Urging workers to receive lifelong education is one of sure ways to boost the competitiveness of the nation as well as their own. To make it happen, what motivates them to take lifelong education and what deters them from doing that should be grasped....
Urging workers to receive lifelong education is one of sure ways to boost the competitiveness of the nation as well as their own. To make it happen, what motivates them to take lifelong education and what deters them from doing that should be grasped. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of the status of workers to what made them receive and keep away from lifelong education, as their status seemed to affect it. The research questions were posed as below:
Ⅰ. Does the status of workers make any differences to their lifelong-education motivating factors?
Ⅰ-1. Does their socioeconomic status make any differences to their lifelong-education motivating factors?
Ⅰ-2. Does their status as a worker make any differences to their lifelong-education motivating factors?
Ⅰ-3. Does their demographic status make any differences to their lifelong-education motivating factors?
Ⅱ. Does the status of workers make any differences to their barriers to lifelong-education?
Ⅱ-l. Does their socioeconomic status make any differences to their barriers to lifelong education?
Ⅱ-2. Does their status as a worker make any differences to their barriers to lifelong education?
Ⅱ-3. Does their demographic status make any differences to their barriers to lifelong education?
To address the research questions, literature review and survey research were conducted. The questionnaires used in this study covered the status of workers, lifelong-education motivating factors and obstacles to that. The subjects in this study were 525 workers who were selected by random sampling. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS WIN 11.5 program, and frequency analysis, x^(2) test, T-test and one-way ANOVA were employed.
57.1 Percent of the workers investigated received lifelong education. The major findings of the study about the research questions were as follows:
First, concerning connections their status and lifelong-education motivating factors, how their socioeconomic status affected them was checked. And it's found that the workers whose household income was smaller were more driven by their own needs for social contact. And those whose household income was larger were more motivated by external expectations, and the difference between the two was significant. By education, the workers who received junior-college education were more affected by their own needs for social contacts. The less-educated workers were more driven by their own needs for community service and professional advancement, and the better educated workers were more motivated by their own cognitive interest. The gap between the two was significant.
As to the influence of their status as a worker on lifelong-education motivating factors, whether the kind of employment affected their lifelong-education motivating factors was examined. And the temporary workers were more affected by their needs for professional advancement than the regular ones, and the latter was more encouraged by their cognitive interest than the former. The gap between the two was significant. By company size, the workers at small companies were more significantly affected by their needs for social contacts, social stimulation and professional advancement. The employees of large corporations were more significantly driven by their cognitive interest. By type of occupation, the workers in production post were more significantly encouraged by their needs for social stimulation, and the sales people were more significantly driven by their needs for community service and Professional advancement. By Position, the lay employees and deputies were more affected by their needs for social contacts, and the chiefs and employees of higher Position were more influenced by their needs for community service. The lay workers were more significantly motivated by their needs for professional advancement, and the deputies and employees of higher position were more significantly impacted by their cognitive interest.
Regarding connections between their demographic status and lifelong-education encouraging factors, the men were more driven by their needs for social contact than the women, and the latter was more affected by their needs for social stimulation. The gap between the two was significant. By age, the younger people were more encouraged by their needs for social contact, social stimulation and professional advancement, and the older ones were more influenced by their needs for community service, external expectations and their cognitive interest. The difference between the two was significant. Overall, the older workers were more significantly motivated to receive lifelong education.
Second, as for relations between the status of the workers and their lifelong-education obstacles, their household income, which was a barometer of socioeconomic status, made no differences to their lifelong-education barriers. Situational barriers were widespread more significantly among the better-educated workers.
Concerning the impact of their status as a worker, the irregular workers were confronted with institutional barriers more significantly, and the company size made no differences to their lifelong-education barriers. By type of occupation, situational barriers were more significantly common among the office workers and those in R&D posts. By Position, the heads faced situational barriers more significantly.
By demographic status, their sender made no differences to their lifelong-education obstacles. By age, those who were in their 30s were confronted with more situational barriers, and dispositional barriers were more significantly common among the older workers. In general, the workers who were in their 80s were confronted with more lifelong-education barriers, and the gap between them and the other age groups was significant.