Abstract:

This paper analyses the behaviour of adult learners returning to education to find a new job in a new industry. It uses the analytical lens of Behavioural Science to better understand the decision making of these experienced workers on a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programme delivered by a Private Training Provider, with the Certificate being awarded by a University.

It builds on previous research presented at the 16th Annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference (INTED) 2022, where a Screening, Education and Career Coaching (SEC) Framework for reskilling a workforce into new growing industries was presented.

This paper examines the findings of 400-experienced workers from the SEC Framework, coming from a variety of educational and employment backgrounds, with 5 to 25 years of work experience, who applied for an Irish Government-funded CPD programme between 2020 and 2021.

These 400-experienced workers were grouped into the following 4 categories, all of approximately equal size:
- Those who were not offered a place on the programme
- Those who did not finish the programme
- Those who are still in progress
- Those who have successfully completed the programme

This paper reviewed the psychographic responses of these adult learners to the questions that they were given at the interview stage for a place on the programme, to determine if a relationship exists between the answers given and the outcomes achieved by these adult learners.

These questions were designed around the principles of Behavioural Science (in particular Bounded Rationality, the Planner-Doer Model and Nudge Theory), and if a relationship can be identified, then the potential exists to better predict the likely outcomes of the adult learners on a CPD reskilling initiative who are looking to find a new job in a new industry.

This is broadly practitioner based research across a single case study as illustrative of real-world phenomena. The methodology for comparison draws heavily on Bereday’s model of comparative styles and their predispositions (Bereday, 1964).

The key outcome of this paper will be an insight into the effectiveness of using a psychographic approach for predicting the potential outcomes of adult learners, when reskilling a workforce into new growing industries. These findings could be very relevant to Governments and Higher Education for delivering on such strategies as the recent COP26 global agreements to transition large numbers of experienced workers from carbon-based industries into more green-friendly ones, so as no one gets left behind.

Keywords:

Behavioural science, bounded rationality, adult learners, experienced workers, reskilling.