About the (non) existence of a lifelong education system in Chile

Abstract

This article aims to present the lifelong education system of Chile from a functional and institutional point of view, in an attempt to describe its strategy. This paper covers both formal education and graduate studies, which were analyzed systematically from the institutional framework and experience of Chile. A comprehensive review of open access data of Chilean higher education was performed, analyzing human capital investment and access to post-secondary education. The main findings are based on the lack of coordination between the educational levels and postsecondary education which make career progression and integration difficult, obstructing tenure and qualifications valuation by employers. In an ageing society such as that of Chile, workers may be forced to take up continuously training courses to sustain their situation inside the labour market. If there is no coordination between training and educational system, workers will face major difficulties in being considered as employable. This work opens the question of lifelong education policies in less developed countries such as Chile, which is facing the same demographic phenomenon as developed countries, but without the same level of resources or institutional development. This article concludes with the requirements for the design of this kind of educational policy.

Are we ready? Labour market transit to the digital economy

“…If undereducation represents a real threat to productivity and a firm's competitiveness, companies should develop policies or actions to solve those productivity gaps. However, the evidence shows that training participation is scarce and detached from quality concerns (Didier, 2018a). That opens two main possibilities: (a) the workforce is not a relevant source of competitiveness; and (b) due to the lack of competitiveness in internal markets, the workforce's contribution to the value chain is not relevant.…”

“Quality Problems” in Swedish Municipal Adult Education : The Micropolitics of Quality Construed in the Audit Society

“…Hence, the emphasis on accountability and auditing seems to be recommended as a strategy for enforcing changes, both in policy and research in some cases (Black, Balatti, & Falk, 2012;Viennet & Pont, 2017). The same notion is stressed in Leach's (2014) study about changes in adult education policy in Aotearoa New Zealand and Chile (Didier, 2018).…”

Does credentialism affect the gender wage gap? Evidence from Chile

“…Therefore, so as not to be affected by holding a low‐quality diploma, one must pursue graduate level studies. Yet the Chilean labor market evidence indicates that holding a graduate‐level degree is equivalent to being overqualified (Didier, 2018). Thus, to overcome credential‐related discrimination, women have to choose between being overeducated and enduring the wage differential in their degree provenience.…”

“…Fourth, the expansion of higher education for women has been mainly through enrollment in low‐quality universities (CNED, 2019). Fifth, the Chilean higher‐education system has faced a long process of liberalization on the supply side, driven by a low monitoring of operation and quality (Chiroleu & Marquina, 2017; Didier, 2018). The liberalization began with the structural reforms in the 1980s, which aimed to expand the number of universities and the system's enrollment capacity by allowing private agents to enter the educational market through private universities.…”