Attitudes to adult education

An Estonian report finds that the two main reasons people participate in adult training are self-education and a desire to improve work performance. In some cases, pursuing a hobby is also mentioned. Less common reasons are enhancement of self-reliance, meeting new people and reducing the risk of becoming unemployed. The relative importance of these goals varies across the population with respect to occupational and educational status, as well as mother tongue.

The report, Adult education (in Estonian and English), published by Statistics Estonia (Statistikaamet) makes use of different surveys on adult education conducted in the country. The analysis is based on data from the adult education surveys carried out in 1997 and 2007, combined with data from the Eurostat Continuing Vocational Training Survey (CVTS) from 2005. CVTS 2005 was compiled using a common questionnaire and methodology across all EU Member States to enable international comparisons to be made. The surveys measure different aspects of adult education, including formal education (that is, school-based education leading to a degree) as well as job-related training courses and courses related to hobbies and personal interests.

Readiness to study

Employers support their employees to varying degrees in obtaining further education. Direct support is not very common; in 2005, 8% of enterprises covered all the cost of their employees’ formal education studies and 11% covered part of their expenses. Indirect support for such studies is more common; about half of the enterprises surveyed granted study leave and the same proportion allowed their employees to attend classes during working time. However, nearly a third of enterprises (32%) provided no support to employees who wished to pursue formal education. Even those enterprises that offer support do not necessarily do so for all forms of further education. In addition, the share of companies supporting their employees financially is likely to have declined due to the current economic situation. However, work-related training is supported by employers in Estonia to a greater extent than in the past, remaining at around the EU27 average in 2005.

Readiness to study differs across various socio-demographic groups. Men are less interested than women in studying. The lowest readiness to study is among older people (aged 55–64 years) and people with low levels of education. Between 65% and 67% of elderly people had not studied in the year before the survey and did not wish to study in the future. The share was 68% among those who did not work (that is, unemployed and economically inactive people).

Occupational group also plays a major role in the readiness to study. About half (52%) of blue-collar workers had not done any studying in the year preceding the survey and did not want to do so in the future. People with Estonian as their mother tongue were also more ready to study than those with other linguistic backgrounds. Although there may be an interaction between these two variables (language ability and occupational group), the relationships were not analysed in the study.

Reasons for participating in training

In the 2007 Adult Education Survey, the main reason given by respondents for participating in training was to improve their performance in their current job (80% of respondents). Self-education was a goal for less than 20%, though it had been the most popular reason given in the 1997 survey for training (more than 70% of respondents).

There were also large differences between the two surveys in the proportions of those undergoing training to enhance their self-reliance; in 1997, this had been the reason for training for about a third of respondents, but this figure dropped to about 5% in 2007. Thus, it seems that, while goals related to personal development appeared to be more important in 1997, the outside environment became more dominant 10 years later. The reasons for this might lie in the deterioration in the economic situation over this period.

Since 1997, the differences between the reasons for training given by men and women have become less pronounced. In 1997, women valued self-education the most but, by 2007, both men and women considered better performance at their current job to be the most important goal. This has also remained the most important goal for all age groups.

Similar tendencies occurred between people of different ethnic backgrounds, that is, the differences diminished over the 10-year period between surveys. The main difference lies in the numbers of people undergoing training in an attempt to avoid the risk of becoming unemployed; this was the second most important goal for non-Estonians in 2007 while it ranked only fourth for Estonians.

The reasons for participating in training also vary among people with different educational levels. Better performance in the current job is an important goal for those with a higher education level (almost 90%), while it is mentioned by only 60% of those with a basic level of education. At the same time, this latter group ranks avoiding the risk of unemployment second among the reasons for training while, for those with a higher education level, the second most important goal is the desire to pursue a hobby.

Commentary

Since 1997, the main reasons cited by Estonians for participating in training have seen a number of changes. One is the shift from personal development goals to externally driven goals. Although no explanation is provided in the survey report for such developments, this could be related to the changing economic situation. Secondly, differences between various groups have narrowed during this period. However, participation rates in adult education for various different groups in Estonian society remain very unequal. So while their goals for training are roughly similar, access to training opportunities remains different. The reasons for participation in training have also probably changed somewhat since the onset of the current recession.

Kirsti Nurmela, PRAXIS Centre for Policy Studies