motivation, such as the dichotomy between job-related and personal reasons, or between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, thereby treating motivational factors as isolated and fixed attributes. At the same time, participation has been  frequently measured through a basic yes–no indicator, despite being the outcome of a more complex underlying decision-making process (Boeren, 2016). Moreover, these approaches typically capture motivations at a single point in time, offering limited possibilities to examine how different reasons interact with each other or how participation is shaped by life events, situational changes, or future-oriented considerations.

To cover non-work-related participation motives, this paper analyses two types motives - personal and social. This distinction follows established approaches in adult education and training research that differentiate between individually and socially oriented non-work-related motives (Houle, 1961; Boshier, 1971, 1977).

On this basis, the following research questions are formulated:

RQ1: What types of reasons for participating in formal and non-formal education can be identified in terms of reactive and proactive participation logic?

RQ2: How do the sociodemographic and occupational characteristics of adults (i.e., age, gender, educational attainment, employment and occupational status) relate to reactive and proactive participation in formal education?

RQ3: How do the sociodemographic and occupational characteristics of adults (i.e., age, gender, educational attainment, employment and occupational status) relate to reactive and proactive participation in non-formal education?

RQ4: How are non-work-related personal and social motives for participation in formal education distributed across sociodemographic groups (age, gender, and educational attainment)?

RQ5: How are non-work-related personal and social motives for participation in non-formal education distributed across sociodemographic groups (age, gender, and educational attainment)?

This study is based on data from the Adult Learning Systems Questionnaire Survey (ALS-Q), which was conducted in the Czech Republic in the fall of 2024. The survey was designed as a cross-sectional study focusing on adult participation in organised learning activities and the structure of self-reported reasons for participation in education and training. The sample consisted of respondents aged 16–74 years (n = 1,144) and was constructed to be representative with respect to gender, age, highest level of educational attainment according to the ISCED 2011 classification, region of residence (NUTS), and employment status. Quota sampling procedures were applied to ensure comparability with the adult population structure in the Czech Republic. For the purposes of this analysis, the analytical sample was limited to respondents who reported participation in organised learning during the previous 12 months. This included respondents who participated in formal education (n = 170), non-formal education (n = 414), or both types of education (n = 75). Respondents who reported no participation in either form of education were excluded from the analytical sample. Individual items measuring motivation were first differentiated according to whether they were primarily work-related or non-work-related. Work-related reasons were subsequently classified into reactive and proactive participation based on their temporal and situational orientation. Reactive participation refers to participation triggered by immediate changes, disruptions, or externally imposed demands in the work environment, such as new job requirements, employer obligations, or the need to retain one’s current position. Proactive participation, in contrast, includes reasons reflecting a longer-term orientation towards professional development, continuous skills improvement, or participation perceived as a regular and meaningful part of one’s work trajectory. Non-work-related reasons were analytically grouped into personal and social motives. Personal motives included reasons related to self-development, personal interests, coping with life situations, and improving quality of life. Social motives captured reasons associated with social interaction, meeting new people, community involvement, and other collective activities. The results are presented using absolute and relative frequencies, allowing for a descriptive comparison of motivational orientations between formal and non-formal education. In addition, multivariate regression analyses are employed to examine the associations between sociodemographic and occupational characteristics and reactive and proactive participation.

In the context of formal education, participation is predominantly driven by work-related reasons. However, a clear distinction emerges between reactive and proactive forms of participation. Among respondents motivated by work-related reasons, the majority (70.8%) reported proactive engagement, while a smaller proportion (29.2%) reported reactive participation in response to immediate job-related demands. Non-work-related reasons for participation were predominantly personal in nature (61.2%), rather than social (38.8%). Personal motives were chiefly associated with self-fulfilment and personal development, while social motivations played a more marginal role and were mainly related to meeting new people. A similar dominance of work-related motives was observed in non-formal education. Here, proactive participation was even more pronounced, accounting for 81% of work-related engagement. Most respondents described their participation either as a regular component of their work activities (53.5%) or as an activity perceived as professionally or personally meaningful (28%). Reactive work-related participation was less common (19%) and was primarily associated with employer-imposed requirements (31.6%) or efforts to maintain one’s current job position (22.47%). In non-formal education, participation that was not work-related was predominantly socially oriented (70.7%), while personal motives accounted for a smaller proportion (29.3%). The findings suggest that adults do not primarily turn to formal education in response to concrete work-related needs. When specific skills or knowledge are required for immediate job performance, these demands are more likely addressed through informal learning embedded in everyday work practices. This indicates that work-related participation in formal education reflects strategic positioning rather than problem-solving, and that labour-market pressures are mediated through informal learning rather than directly converted into formal educational demand. In non-formal education, the prominence of social motives in the case of non-work related training suggests that participation is driven not only by learning content, but by the opportunity to engage with others who share similar interests, orientations, or professional concerns.

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