by Edyta Tehrani

Created on: January 26, 2009   Last Updated: January 28, 2009

The rise in demand for adult education has roots in socio-economic changes that are taking place in many industrialized and developing countries. There are more people who are looking for work and therefore competition for jobs is becoming greater. New technologies and scientific discoveries in various fields are creating new jobs which require more specific expertise and skills in potential workers. Economic crises which we are now witnessing causes massive job losses in various industries such as mining, manufacturing, travel, and tourism. Thousands of people who are suddenly out of work cannot find new jobs in their own fields and are forced to altogether change professions, and that in turn, requires many of them to get retrained.

New knowledge in medical science and nutrition helps people to live longer and healthier lives, so older people continue to delay their retirement, especially in times of economic uncertainty. Recent down turn in the stock market made many retired people lose large amounts of their retirement funds forcing them to go back to work at least on part time basis. This is also adding to higher competition for work and higher demands for better education and skills in new workers.

People who used to hold secure and well paid manufacturing jobs are mostly middle-aged people who need to get education in order to look for jobs in new professions. Many of them look for work in medical field where the demand for new workers is high despite of economic troubles. This means going back to College or University to acquire necessary credentials.

Even jobs that used to be very simple to do thirty years ago such as office clerk; now require computer, social, and multitasking skills. There is much more emphasis on productivity, so there is need for higher communication and problem solving skills. Any adult without proper education doesn't have any chance of finding a well paid job anymore.

The demand on more professional expertise also means that people study in Universities longer than they used to. Very often a Bachelor Degree in any field is not enough to get a successful career started and students enroll in graduate studies right after obtaining their Ba's.

Women who were out of the workforce due to taking care of their young children often find out that they must update their skills to new standards in order to return to their jobs after several years of absence. Many of these women also decide to embark on a totally new career at this point in their lives.

Also the numbers of new immigrants from less developed countries are steadily growing. Many people in this group are in great need of adult education in learning new language as well as getting necessary training in order to be able to find work in vast array of fields. Very often their education credentials are not fully recognized in developed countries such as Canada and United States which makes necessary for them to obtain more education.

All these social, economic, and technological factors make up more complex and increasingly competitive job market thus contributing together to the rise in demand for adult education.

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