CR&DALL SEMINAR SERIES 2011 - 2012

8 September 2011, (1500-1700, St Andrews Building, 11 Eldon St, Glasgow, room to be confirmed)

Tertiary lifelong learning as tool for the management of social vulnerability

Dr. Karsten Krger, Foundation CYD, Barcelona Dr. Michele Mariani, Universita degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
PRESENTATION
The main challenges for the ageing knowledge economy are the constant upgrading of the skills of the working population and the mitigation of both new and existing social risks. In an aging society surrounded by a globalised knowledge economy, people in mid-life are increasingly exposed to social risks of exclusion from the labour market. Many are excluded from formal Lifelong Learning (LLL), specifically Tertiary Lifelong Learning (TLL) within universities and colleges. The access of mid-life learners to TLL and their retention in the system has an increasing relevance for the socio-economic sustainability of the ageing European knowledge society. TLL is considered a key to the development of more inclusive and responsive universities. Opening HE for mid-life learners, designing flexible pathways from VET and professional experience to higher education, flexible learning arrangements conciliating family, work-life and learning and the adaptation of pedagogical methods in HE are all challenges. Opening Higher Education (HE) to those in mid-life group is still a minor aspect of education and training reforms but it is a strategic goal in raising the skill levels of the adult EU population, as well as addressing the mismatch between supply and demand for high-skilled workers. The Tertiary lifelong learning for people in mid-life project (THEMP), part funded by the EC and involving 6 collaborating universities across Europe, uses an

innovative combination of Transitional Labour market approaches to define and measure social risks; and the capability and capital approach to operationalize employability and well-being (see http://thempeu.navreme.cz/). It aims to provide differentiated tools to analyse TLL programs and their integration in higher education systems - based on adequate definitions of efficiency and quality - to evaluate the inclusion of mid-life learners. It also analyses the regulation of the TLL system, not only with respect to labour markets and society, but also its internal regulation in terms of access, learning pathways, certification, recognition of prior learning and funding. The seminar introduces the conceptual and theoretical framework of the study and the methodology being used. The speakers Dr. Karsten Krger is a Project manager at University of Barcelona and the Foundation CYD, and holds a PhD in sociology from FU-Berlin. He has previously been a senior researcher at the Foundation CIREM and a Project manager at the EUAgency for Vocational Training in Thessaloniki, CEDEFOP. His main research areas are higher education and vocational training, labour market policy and gender policy. Dr. Michele Mariani holds a Ph.D. in Human Resources Management and is a Researcher at Universita degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia in the Department of Social, Cognitive, and Quantitative Sciences (UNIMORE). He has been a Visiting Research Fellow at the Engineering Faculty of the Vrije, University of Amsterdam. He specializes in: Judgment and Decision Making; Work and Organizational Psychology; Cognitive Ergonomics. He has been chief researcher in the several EU Research Projects (WHOLE; ORGLEARN; PREVENT; COMUNICAR; EDEL; NESOR). Questions and discussion are encouraged as part of the Seminar..

While the CR&DALL Seminar Series is free and open to all, we do ask that you register in order to allow us to plan accommodation and refreshments. Places are available on a first-come-first-served basis. If you intend to come along to the Seminar please e-mail us at cradall@educ.gla.ac.uk and provide your name, institution/department (if appropriate) and a daytime contact telephone number (in case of cancellation). Thank you. CR&DALL, Room 614, School of Education, University of Glasgow, St. Andrew's Building, Eldon St., GLASGOW G3 6NH 0141 330 1833 www.gla.ac.uk/departments/cradall/