I recently came across a UK study carried out by the department of innovation, universities and skills. It referred to the Leitch Review of Skills which was endorsed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the pre-Budget Report 2006 which set a commendable aim for UK to be a world leader on skills by 2020. The analysis was undertaken using data from the National Adult Learning Survey (2005) dataset. The methodology assumes that whether or not people will learn depends on their attitudes towards learning, and on their barriers to learning.
The study segmented attitudes towards learning into 10 different categories, 1: being the Enthusiastic and Enlightened, through to 10: the Disaffected and Discouraged. I’ve included a summary of their findings:
1 - Enthusiastic and Enlightened – 29.2% of the population
Enthusiastic and Enlightened are very positive about learning, and have very few barriers. They are mostly employed and well qualified and they can be expected to invest in their training when necessary without external incentives.
2 - Fulfilled and Family-focused – 14.5%
Fulfilled and Family-focused are positive about learning but they have little time to learn because of their family commitments. They tend to be younger women with children under 16 in their household. Most of them are working and well qualified.
3 - Hampered Hard Workers – 7.1%
Hampered Hard Workers are positive about learning but tend to find it difficult to justify taking time away from work. Nearly all of them are in work, and most of them are well-qualified.
4 - Looking for Learning – 4.9%
Looking for Learning are positive about learning, but unsure what training to do. Nearly all of them are in work, and most of them are well-qualified. They tend to be mostly under 45.
5 - Trapped on a Treadmill – 5.9%
Trapped on a Treadmill are slightly negative about the value of learning, and have strong financial barriers to learning. Most of them are working and they have average qualification levels. Their incomes are lower than most of the other “in work” segments and they are not very happy with their lives. They are mostly under 45.
6 - Older into Other Things – 11.1%
Older into Other Things are slightly negative about learning. They are not interested in doing learning themselves and are very happy with their lives. Most of them are over 45, and a majority are male. Around two-thirds are in work and they have slightly less than average qualifications.
7 - Too Late to Learn – 10.6%
Too Late to Learn tend to be older women. They are slightly negative about the value of learning but seem to have few barriers. Only about half of them are working, and a majority have qualifications below Level 2. Despite mostly having low incomes, they seem reasonably happy with their lives.
8 - Sceptical but Scraping by – 5.5%
Sceptical but Scraping by have few barriers to learning but have a very negative attitude towards it. They are mostly in work even though half of them do not have Level 2 or above qualifications. Half of them have a low income and a majority of them are men, and are fairly happy with their lives.
9 - Unfulfilled and Unhappy – 8.6%
Unfulfilled and Unhappy are slightly negative about learning but have many barriers. Less than half of them are working and over half are without level two qualifications. They are unhappy with their lives but don’t feel that learning could change things for them
10 - Disaffected and Discouraged – 2.6%
Disaffected and Discouraged have a negative perception of the value of learning, and they report a great many barriers to doing any. Only around half of them are working, and more than half have basic skills problems. Two- thirds have low incomes, and overall they are not very happy with their lives.
The big social challenge this raises is how you move those bottom groups with the worst attitudes towards learning up the scale sufficiently to do something about learning. Maybe each group needs a different approach to achieve this? Sometimes I’m glad I don’t have some of the challenges local governments face!
It would be good if corporates became increasingly willing to facilitate some of this learning; group 5 for example sound like a perfect segment to be ‘brought around’. Mainly at work, slightly negative towards learning but struggling to fund it. Organisations could be (and some are) very instrumental in helping these people to grow and learn. An number of our iManage clients are taking an increasing interest in using 3rd party academic institutes such as the Institute of leadership and Management to accredit the learning programmes we run for them. This is a really good step, and one that supports the vision to be a world leader on skills by 2020.
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