Changing participation in adult education and training in the Czech Republic: Who participates and who is likely to participate in AET?

Abstract

Participation in adult education and training (AET) is one of the primary strategies of the European Commission for developing human capital and retaining a competitive labour force. AET is also regarded as a means to tackle educational inequality as it can provide a second chance at gaining qualifications or job-related skills. This study uses data from three rounds of the Adult Education Survey (AES) involving a total of 25,405 respondents to investigate empirically the changes in the participation of adults (ages 25 to 64) in AET in the Czech Republic (CZE). Building on the study by Simonová and Hamplová (2016), this article aims to show how participation in AET, as measured by the AES, evolved in the CZE from 2011 to 2022, and which educational, age, and socioeconomic groups had the greatest likelihood of engaging in AET. The study tests two competing hypotheses regarding inequality in AET participation: (1) the persistence of key sources of inequality and (2) the partial democratisation thesis, i.e., the gradual reduction of some factors of inequality. To test these hypotheses, the two types of AET in which adults in the CZE are most involved were selected: non-formal education (NFE) and employer-supported job-related NFE. The results of the empirical analysis indicate that AET participation has stagnated over the past decade, with more than half of the population not regularly engaging in AET annually. Using multinomial logistic regression (MLR), the study demonstrates that, although significant inequalities based on educational attainment, economic activity, age, and socioeconomic status are still evident, these inequalities have been weakening since 2011. This trend has occurred through a two-phase democratisation of participation, which exhibited different characteristics in 2016 and 2022.