Conference Program

Background and Rationale

Contemporary adult education and training (AET) is characterized by a fundamental tension between instrumental visions reducing lifelong learning to employability, upskilling and labor market adaptation; and transformative approaches positioning it as a space for democratic empowerment and collective capability building (Milana et al., 2024). This tension has intensified with automation and digitalization, where dominant discourses emphasize “reactive, future-ready skills” – adapting to technological change (WEF, 2025; OECD, 2025a) – while marginalizing “proactive, future-oriented skills” – the capacity to imagine collectively and construct more just futures (Facer, 2021; Barcinas & Fleener, 2023).

Drawing on the capabilities approach (Sen, 1999; Nussbaum, 2011), the transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 2000; Illeris, 2014), and adult education as empowerment (Boyadjieva & Ilieva-Trichkova, 2021), I examine whether AET in Italy develops soft skills as distinctly human capabilities essential for democratic citizenship, or merely as market-demanded competencies.

Research Questions

1) To what extent does AET develop soft skills, and what factors predict this development?

2) Does AET operate differently for different social groups, particularly those inside versus outside labor market logic?

Methods and Data

Analyzing INDACO-Adulti 2022 survey data of INAPP (N=40,477 adults aged 18-64), I construct a soft skills index, synthesizing six competencies: problem-solving, discipline, communication, collaboration, teamwork, and leadership.

Using linear regression models, I estimate the association between the participation in different AET programmes and soft skills development, controlling for sociodemographic variables and perceived training importance. Then, I disaggregate analyses by employment status to examine whether AET operates differently among different social groups.

Key Findings

Three findings address the panel’s democratic renewal concern.

First, perceived importance of training – intrinsic motivation – is the strongest predictor of soft skills development, three times stronger than any training type. This aligns with self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2017), suggesting AET works best when perceived as intrinsically valuable – empowerment rather than instrumentalization (Boyadjieva & Ilieva-Trichkova, 2023).

Second, the impact of AET on soft skills development grows systematically as we move away from labor market logic. For employed individuals, the effect is small (β=0.084; p<.001); it doubles for unemployed (β=0.165, p<.001), quadruples for retirees (β=0.304; p<.001), and reaches its maximum for persons unable to work (β=0.580, p<.05) - nearly seven times the effect on employed individual.

Third, this gradient empirically challenges human capital discourse (Becker, 1964) and empirically demonstrates transformative education theory (Mezirow, 2000): when liberated from instrumental pressure, education develops those future-oriented capabilities essential for democratic citizenship.

Theoretical and Policy Implications

Theoretically, these findings operationalize the reactive versus proactive learning distinction and align with the recent OECD (2025b) Framework on “Education for Human Flourishing”, which advocates for a shift from instrumental human capital development to the cultivation of ‘transformative competencies’, essential drivers for both individual flourishing and democratic participation.

From a policy perspective, the results support viewing adult education not merely as individual retraining or employability investment, but as a collective investment in democratic resilience – a universal right across the life course to be evaluated by its impact on democratic participation (Hoggan‑Kloubert & Hoggan, 2025)