Adult Readiness to Learn: An International Study of Individual and Contextual Predictors

• In Event: Adult Transitions in an Era of College and Career Readiness

Abstract

The present study examined an international sample of adults from the Survey of Adult Skills administered by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) to assess (1) how specific individual and country-level characteristics predict adult readiness to learn, and (2) how readiness to learn predicts adult skills in literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving in technology-rich environments. Data from 20 countries were considered, and multilevel modeling carried out to assess both individual-level and country-level effects. Additionally, a multidimensional “map” of these regions based on similarities in adult readiness to learn was constructed, and the capacity of other regional characteristics (e.g., average educational level, average years of paid work) to explain this multidimensional space was assessed.

Authors

• Thomas J. Smith, Northern Illinois University

• Amy D. Rose, Northern Illinois University

• Jovita M. Ross-Gordon, Texas State University - San Marcos

• M Cecil Smith, West Virginia University