Sharan B. Merriam - Learning in Adulthood

One of the strengths of Johnstone and Rivera's study is that they included “independent self-education” along with participation in formal courses and community-based activities. Unfortunately, as reviewed in the next section, the first nine national studies of participation were limited to organized instruction offered by educational institutions, business or industry, and community organizations.

Beginning in 1969, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the U.S. Department of Education undertook a set of triennial surveys of participation of adults in education. The results of the first six surveys (1969, 1972, 1975, 1978, 1981, and 1984) and three studies in 1991, 1995, and 1999 have been loosely compared with each other to reveal participation trends. In these surveys, adult education was equated with organized instruction: “Adult education is defined as any course or educational activity taken part-time and reported as adult education by respondents” (U.S. Department of Education, 1986). These courses or activities are considered “formal” because they are sponsored by educational institutions or employers. Changes in methodology and sample design over the years warrant caution in making comparisons (Collins, Brick, & Kim, 1997). Nevertheless, certain trends emerged including an increase in the number of adults participating part time in organized instruction from a low of 10% in the 1969 survey to 14% in 1984, 38% in 1991, 40% in 1995, and 46% in 1999 (Kim & Creighton, 2000). In a comparison of the 1991 and 1999 NCES studies, Creighton and Hudson (2002) noted an overall increase in participation “among virtually every group of adults” surveyed (p. ix).

Two other NCES surveys of adult education participation were conducted in 2001 and 2005. As in previous studies, NCES employed a random, national digit dial (RDD) telephone survey of civilian, noninstitutionalized persons ages 16 and older not enrolled in secondary school at the time of the interview. In this survey, “formal” coursework or training was defined as those activities having an instructor. As can be seen in Table 4.1, the overall rate of participation in formal educational activities was 44%. As in previous participation studies, younger adults with higher levels of education and household income and in professional and managerial occupations had higher rates of participation. Women had slightly higher rates of participation than men (47% versus 41%). Not surprisingly, “work-related courses” were the most cited reason for participation in formal adult education activities, with “personal-interest courses” as the second most cited type of activity. An interesting finding in this 2005 survey was that one-third of the participants in formal adult education activities reported using some type of distance education (O'Donnell, 2006). One would expect with the growth of Internet-related educational opportunities since this survey that this would be even higher today.

Table 4.1 Percentage of Adults Who Participated in Adult Education, by Type of Educational Activity and Selected Adult Characteristics: 2004–2005

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Education Survey of the 2005 National Household Education Surveys Program.

aEstimate rounds to 0 or 0 cases in sample.