Determinants of participation in nonformal education in the Czech Republic

Abstract

This study deals with key determinants of participation in the nonformal education (NFE) of adults in the Czech Republic (CZE). Our results are based on a secondary analysis of two Adult Education Surveys carried out in the CZE in 2011 (n = 10,190) and 2016 (n = 12,272). Determinants of participation are modelled through logistic regression and decision tree algorithm. The results show that the recent trend of participation in NFE has significantly increased to nearly 40% of adults. In this regard, we argue that this increase is an outcome of the higher investments of employers into NFE in the past 5 years, which has led to a higher proportion of low-skilled workers included in job-related training. Nevertheless, this does not mean that inequality in Czech NFE is decreasing, as the main predictors of participation in NFE remain the same: (a) current employment status, (b) active attitude to learning opportunities, and (c) educational attainment.