Lifelong learning 2008-2017

Lifelong learning, defined in this report as organized learning throughout life, is an area of priority both in Norway and internationally. The purpose of the report Livslang læring 2008-2017 (Lifelong learning 2008-2017) is to present descriptive statistics on the participation in formal further education and work-related non-formal education in the period 2008 to 2017. The report also describes learning opportunities in daily work life among the employed. Lifelong learning 2008-2017 builds on Lærevilkårsmonitoren (The Learning Conditions Monitor), a supplementary survey to the quarterly survey Arbeidskraftsundersøkelsen (the Labour Force Survey (LFS)), which is sent to around 12 000 persons and runs in the first quarter each year. Data collection and work with this report is financed by Skills Norway.

In 2017, 15 per cent of the population in the age group 22 to 59 years participated in formal education. This share has been relatively stable in the period between 2008 and 2017. 8 per cent of the population in the same age group attended formal further education in 2017, and more than half of these attended such education at university level. Women constitute around 60 percent of the participants each year, but in the past years, there has been a decline in participation both among women and among men. The results also show that the difference in the share of participants from different occupations has declined. It is reduced to about 1 percentage point in 2017 from approximately 5 percentage points in 2011.

Non-formal education and training is more varied than formal education, both in organization and contents, and does not lead to a formally approved competence. In 2017, 1 262 000 persons aged 22 to 66 years participated in courses, seminars and other activities which have learning as their main goal in the past 12 months. Job-related learning activities are most common, with more than 90 per cent of the participants in non-formal learning-activities participating in this kind of activities. The participation in this kind of learning activities is higher among women than among men, and participation also varies with the highest level of education attained.

4 out of 5 employed persons aged 22 to 66 years reply that they have good or very good opportunities for learning in their daily working life. Previously, the tendency has been that the share of employed saying they have good learning opportunities diminished with increasing age. In later years, however, there has been a high share saying that they have good opportunities for learning both among the younger and the older employed persons. The difference in learning opportunities between employed with different educational attainment has narrowed over time, but results from the Learning Conditions Monitor indicate that there are differences between different occupations. Among managers and academics, 9 in 10 view their learning opportunities in daily working life as good or very good.

In total, the report shows that temporarily employed persons participate in formal further education to a higher degree than permanently employed, but that the relation is opposite for non-formal learning. Both when it comes to participation in formal further education and job-related non-formal education, individuals with high educational attainment are most active, while those with lower education participate the least in education and training.