Advancing technologies such as artificial intelligence and robots are steadily replacing jobs in the USA. Continuous skill-upgrading and re-skilling are critical for workers to remain employable throughout their careers. In these social and economic contexts, community colleges play significant roles to provide workforce education and training…

Job automation is a topical issue in a technology-driven labor market. However, greater amounts of human capital (e.g., often measured by education, and information-processing skills, including adult literacy) are linked with job security. A knowledgeable and skilled labor force better resists unemployment and/or rebounds from job disruption…

Adult literacy skills are critical assets of individuals as well as societies in terms of economic (e.g., human capital) and social well-being. Thus, it is important to monitor the long-term trends and sources of skill gain/loss. Yet, temporal sources of adult literacy skill variation are understudied. The current study analyzed three comparable,…

The objective of this study is to examine the associations between the motivation to learn, basic skills (i.e., literacy and numeracy), and organized adult education and training (AET) participation among the middle-aged and older adults in the USA. Rapid technological advancement and globalization necessitate individuals to engage in lifelong…

The need for non-formal education (NFE), which does not result in a formal degree or certificate, is substantial as labour markets often require adult workers to take an initiative in advancing their job-related skills. Yet, NFE opportunities are more often pursued by high-income and high-skilled adults than their low-income and low-skilled…

Cross-cultural qualitative research is essential to develop practical approaches to promote adult education and training in diverse societies. Yet, little systematic guidance is available to successfully conduct a large-scale cross-national qualitative inquiry in general, and in virtual settings in particular. The purpose of this study is to…

Background: Several statistical applications including Mplus, STATA, and R are available to conduct analyses such as structural equation modeling and multi-level modeling using large-scale assessment data that employ complex sampling and assessment designs and that provide associated information such as sampling weights, replicate weights, and…

Using data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, this paper compares the earnings premium and employment share of jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) across 11 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The results reveal that the STEM wage premium…

The research team examined the associations between adult education and training (AET) participation, educational attainment, literacy skills, gender, race, and ethnicity among the U.S. adult population aged 25- to 65-years old (n = 5,450). As more women and racial/ethnic minorities make educational and economic advancements, it is important to…

Despite increasing demand in distance education, relatively little is known about the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics as well as basic skill levels of adult distance education participants at the national level in the US. This study analyzed the US data from the 2012/2014 and 2017 Program for International Assessment of Adult…

Volunteering, STEM education and occupation, and information-processing skills such as literacy, numeracy, and digital problem-solving skills are important indicators of a nation's well-being as they represent civic engagement, economic development, and the human capital of the population. Although these critical social indicators have been…

Problem-solving skills in the context of technologically complex modern societies have become increasingly important to health management in later life. This study is designed to investigate the associations between problem-solving skills in technology-rich environment (PSTRE) and health, and to explore whether age-differences exist. Using the…

The demand for adult training opportunities is substantial as labor markets often require adult workers to obtain advanced skills. Opportunities to obtain advanced skills are often pursued by high-income and high-skilled workers whereas low-skilled or low-income adult workers are less likely to participate. For this study, we used data from the…

Volunteer participation benefits societies and individuals. The objective of this study was to examine the roles of education and adult literacy in formal volunteering among a nationally representative sample of the U.S. middle-aged and older adults (45-74 years) by race and ethnicity (Whites, Blacks, Hispanics). Using cross-sectional data (n =…

This study highlighted how particular intersections of personal characteristics were related to Motivation to Learn (MtL) among adults. MtL is a prerequisite for adult education and training participation. However, little is known about MtL across subpopulations due to several methodological limitations. This study developed a national profile of…