The Determinants of Participation in Adult Education and Training: a Cross-National Comparisons using PIAAC Data

Lifelong learning over the life course is becoming important in order to compete in a knowledge-based global economy. Adult education and Training (AET) are a possible strategy of adjusting the skills of the adult population to the needs of either the changing occupational structure and aging societies. Nevertheless, despite the importance of AET, empirical evidence on the topic is still scarce, particularly as regards the cross-national comparative research. In this sense, this paper aims to contribute to this field of studies by analyzing the determinants of participation in AET programmes. In view of this, I use data from Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) to investigate four different countries - Italy, France, UK and Sweden - the influence of individual characteristics on participation in formal and non-formal AET.