OECD SKILLS OUTLOOK 2021 LEARNING FOR LIFE.

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Reader’s guide
	Country coverage
	Names used for territorial entities
	Rounding figures
	Calculation of international means
	Standard error (S.E.)
	Reporting student data from PISA
	Note regarding Cyprus
	Note regarding the Russian Federation
	Note regarding Greece
	Reference
Acronyms and abbreviations
Executive summary
	Building the foundations of lifelong learning
	Promoting effective transitions into further education, training and the labour market
	Engaging adults in learning
	The role of transversal skills in enabling individuals to thrive in the labour market
	Protecting workers from demand shocks and long-term structural changes
	Key recommendations
Key facts and figures (infographic)
1 Overview
	Introduction
	Why focus on lifelong learning?
	When does learning occur? The stages of lifelong learning
	Where does learning occur? Setting matters for lifelong learning
	What learning? Skills to mobilise individuals’ knowledge, attitudes and values
	How to promote lifelong learning? Intersectoral policy approaches that place learners at the centre
	Starting young: Building the foundations of lifelong learning
	Beyond schooling: Promoting effective transitions into further education, training and the labour market
	Raising aspirations to learn: Engaging adults in learning
	Skills for a lifetime? The role of transversal skills in helping individuals thrive in the labour market
	Report roadmap
	References
2 Attitudes and dispositions: The foundations of lifelong learning
	Lifelong learning attitudes
	Student attitudes towards learning and contemporaneous achievements
	The role of positive learning attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic
	Lifelong learning attitudes and children’s educational and career expectations
	Educational and career expectations among 15-year-old students: Gaps by socio-economic background
	Students’ lifelong learning attitudes and their educational and career expectations
	Students’ development of lifelong learning attitudes
	The role of teachers in stimulating lifelong learning attitudes in secondary school students
	Teaching practices and lifelong learning attitudes
	Teacher enthusiasm
	What can countries do to support effective teacher practices leading to lifelong learning attitudes?
	The role of parents in developing lifelong learning attitudes in youth
	Parental emotional support and the development of lifelong learning attitudes in students
		What can countries do to spur parental involvement?
	School policies and parental involvement in children’s education
	Parental support for home schooling in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
	References
	Annex 2.A. Supplementary tables
	Notes
3 Lifelong learning trajectories: The transition from compulsory schooling to young adulthood
	Introduction
	Lifelong learning and transitions
	Country differences in achievement growth between ages 15 and 27
	Socio-economic disparities in achievement growth between ages 15 and 27
	Differences in achievement growth across the performance distribution
	Smoother transitions: Factors promoting growth in achievement
		Formal, informal and non-formal learning opportunities
		Educational and career orientation
		The role of expectations
	References
	Annex 3.A. Supplementary tables
4 Promoting interest and participation in adult learning
	Disparities in participation in adult learning
	The importance of distinguishing motivation: Four learners’ profiles
	Factors affecting workers’ willingness to participate in training
	Personal factors related to workers’ willingness to participate in adult learning
		Educational attainment: The role of prior learning
	Age-related differences
	Experience with technology
	Drive to learn
	Job tenure
	Employer characteristics
	Firm size
	Growing firm
		High-performance work practices
	Performance-based pay
	What are the challenges for motivated learners who are unable to meet their training goals?
	What are the individual characteristics defining those who are inactive but motivated, and active learners seeking more training?
	Contextual barriers hinder otherwise motivated learners from achieving their learning goals
	Do family obligations hinder the access to training of otherwise motivated individuals?
		Cost of training
	Lack of prerequisites can limit access to training of otherwise motivated individuals
	Work-related and time constraints affect motivated individuals’ ability to fully reach learning goals
	Other barriers to participation in adult learning and ways to support older individuals engage in learning
	What are the drivers of participation in training for satisfied learners?
	Learning losses and COVID-19: The effects of COVID-19-induced shutdowns on workers’ participation in adult learning
	Impact of the pandemic on individual sectors
	The impact of COVID-19-induced shutdowns on workers’ ability to train
	Low-skilled workers suffer the most when learning opportunities are reduced owing to economic shutdowns
	References
	Annex 4.A. Supplementary tables
	Notes
5 Navigating skill demands in turbulent times
	Introduction
	The “urgency of now”: An assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on labour-market and skill demands using online vacancies
	The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the number of online vacancies varies by educational level
	The share of online job openings requiring working from home increased markedly from mid-March 2020 onwards
	Online job postings declined in some sectors and occupations more than in others
	The role of transversal skills in navigating the labour market
	An analysis of wage and employment returns based on online vacancies
		How can governments spur the development of transversal skills?
	Looking into the future of labour-market and skill demands
	Fastest-declining and growing occupations, skill profiles and retraining pathways
		A growing healthcare sector: Evidence on skill bundles from online vacancies
	Retraining pathways for the future: Evidence on skills and occupational mobility derived from online vacancies
		Retraining pathways for jobs projected to decline sharply: Evidence from online vacancies for executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants
	The COVID-19 crisis and the fast redeployment of workers through retraining pathways
	Conclusions
	References
	Annex 5.A. A note on using online job postings to analyse labour-market and skill demands
	Annex 5.B. A note on the machine learning approach to the analysis of skill information contained in online job postings
	Annex 5.C. A note on the empirical assessment of the impact of transversal skills on wages and job openings