Alleviating the Agony of Choice for Young Adults

When people talk about lifelong learning, they fail to prio­ri­ti­se young adults as they have either just completed their initial education or are still studying. Nevertheless, young people are con­stant­ly learning at work, in their hobbies or in voluntary work. Not everyone, however, finds optimal con­di­ti­ons for learning in these envi­ron­ments. Some groups, con­side­red ‛dis­ad­van­ta­ged’, do need special support measures. This poses many chal­lenges for employers and policy makers.

How can learning oppor­tu­ni­ties best support young adults during their early working years? What stra­te­gies can effec­tively improve learning oppor­tu­ni­ties for young adults? How can young adults succeed in harnes­sing the learning potential of their current workplace? These are some of the research questions of the ENLIVEN project funded under the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Commission. ENLIVEN is an acronym for ‛Encouraging Lifelong learning for an Inclusive and Vibrant Europe’. At the same time, the English verb ‛enliven’ means to reju­ve­na­te, enrich, and invi­go­ra­te and we aim to apply that to the oppor­tu­ni­ties for learning in young adulthood.

Ten research insti­tu­ti­ons from seven European countries and Australia are working on the following topics in the project:

• Educational oppor­tu­ni­ties for young adults (18–34 years) at risk of social exclusion and their gover­nan­ce in EU Member States.
• National systems of learning in adulthood and their influence on par­ti­ci­pa­ti­on oppor­tu­ni­ties in education.
• Young adult learning in and for the workplace and its importance for one’s career path

With a focus on the last point 3s has conducted 16 company case studies and 64 inter­views on indi­vi­du­al learning bio­gra­phies of young adults in the metal­wor­king, retail and adult education sector. Of special interest is the analysis of the insti­tu­tio­nal framework con­di­ti­ons, such as work orga­ni­sa­ti­on that directly influence learning oppor­tu­ni­ties at the workplace. New approa­ches to repre­sen­ting the interests of and for young workers have also been examined.

Publications:

Hefler, Günter; Steinheimer, Eva (2020). The Austrian Response to Youth Guarantee. In: Milana, Marcella; Klatt, Gosia; Vatrella, Sandra (eds). Europe’s Lifelong Learning Markets, Governance and Policy. Palgrave Studies in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. DOI: 10.1007/978–3‑030–38069-4_14.