Adult workers in higher education: enhancing social mobility

Author(s):

Ana Sofia Patrício Pinto Lopes, (School of Technology and Management, CARME – Centre of Applied Research in Management and Economics, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Leiria, Portugal)

Pedro Manuel Rodrigues Carreira, (School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Leiria, Portugal)

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Abstract:

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to verify if adult education can contribute to social mobility by analysing how the socioeconomic and professional background of the students affects dropout and graduation hazards in higher education.

Design/methodology/approach

An event history analysis approach, with competing risks and discrete time, implemented under a multinomial logit model, is used to investigate how an extensive set of covariates affects the risk of graduation, dropout and persistence of 834 adult student workers from a higher education institution in Portugal.

Findings

Adult education may indeed be effective in promoting social mobility, as academic achievement is higher for student workers that have low educated parents and low income levels. Also, the probability of achieving graduation seems to be higher for those seeking for higher transformation.

Practical implications

Adult education should be encouraged as it generates both efficiency and equity benefits. Some policy recommendations are suggested for the higher education system to adapt better to the particular characteristics of adult workers and provide conditions to improve the job–study–family conciliation, namely, by adjusting the schedule and composition of classes, appreciating the curriculum and providing orientation to candidates, and introducing shorter/simplified versions of the degrees.

Originality/value

A separate treatment is given to adult student workers, whose characteristics are very particular, enriching the literature on academic achievement that has been focussed on traditional students. Additionally, the studied data set merges five sources and provides extensive and original information on personal, degree and employment variables of the students.

Keywords:

Dropout, Higher education, Education policy, I23, I21, C21

Type:

Research paper

Publisher:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Received:

05 March 2018

Revised:

05 July 2018

Accepted:

29 October 2018

Acknowledgments:

The authors gratefully acknowledge Leiria Polytechnic Institute, particularly the presidency and the strategic planning office, for the authorisation to use their internal databases, which were essential for the investigation.

Copyright:

© Emerald Publishing Limited 2018
Published by Emerald Publishing Limited
Licensed re-use rights only

Citation:

Ana Sofia Patrício Pinto Lopes, Pedro Manuel Rodrigues Carreira, (2018) "Adult workers in higher education: enhancing social mobility", Education + Training, https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-03-2018-0056

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