Higher Education and Lifelong Learning

There has been a fundamental shift in participation levels in higher education across countries over the last 15 years of the 20th century. Typically characterized as a shift from elite to a mass system, there have been many fundamental changes - not least in the participation levels in many countries reaching some 50 per cent. In an attempt to reconcile demand for higher education, many countries focused on reforming the education system into a system of lifelong learning. This was seen as a system for updating and retraining those who had attended higher education and offering alternative and "second chance" pathways into higher education for "non-traditional" learners. This collection explores the varying interpretations of lifelong learning by experts from ten countries.

'This latest collection ... both preserves this record [of work undertaken by the international community of continuing education advocates] and contributes to the reputation of an important scholarly community. Schuetze and Slowey ... neatly capture the strain implicit in national provision that has not caught up with either policy or rhetoric about lifelong learning and the service of non-traditional students.' - David Watson, Studies in the Education of Adults

Hans G. Schuetze joined the University of British Columbia in 1991 as Professor of Higher Education and Research Associate at the Centre for Policy Studies in Higher Education and Training. His research interests and publications are in the fields of post-secondary education and training, comparative and international education.Maria Slowey is Professor and Director of Adult and Continuing Education at the University of Glasgow where she is also Vice Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Education. She is involved in research and policy analysis on post-compulsory education, in particular adult participation in education and training. Both authors have worked extensively with intergovernmental bodies, including the OECD, EU, and the Council of Europe.