Evidence-based policy-making: The usability of the Eurostat Adult Education Survey

Ellen Boeren*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article reflects on European education policy which is driven by benchmarks and indicators. While the European benchmark on adult lifelong learning participation-15% to be achieved by 2020-is measured by the Labour Force Survey, the Eurostat Adult Education Survey (AES) was designed to better understand the topic of adult lifelong learning participation in-depth. This article explores the AES as an instrument to inform policy-makers and whether it provides adequate information to empirically testify participation hypotheses. The article argues that analysis of the AES provides limited understanding of the educational supply side. Furthermore, policy-makers should be aware of methodological and conceptual weaknesses before relying on these data in their policy development.  

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)275-289
Number of pages15
JournalInternational Journal of Lifelong Education
Volume33
Issue number3
Early online date21 Mar 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 May 2014

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • benchmarks
  • indicators
  • monitoring
  • participation
  • survey

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Evidence-based policy-making: The usability of the Eurostat Adult Education Survey'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this