A Focus on Lifelong Learning for Career Success

The Reasons and Benefits to Continue Education for Workplace Skills

Jul 12, 2009
David R. Wetzel

Lifelong Learning Through Continuing Education - Microsoft Office Clipart

Lifelong learning is critical today for all workers currently employed and for those seeking employment who require continually updated and expanded job skills.

A common question adults have when considering continuing education is focused on the benefits of completing a college degree or graduate degree. This is a valid concern because of the financial costs and time required to complete a degree program. The simple answer is that the days of working for the same company for a lifetime rarely exist today, due to global competition. Because of this, most adults change their careers several times during their lifetime.

The emergence of a highly competitive, technologically supported global economy have forced these changes. Companies restructure, separate out and recombine production units, refine their management hierarchy, outsource tasks, and use new communication technologies to access an international workforce. As a result, job descriptions, work arrangements, and work processes are constantly changing.

Reasons for Lifelong Learning

Knowledge and skills must constantly be updated and expanded. These and other reasons are why lifelong learning is a necessity. Adults must remain current through enrollment in continuing education programs to stay competitive in today’s economy (America’s Career Resource Network, National Career Development Guidelines, 2007). For example:

American workers are likely to change jobs, occupations, or companies 10 to 12 times in their working life.
A horizontal management structure has replaced the vertical structure of the past; workers are likely to advance across companies and industries, rather than within a single company.
Specialists who have spent years perfecting a skill are told that they are too narrow and limited. These specialists must now be able to perform tasks in varied areas, using broader skill sets.
Individuals accustomed to dealing with data and working alone find themselves in group brainstorming activities where they are expected to be creative, use their imagination, and work on a team.
Employers no longer hire workers on the basis of their technical skills alone; equally important in the selection of workers is an array of workplace know-how skills that include productive use of resources (e.g., time, money, and technology), information management, and the ability to work on teams with diverse members.
Workers are likely to be organized across geopolitical boundaries so that members of collaborative teams may actually be located in different towns, states, or countries. “Presence” is electronically defined.

Educational Achievement and Lifelong Learning

Educational achievement and lifelong learning goals include the following:

Attain educational achievement and performance levels needed to reach personal and career goals.
Participate in ongoing, lifelong learning experiences to improve ability to function effectively in a diverse and changing economy.
Half of all persons age 35-54 participate in adult education, the majority in career- or job-related courses.

Workplace Continuing Education Elements

Lifelong learning is a more important part of career success today. There are three elements which characterize continuing education adults most focus their efforts, along with strategies for success. These are:

An emphasis on technology – remaining current on the latest trends and technological advances within a career field
Employment skills – remaining current on the latest movements and advancements in job skills
Workplace learning – completing all opportunities to learn new job skills through on the job training

Benefits of Continuing Education

Besides the need to adapt to an every changing global world economy and job market, the following are additional benefits of earning a college degree of advanced degree (America’s Career Resource Network, National Career Development Guidelines, 2007).

College graduates age 25 and over earn nearly twice as much as workers who stopped with a high school diploma.
College graduates have experienced growth in real (inflation-adjusted) earnings since 1979. In contrast, high school dropouts have seen their real earnings decline.
From 1979 to 2000, the earnings of college-educated women grew nearly twice as fast as the earnings of men.
The unemployment rate for workers who dropped out of high school is nearly four times the rate for college graduates.

Making Connections with Lifelong Learning and Careers

Among adults who have been working full-time, many are seeking to upgrade current skills or to add specific skills that allow competitiveness or advancement an occupational field. The primary focus is on skill enhancement, the need for current information about job requirements, occupational trends, and specific job opportunities in order to make decisions about what courses to take.

Adults going back to school enjoy the benefits of continuing education, regardless if they are employed or unemployed. Money and time spent today or in the near future have long terms effects on financial earnings and career prospects over time.