Matthew effect in adult education: those already in training want to learn more
People already in training are more likely to want to pursue further training. That Matthew effect is also evident by level of education: 32.9% of highly-skilled people wanted more training, versus 18% of low-skilled people. This is what emerged from the results of the Adult Education Survey of Statbel, the Belgian statistical office. 8,274 people aged 18-69 were interviewed about the training courses they were taking and their interest in taking additional courses.
In summary:
- 67.4% of young adults (aged 18-24) participate in a formal training (in formal education). Among adults (25-69), 6.6% participate in a formal training.
- 34.3% of people aged 18-69 participate in a non-formal training (outside formal education). “To do the job better” is the main reason for participating in a training (63.4%).
- 77.3% of the respondents know at least one other language in addition to the mother tongue. A Belgian knows on average two other languages.
The main results are presented here below. More detailed figures are available in the downloadable Excel files on the website.
AES - Participation rate in learning and training per level of education and gender (in %)
Target group: people aged 18 to 69, over a 12-months reference period
| AES 2022 | Formal learning | Non-formal learning | Formal or non-formal learning | Informal learning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | Men | 7.5% | 11.4% | 17.0% | 25.5% |
| Women | 9.2% | 12.2% | 19.1% | 19.2% | |
| Total | 8.3% | 11.8% | 18.0% | 22.4% | |
| Medium | Men | 15.6% | 30.4% | 41.5% | 43.2% |
| Women | 18.0% | 24.4% | 37.6% | 38.7% | |
| Total | 16.7% | 27.6% | 39.7% | 41.1% | |
| High | Men | 10.1% | 47.8% | 53.2% | 57.7% |
| Women | 16.3% | 60.3% | 67.8% | 62.0% | |
| Total | 13.4% | 54.5% | 61.1% | 60.0% | |
| Total | Men | 11.8% | 32.2% | 40.0% | 44.2% |
| Women | 15.4% | 36.4% | 46.0% | 44.0% | |
| Total | 13.6% | 34.3% | 43.0% | 44.1% | |
AES - Participation rate in learning and training per level of education and gender (in %)
Target group: people aged 25 to 64, over a 12-months reference period
| AES (2016) | Formal learning | Non-formal learning | Formal or non-formal learning | Informal learning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | Men | 3.5% | 20.2% | 22.6% | 45.9% |
| Women | 4.2% | 14.3% | 17.7% | 43.8% | |
| Total | 3.8% | 17.4% | 20.3% | 44.9% | |
| Medium | Men | 6.0% | 36.5% | 39.6% | 59.8% |
| Women | 7.0% | 36.7% | 40.9% | 59.1% | |
| Total | 6.5% | 36.6% | 40.2% | 59.5% | |
| High | Men | 8.1% | 59.5% | 64.5% | 79.0% |
| Women | 9.7% | 61.7% | 65.8% | 75.0% | |
| Total | 9.0% | 60.7% | 65.2% | 76.8% | |
| Total | Men | 6.1% | 40.6% | 44.2% | 63.1% |
| Women | 7.5% | 42.2% | 46.2% | 62.4% | |
| Total | 6.8% | 41.4% | 45.2% | 62.7% | |
Adult Education Survey (AES)
Purpose and brief description
Adult education and training is now considered an important asset to promote economic growth and social (personal) development. In policy circles, this has created the need to collect statistical data on training attended in order to monitor population development (accumulated human capital) and to measure the knowledge, skills and competences acquired. After all, the volume of training activities is considered an important investment to achieve the objectives set by the policy. It must therefore be possible to measure and evaluate the number of training activities attended, thus allowing the policy to be adjusted and adapted efficiently. More specifically, the Adult Education Survey aims to measure the Belgian population's participation in lifelong learning. The aim is to obtain participation rates in all kinds of training: which respondents participate in which type of training. The survey makes a distinction between formal and non-formal education on the one hand and informal learning on the other. The Adult Education Survey was first conducted by Statbel in 2008. It was repeated in 2011, 2016 and 2022. It covers all types of adult education and training activities. This survey is commissioned and subsidised by Eurostat. The aim is to collect information that is comparable in all participating countries: participation rates in training and education broken down by age, gender and type of training, characteristics of the courses taken, etc.
Population
Individuals aged 18 to 69 since 2022
Data collection method and possible sampling
CAWI and CAPI survey
Periodicity
Every six years since 2022, every five years before.
Release calendar
Results available 6 months after the reference period
Forms
- Questionnaire 2016 (PDF, 729 Kb)
- Questionnaire 2022-2023 (PDF, 851 Kb)
Definitions
Economic activity (NACE-BEL): Official nomenclature with an "X" at the end of the number since the information is only available for 4 positions.
Low-skilled people are people who have at most a diploma of lower secondary education. Medium-skilled people are people who obtained a diploma of upper secondary education but not of higher education. Highly-skilled people obtained a diploma of higher education.