eLearning Chart 18: Attitudes towards training and learning

eUSER population survey 2005

 

For explaining users' education-related behaviour, attitudes towards training and learning can be expected to play an important role. General interest in learning is wide-spread with 60% of all respondents fully agreeing and 19% largely agreeing that they enjoy learning new things. At the same time, however, a large share of the population declare that they tend to engage in training only if it is "really necessary" (42% either "fully agree" or "largely agree"). This indicates that while learning is regarded a potentially enjoyable thing to do, in practice participation in training often depends on external impetus and extrinsic motivation. This is also born out by the fact that workers almost without exception believe that it is the responsibility of employers to take care of work-related staff training.

A further finding which merits further investigation is the modest average level of agreement among workers with the views "training would improve my career or job prospects" and "training would help me carry out my work tasks". This corresponds with evidence from other sources (see OECD 2003 for an overview) that points towards a high share of employees not being convinced that further training would actually improve their employability and their capability of performing well in their current job. What is more, the share of workers who are sceptical about the employment-related benefits of training is significantly higher among people with low qualification and low labour market status.