| 1. |
- Andersson, Per, 1964-, et al.
(författare)
-
The difference between actual skills and formal qualifications : Potential for recognition of prior learning (RPL), or need for recurrent education?
- 2016
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Our level of skills is associated with our educational level. However, even if there is correlation between actual skills level and educational level, the skills level varies also within a group with the same educational level. Recognition of prior learning (RPL) is a tool in adult and higher education, particularly aiming at giving recognition to actual skills and competencies not reflected in formal qualifications. RPL has been questioned, described as a measure mainly promoted in policy but with a comparably low demand in practice. This paper aims at analysing the potential for RPL, through identifying differences between groups with varying literacy and numeracy skills levels, but with same or similar educational level/formal qualifications. This analysis will identify this potential for RPL in the group with higher skills level than expected, ‘overachievers’, but also the need for recurrent education among those with lower skills levels than expected, the ‘underachievers’. The analysis employs data from the PIAAC study (the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The skills measure was constructed as an overall index of individual’s combined literacy and numeracy. It was extracted using the PIAAC data of the four countries together. Variables such as age, gender, social background, attitudes towards learning, and reported skills use at work and at home, were used to characterize the different groups of over- and underachievers. Binary logistic analyses were performed to identify variables which are significantly related with overachievement, contrasted with the ‘normal’ achievement. The analyses were carried out independently for each educational subgroup and for employed and unemployed as well (because unemployed people had no data on the otherwise important job-related variables). The results show the influence of background, attitudes, and skills use, on the measured skills level as compared to formal educational level. For example, concerning cultural capital (number of books at home/parents’ educational level), it is shown that the higher the capital, the better are chances of being an overachiever (vice versa for underachieving). Further, more use of numeracy skills at home means better chances for overachieving (vice versa for underachieving). The use of numeracy skills was throughout the analyses more powerful ‘predictor’ than the use of reading, writing, or ICT skills. For the employed respondents, the results show that learning at work had a systematically negative effect on overachieving. The outcomes are further discussed in terms of if and in what groups there is potential for RPL, or need for recurrent education, in the Nordic countries.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
- Tikkanen, Tarja, et al.
(författare)
-
Basic skills and participation in lifelong learning among low-educated adults : A comparison between Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden
- 2015
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper explores an important socio-economic issue: participation in lifelong learning among low-educated adults vis-à-vis their basic skills. Due to the lack of reliable data, relatively little is known of what role basic skills play in their participation in learning and working. OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) opens historically unique opportunities for research in this area. On one hand, the PIAAC findings show that the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden) stand out in two significant respects: the proportion of adults with low education is small and their rate of participation in lifelong learning is high. However, these rates vary across the Nordic countries. On the other hand, the PIAAC shows that there are significant differences in basic skills in numeracy and literacy proficiency across the Nordic counties, and between low-and higher educated adults. Three research questions will be explored: (i) To what extent are the levels of basic skills in numeracy and literacy similar and/or different between the four Nordic countries among low-educated adults? (ii) To what extent are the skills differences associated with gender, age and employment status, if any, within these countries? (iii) To what extent, if any, are the levels of basic skills related to participation in lifelong learning in the four Nordic countries? The paper is part of the research project Skills development for realizing the workforce competence reserve (2014-2017) (SkillsREAL) financed by the Norwegian Research Council. The data used in the project and the analysis presented here are from the PIAAC. The analysis is limited to low-educated adults aged 40 years and older, in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Overall, only 28% had participated in job-related training and 46% in any type of learning. Preliminary analyses show that on average the basic skills of the low-educated were on level 2 (meanLit=251, meanNum=248) out of 5, with statistically significant differences in both skills types across the countries, and in participation in lifelong learning by levels of literacy and numeracy. Implications of the findings on the labour-market status of the low-educated will be discussed in the Nordic context.
|
|
| 6. |
- Tikkanen, Tarja, et al.
(författare)
-
Skills and participation in lifelong learning among adults with tertiary education : A comparison between Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden
- 2015
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper is a cross-Nordic comparative exploration of participation in lifelong learning among high-educated adults vis-à-vis their basic skills. Previous research has established that participation in lifelong learning is positively related to educational background (“Matthew effect”). However, we know little about what role do basic skills play in this advantage. This is largely due to lack of reliable data on basic skills. OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) opens historically unique opportunities for research in this area. Based on this data, we examined skills in numeracy and literacy in and between the four Nordic countries among adults with tertiary education, associations of the skills differences with age and gender, and the relationship between the skills and participation in lifelong learning. The study is part of the research project Skills development for realizing the workforce competence reserve (2014-2017) (SkillsREAL). The analysis was limited to adults in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden with tertiary education (ISCED 5-6), aged 40 years and older, and employed (N=4391). As expected, skills levels in literacy and numeracy were relatively high, on level 3 out of 5 (meanLit=296, meanNum=303), as were the participation rates (average 74%) in lifelong learning. Regardless of the apparent similarity of the performance of high-educated persons in Nordic countries in international comparison, significant cross-country differences were found in literacy and numeracy across them. Skills were associated with age and gender in all countries and men significantly outperform women in both skills. Unlike numeracy, literacy skills were an important factor effecting participation (except in Norway). Age was an important factor in participation in all countries, but Sweden, while gender was only significant in Norway. The findings are discussed against the implications of the “Nordic model” to the system of adult education and lifelong learning.
|
|
