Socioeconomic Outcomes From Adult Education

Abstract

The study takes as its starting point recent structural changes in the Norwegian labor market resulting in older people and women in general increasingly reseeking career entry. For adults with no more than compulsory education, Higher Secondary Education for adults is one possible first step towards acquiring career entry. Applying a Status Attainment approach, the article assesses the degree to which career-related adult education promotes social mobility and the degree to which gender and age modify outcomes for a sample of Norwegian adults. It is emphasized that although reentry education is rapidly increasing, paradoxically there is a dearth of studies of outcomes in terms of subsequent occupational status. Hence the need to introduce the Status Attainment approach to adult education.