Survey examines lifelong learning

A research report published in May 2004 outlines the current conditions for lifelong learning in Norway. It finds that in 2003 61% of employees participated in some sort of training or education, while around half of all employees pursue what the study labels as 'learning-intensive' work. The study reveals significant differences in this area between sectors and between employees with higher and lower levels of education.

A study of learning and competence development at work, carried out by the Fafo Institute of Applied Social Sciences, was published in May 2004 (Lifelong learning in Norwegian working life. Results from the Learning Conditions Monitor 2003, Torgeir Nyen, Anna Hagen and Sveinung Skule, Fafo-rapport 434, 2004). It finds that in 2003 some 61% of employees surveyed stated that they had participated in training or education in the course of the 12-month period. In the study, based on a larger questionnaire survey among employed people carried out in 2003, weight is given to both formal and informal modes of training and education. Moreover, the preconditions for learning through work are also examined. The intention is to monitor these developments over time, carrying out further similar surveys in the future. The main findings of the first study are outlined below.

Formal education

According to the survey, 11% of employees in the 22-66 age group had been through some form of formal education in the course of the previous 12 months, ie publicly approved education providing some form of formal competence (certified qualifications). Of these, 7% had participated in what is defined as further education. The proportion of employees pursuing further education is at its highest within the education sector, the public administration and the health and social services sector. Moreover, employees with the highest education are most likely to pursue further education. This may, according to the study, be explained by a number of factors. First, within these occupations there is a tradition of further education. Second, these types of employee experience a greater need for education and competence development in their work, and are also more positively inclined towards such learning (ie school-based learning). Women participate more often than men in formal education. The main reason for this is that women more often than men work in sectors where such education is more usual.

A majority of those pursuing further education had not seen a reduction in their working hours, implying that they had not taken advantage of the legal opportunity to take leave of absence for educational purposes. Estimates suggest that only one in 100 employees have taken this leave of absence, a right introduced into the legal framework in connection with the 'competence reform' at the end of the 1990s (NO9901113N). Formal education of this type is most commonly paid for by the employees themselves. Of those participating in formal education, only about a third have all or part of this education paid for by the employer.

Informal training

More than half (57%) of employees surveyed stated that they had participated in courses, seminars or others types of training during the previous 12 months that did not generate formal qualifications. Employees spent on average around 26 hours per year on this type of work-related training (those that do not participate included). Employees in the public sectors are also active in relation to this type of competence development, along with employees in the oil/energy production and quarrying sectors, while employees in hotels and restaurants, wholesale and retail, building and construction, and the primary industries are less likely to pursue such training. Among those employees with only primary and lower-secondary education, one in three employees took part in such training. However, three-quarters of employees with higher education had taken part in such training. Two-thirds of this training was carried out during working hours. Among employees with a lower level of education, and in sectors such as hotels and restaurants and the primary industries, a significant number of employees stated that training took place outside working hours. There are no differences in this area between men and women. Employees working part time (mostly women) participate more seldom, but this is balanced by the fact that many women work in sectors where the participation rate is high.

Work-based learning

The third type of learning considered in the survey is 'work-based learning'. By mapping learning requirements (ie whether or not employees are faced with learning demands through their work) and opportunities for learning in their daily work (either good or bad), the research identifies the degree of 'learning-intensive work'. Learning-intensive work is defined as work that requires a significant degree of learning and in which there are considerable opportunities for learning by working. On the basis of this definition, 58% of employees are said to pursue learning-intensive work. The share of employees with learning-intensive work is greatest in the oil/energy producing and quarrying sectors, and lowest in the hotel and restaurant sector. Employees in the manufacturing industries and transport sector are also below average with regard to learning-intensive work. Among those employees with only primary and lower secondary education, a majority pursue what is regarded as non-learning intensive work. Among groups with a higher education, by contrast, a large majority engage in learning-intensive work. There are also differences between men and women - more men than women have what is defined as learning-intensive work.

Lifelong learning?

One in three employees surveyed state that they receive too little training and education. The most important impediments to participation in education/training are lack of economic resources on the part of the employer as well as lack of time. Approximately half of the employees had discussed their competence needs with a superior over the course of the past year. The type of learning preferred by most employees is learning either through practical training or by means of short-term courses. In particular, employees with a low level of formal education prefer learning through practical training.

When education/training (formal/informal) and learning-intensive work are considered concurrently, the survey finds that approximately 20% of employees have neither taken part in education/training initiatives nor have jobs that may be labelled learning-intensive. On the other hand around 40% enjoy learning-intensive work and, at the same time, are able to participate in training and education. There are thus significant variations in working life with regards to access to lifelong learning.

The analysis also indicates that a strong demand for learning generates good learning opportunities, ie that those jobs requiring employees to acquaint themselves with new developments are also jobs that generate opportunities for such activities. This is the case in relation to both good learning opportunities at work and participation in informal and formal education/training. The report also identifies groups that are subject to poor learning conditions. Unemployed people are such a group, first and foremost because they lack access to the education and training facilities that exists in working life. Furthermore, older employees participate less often in formal and informal education/training, but are also less inclined to feel the need for such participation. The report also raises the question as to whether or not lifelong learning is mainly a matter for those with a higher education level. The answer is a conditional yes.

Commentary

The Fafo study outlines the status quo in relation to lifelong learning, an issue that was placed on the social partners' agenda during the bargaining rounds in in 1998 (NO9804161F), 1999 (NO9904126F) and 2000 (NO0004184N and NO0005192F). Although a number of reforms have facilitated participation by employees in continuing and further education/training, an argument can be made that the so-called 'competence reform' of the late 1990s has not had the effect on employees' competence development hoped for by the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO) when it was raised as a demand during the wage settlements. The main reason for this is the fact that no financial scheme has been put in place to provide employees with subsistence support during leave of absence for educational purposes. This has been a central demand for LO on several occasions. The employer side has categorically rejected the demand for the establishment of such a financing fund fed by contributions from employers, employees and the public authorities (NO0109141N). At the same time, priority has in recent bargaining rounds increasingly been given to demands for change in areas outside training - in 2000 extended annual leave was demanded (NO0004184N) while in spring 2004 pensions were placed on the agenda (NO0404102F).

Although a scheme for the financing of subsistence during educational/training leave has never been established, several reforms of the educational system aimed at facilitating lifelong learning have been introduced (NO9710127F, NO9812103F, NO9812199F and NO9901113N). These include: a statutory right to educational leave; a statutory right to upper-secondary education for those who have not been able to complete such education; financial support loan entitlements through the Norwegian State Loan Fund (Statens Lånekasse); enabling employees to qualify for access to higher education to on the basis of non-formal and informal learning; various schemes concerning the certification of non-formal and informal learning, and public financial contributions to projects aimed at developing training schemes and methods specially tailored to the needs of working life. The authorities also drew up a plan of action for the competence reform, and there are reasons to believe that it has contributed to greater focus being placed on working life as an arena for learning. The survey from Fafo reveals, however, that there still are significant differences between sectors and groups as far as motivation for, and access to, competence development in working life is concerned, and that the situation is still one in which groups with a lower education and older employees to a lesser extent than others participate in education and training. As such one may argue that significant hurdles remains to be overcome before the goal of a working life based on the principle of lifelong learning is reached. (Kristine Nergaard, FAFO Institute for Applied Social Science)