Barriers to Training for Older Workers and Possible Policy Solutions. SPONS AGENCY Australian Dept
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 476 321 CE 084 936 AUTHOR Wooden, Mark; VandenHeuvel, Adriana; Cully, Mark; Curtain, Richard TITLE Barriers to Training for Older Workers and Possible Policy Solutions. SPONS AGENCY Australian Dept. of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs, Canberra. PUB DATE 2001-01-00 NOTE 314p.; Produced by Flinders University of South Australia, National Institute of Labour Studies. AVAILABLE FROM For full text: http://www.dest.gov.au/archive/ iae/documents/olderworkers/olderwo rkersv4.pdf. PUB TYPE Opinion Papers (120) Reports Research (143) EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF01/PC13 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Access to Education; Adult Education; Age Discrimination; Developed Nations; Employee Attitudes; Employer Employee Relationship; Foreign Countries; *Job Training; Labor Force Development; Labor Market; Lifelong Learning; Middle Aged Adults; *Older Workers; Participant Characteristics; *Participant Satisfaction; *Participation; Personnel Management; Policy Formation IDENTIFIERS *Australia; *Barriers to Participation ABSTRACT This report covers a study of barriers for older workers in obtaining and benefitting from training and innovative policies to remove them. After an introduction, Chapter 2 reviews literature on incidence and determinants of older workers' participation in training; barriers to training; and employer and government initiatives to enhance older persons' access to training. Chapter 3 uses existing secondary data sets to provide an overview of older workers' labor market position; quantify differences in training experiences across cohorts; identify characteristics associated with relatively low levels of training participation and perceived barriers to training participation; and examine variations across cohorts in assessments of the value of training. Chapter 4 presents key findings from focus groups of older persons and human resource managers about their reactions to main findings from the literature review and data analysis and to canvas reactions to policy options to address barriers to training. Chapter 5 presents findings from case studies of three organizations representing "lighthouse" examples of management practice in dealing with an aging workforce. Chapter 6 synthesizes results showing older workers participate less in training and identifies these six barriers to training: absence of paid work; learning capacity; education; uncertain retirement age; employer discrimination; and self discrimination. Chapter 7 examines policy options addressing the barriers, including lifelong learning. (233 references)(YLB) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. BARRIERS TO TRAINING FOR OLDER WORKERS AND POSSIBLE POLICY SOLUTIONS Prepared for the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs Through the National Institute of Labour Studies Flinders University of South Australia By Mark Wooden, Adriana VandenHeuvel and Mark Cully National Institute of Labour Studies and Richard Curtain Curtain Consulting January 2001 U.S. DEPARTMENT Office of Educational ResearchOF-EDUCATION and Improvement PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS A/This CENTER (ERIC) BEEN GRANTED BY document has been reproducedas received from the personor organization originating it. O Minor changes havebeen made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions TO THE EDUCATIONAL stated in this RESOURCES document do not necessarilyrepresent INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) official OERI positionor policy. 1 BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 The report was commissioned by the Analysis and Equity Branch, Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs. The views in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs. Acknowledgements Prepared for the Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA) by the National Institute of Labour Studies (NILS), Mark Wooden, Adriana VandenHeuvel and Mark Cully, and Richard Curtain Consulting. This project was funded by DETYA as one of the initiatives taken by the Commonwealth Government for the International Year of the Older Worker in 1999. Within NILS, the project was first managed by Professor Mark Wooden then, following his departure to the Melbourne Institute in March 2000, by Mark Cully. Computing, typesetting and secretarial assistance was provided by Rebecca Goodes, Lindy Dodd and Bernice McGrath. The assistance of the following people in various aspects of the study is gratefully acknowledged. We are also grateful to the focus group and case study participants who wish to remain anonymous. Fiona Barradale, Training Manager, CGU Insurance Ltd Dr Lyn Bennington, Latrobe Business School, LaTrobe University Keith Broad, The Public Correctional Enterprise CORE, Victoria Justin Bown, The Boston Consulting Group Elissa-Jane Burns, Right D&A, Career Strategy Consultants Peter Cox, Future Employment Opportunities, Bendigo Hugh Davies, 12 Selboume Ave, Hawthorn Isla Derrick, Human Resources Account Manager, Medibank Private Jill Favero, Victorian Office of Employment Skills Pay Program Karen Fitzpatrick, Head of Employee Development, ANZ Bank Peter Fotiades, Victorian President, AHRI Michael Hansen, Southcorp Packaging Sally Haycocks, NSW Department of Education & Training Sally Mathieson, Wise Employment Services, Camberwell Jill Milthorpe, Western Older Workers, Melbourne Professor Margaret Patrickson, Graduate School of Management, University of South Australia Louise Rowland, Jobs East, Melbourne Colin Thatcher, Assistant Director, BCA Mery Thomas, Human Resource Manager, Corporate Services RACV Russell Wood, Employment Development Officer, DOME SA EST COPY HAMA 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Objectives and Methods 2 1.3 Definitions 2 1.4 Report Structure 3 CHAPTER 2 PREVIOUS RESEARCH 6 2.1 Introduction 7 2.2 The Incidence and Determinants of Participation in Training by Older Workers 8 2.2.1 Theoretical Perspectives 8 2.2.2 Descriptive Research 10 2.2.3 Multivariate Research 16 2.3 Barriers to Training for Older Persons 30 2.3.1 Employer Attitudes 30 2.3.2 Learning Ability 34 2.3.3Worker Attitudes 37 2.4 Factors that Enhance the Access of Older Persons to Training 40 2.4.1 Methods of Training 40 2.4.2 Organisational Initiatives 41 2.4.3 Public Policy Initiatives 44 Public Policy Initiatives - Conclusion 64 2.5 Implications for Further Research 64 ii CHAPTER 3 66 DATA ANALYSIS 66 3.1 Introduction 68 3.2 The Labour Market Position of Older Workers 69 3.2.1 Labour Market Participation 69 3.2.2 Unemployment and Labour Mobility 72 3.2.3 Employment Characteristics 82 3.2.4 International Comparisons 87 3.2.5Conclusion 92 3.3 Participation in Training: Evidence from the 1997, 1993 and 1989 ABS Surveys of Education and Training Experience 92 3.3.1 Definitions and Concepts 93 3.3.2 Persons with Some Training 94 3.3.3 In-house Training 96 3.3.4 External Training 100 3.3.5 Unstructured Training 104 3.3.6 Educational Study 106 3.3.7 Summary of participation in training in 1997 by wage and salary earners 109 3.3.8 Participation in training by non-wage and salary earners 110 3.3.9 Changes in training participation, 1989 to 1997 113 3.3.10 Conclusion 114 3.4 Participation in Training Multivariate Analysis: Evidence from the 1997 SETE 115 3.4.1 Determinants of Participation in Training 116 3.4.2 Determinants of Participation in Formal Training across Cohorts 119 3.4.3Conclusion 124 3.5 Participation in, and Satisfaction with, Job-Related Training: Evidence from the AWIRS 125 3.5.1 The AWIRS Data: An Overview 125 3.5.2Participation in Job-related Training 127 3.5.3Satisfaction with Training 133 3.6 Perceived Barriers to Participation in Training 134 3.6.1 Bafflers to Training among Employees (Using the 1997 ABS Data) 135 3.6.2 Bafflers to Training among Unemployed and Marginally Attached Persons (Using the 1997 ABS Data) 139 111 5 3.6.3Barriers to Training among Employees (Using the 1993 ABS Data) 141 3.6.4Summary 144 3.7 Conclusions 144 Attachment 3A: Results of Regression Analysis, 1997 SETE 146 Attachment 3B: Results of Regression Analysis, 1995 AWIRS 155 CHAPTER 4 IDENTIFYING THE BARRIERS TO TRAINING FOR OLDER PERSONS: SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS FROM Focus GROUPS 171 4.1 Conduct of the Focus Groups 173 4.1.1 Composition of the Focus Groups 173 4.1.2 Background of Focus Group Participants 174 4.1.3 Conduct and Structure of the Focus Groups 174 4.2 Identifying the Barriers to Training for Unemployed Older Persons 174 4.2.1 Older Job Seekers and the Labour Market 175 4.2.2 Perceptions of the Value of Training to Older Job Seekers 176 4.2.3Age Discrimination and Older Job Seekers 178 4.2.4 Barriers to Training for Older Unemployed Persons: Attitudes to Learning 182 4.2.5 Barriers to Training for Unemployed Older Persons: Self-imposed Barriers 183 4.2.6 Barriers to Training for Unemployed Older Persons: Cost 184 4.2.7 Barriers to Training for Unemployed Older Persons: Discrimination by Training Providers 185 4.2.8 Barriers to Training for Unemployed Older Persons: Lack of Recognition of Prior Learning 186 4.3 Barriers to Training for Older Persons in Employment 186 4.3.1 Barriers to Promotion for Older Employees in the Workplace 186 4.3.2Barriers to Training in the Workplace: Older Employees and Resistance to Change 187 4.3.3 Barriers to Training in the Workplace: Older Employees and 'Soft Skills' 189 4.3.4 Barriers to Training in the Workplace: Self perceptions of Older Employees and the Value