The centrality of the users as partners in quality development is highlighted in official documents on career guidance, such as the EU Resolutions on Lifelong Guidance from 2004 and 2008. In addition, increased numbers of scholars in the field of organisational development and public service innovation highlight the importance of user…

This study explored drivers of participation in job-related lifelong learning (LLL) among low-educated mature-aged employees and compared them across four Nordic countries. Workplaces can be low-threshold, effective arenas for development of their skills in work and learning. The paper builds on the Bounded Agency Model and theories of learning…

The purpose of this study was to explore participation in job-related lifelong learning (LLL) among well-educated mature workers and compare it across four Nordic countries. Although this group generally is very active in LLL, the centrality of knowledge work in society, rapid pace of skills-renewal and rising learning demands for all…

This paper explores patterns in participation in adult education and training (AET) by comparing five countries with high participation rates (the Nordic countries and the Netherlands) with three countries with significantly lower participation rates (France, Poland and the Slovak Republic). Using PIAAC data the paper examines differences in the…

This article explores cross-national differences in the intensity of perceived barriers to adult learning in Europe focusing on the barriers recognised by those not participating and having no intention to do so. This relatively large subgroup has received scant scholarly attention, yet exploring their participation barriers is critical for…

In times of global influence, compulsory education in the Nordic countries has promoted democracy as choice since the 1990s, as enhancing an individual good. Supporting education for democracy is a matter that concerns the world and society on the topic of "what shall he do? Shall he act for this or that end?". This indicates that…

Examines the educational system in Nordic countries as it regulates passage of age cohorts from home through school to the labor market. States that formal education is failing to close the skills gap. Advocates delinking vocational training from formal schooling and reorganizing working life in terms of production of practical know-how through…

Analysis of life stories of Finnish adults identified three cohorts with distinct life/education experiences (born pre-1935, 1936-55, post-1955). Core experiences were summarized as narratives of national culture and economic structural change. Three future scenarios for adult education were developed: formal rationality and bureaucracy, material…