With learners aged 25 years and over making up 70 percent of learners in the Australian VET sector, a new report from the OECD, The Many Faces of Adult Learners, contains a range of relevant insights.
The OECD makes a simple but powerful point: adults are not a single “target group” of learners. Those who do participate in learning do so for very different reasons, and those who choose not to study also do so for very different reasons. And yet the report argues that policymakers and providers frequently treat them as one cohort.
The report introduces a segmentation model that groups adults into distinct learner profiles based not just on their demographics, but also on their motivations and barriers. For example in Flanders, Belgium – adult learners are understood as fitting into one of the following nine profiles:
- Disengaged from learning (19% of the population) – do not want to learn and perceive no need to learn, typically have low education levels, many non-native speakers, many unemployed and inactive
- Unmotivated due to age and health obstacles (18%) – see no need to learn due to age/health obstacles, comparatively old, comparatively low education levels and may be retired early or have a disability
- Motivated but facing time-related obstacles (6%) – face time pressures or family responsibilities, often young adults, large share of women, often with children, many non-native speakers, high education levels, and often working full-time
- Motivated but facing multiple obstacles (9%) – obstacles include high cost of study, no suitable courses, health and/or age. Often low income, comparatively low education levels and often working in medium-skilled jobs
- Participating because they are required to, but they are reluctant (16%) – learning because of employer or legal requirements. Frequently very young, many unemployed, many learn informally and have “low learning intensity”
- Participating due to work pressures (17%) – enrol to adapt to changing workplaces or to perform better at work. Often the training they do is provided by their employer.
- Participating to strengthen career prospects (5%) – learning to gain a formal qualification and/or to perform their jobs better. Very young, often female, comparatively high levels of prior education, and high intensity learning.
- Participating for personal development (3%) – learning for non-work related reasons, high incomes, comparatively high education levels, often employed in high-skilled jobs
- Participating for professional and personal development (7%) – learning for work and non-work related reasons, high incomes, high education levels, often employed in high-skilled jobs and typically have long job tenure.
If we want to lift participation in tertiary education, then this kind of framework may assist both providers and policymakers to tailor programs and support – particularly for those most in need of upskilling and reskilling.
The OECD then uses this framework to look at the adult learner profile in four country case studies (Bulgaria, Finland, Ireland and Portugal) and finds relatively high numbers of adults who are “disengaged”, ie they are not constrained by cost or time, but instead they do not see learning as relevant.
The report cautions against assuming that participation equals engagement. Across each of the four case studies, there is a recurring profile of learners – who are only participating because they are required to do so by an employer or regulation, but who have low levels of intrinsic motivation.
The OECD suggests embedding profiling tools into guidance services and provider practice – including simple diagnostic tools to help counsellors and trainers understand a learner’s likely motivations and constraints.
Importantly, the OECD also warns that segmentation must be used carefully and that these profiles should be understood as “analytical tools,” and not as labels to stereotype learners. They note that adults move between life stages, motivations shift, and barriers change.
