Competence Development 55+
The workforce comprising employees aged 55 and above (henceforth 55+) represents a growing share of the labor market. With the wealth of experience and skills of working seniors, this trend can bring substantial benefits to the Danish labor market, but only if workplaces become better at using their employees aged 55+ resources, continuing to develop their competencies and ensuring the value of their 55+ workforce.
This study examines (1) the key factors that influence the participation of employees aged 55+ in competence development, (2) how competence development is perceived and practiced among the target group, and (3) the factors that can support more employees aged 55+ to participate in competence development.
Several studies indicate that the development of seniors’ resources is lagging. A recent Danish questionnaire survey shows that many seniors are not offered continuing education and training, but that 85% of those who are offered it take it up (Sundstrup et al., 2020). A meta-study suggests that unwillingness to engage in VET among seniors is the only prejudice out of the six tested that holds. Although these international results cannot be directly transferred to a Danish, governmental context, they indicate that seniors to a large extent break with existing prejudices in all areas other than competence development.
Whether the participation rate of employees aged 55+ in competence development is due to their own reservations, that they are not offered it sufficiently, or that they do not adequately perform on the courses they attend, the preceding quantitative studies cannot address these issues. In this collaboration with The Secretariat for Competence Development, we therefore intend to use qualitative methods to investigate the complex practices, considerations, and decision-making processes involved in the participation of employees aged 55+ in competence development.
In our former research project Senior Practice, we observed that many workplaces valued the autonomy and reliability of employees aged 55+. Therefore, they often spend years managing their own projects, while managers could direct resources towards younger employees.
When employees aged 55+ were finally offered competence development, the frequent underlying reason was that they themselves had shown a motivation for it. They seemed appreciate competence development if it would fit into individual work-related priorities. Thus, their participation in competence development could not be reduced to a question of whether they were offered it or not, or whether they were motivated for competence development or not. Participation was more about relevance and the culture of skills development in the workplace. Such factors are investigated in this project.
The project is based on qualitative methods. With qualitative methods, a deep understanding of a narrow sample of the target group is achieved. As the aim of the study is to gain an improved understanding of the complex processes that play a role in the competence development of employees aged 55+, the qualitative method is ideal.
We will investigate the competence development of employees aged 55+ by conducting semi-structured interviews and participant observations (as far as possible) at eight workplaces in the five collective agreement areas of CO10, LC, OAO Other, HK, and Akademikerne. We will ask about the working life of employees aged 55+, their rationales for participating in competence development, and their concrete experiences with attending competence development activities. We will ask managers and/or HR staff about their perceptions of and experiences with the competence development of employees aged 55+.
The results will be disseminated through conference presentations and two reports in spring 2023. See more information on the project.
Researchers
| Name | Title | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lassen, Aske Juul | Associate Professor | +4522920212 | |
| Wulff, Anna Lyngdal | Research Assistant | +4535320030 |
Funding
The project is funded by Kompetencesekretariatet.
Project period: 2022-2023
PI: Aske Juul Lassen