Corruption-Driven Inequalities in Access to Adult Education. Issue 4 (November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gerganov, Alexander; Ilieva-Trichkova, Petya; Boyadjieva, Pepka
• Is Part Of: Adult education quarterly. Volume 72:Issue 4(2022)
• Page Start: 339
• Page End: 360
• Publication Date: 2022-11
• Subjects: higher education -- lifelong education -- sociology -- corruption -- inequality in access to adult education -- formal education -- nonformal education; Adult education -- Periodicals; Continuing education -- Periodicals; Teaching -- Periodicals; 374.005
• DOI: 10.1177/07417136211054517
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0741-7136

Abstract

The article aims to show that taking into account diverse characteristics of the wider social environment is indispensable for a better understanding of participation in adult education (PAE). It explores the association of corruption as a macro factor with PAE, arguing for an integrated approach to PAE. By using two indexes for corruption at country level Corruption Perception Index and the Index of Public Integrity—and micro-data for adults aged 25–64 from 29 European countries in the Adult Education Survey, 2016, as well as by applying random-effects logit models, this study has demonstrated that a country's higher corruption level is associated with the lower probability of PAE. Our article also reveals that the relationships between individual-level variables such as gender, higher education, social background, and PAE are embedded in a wider social milieu, and corruption is an essential characteristic of that milieu which deepens some of the inequalities in PAE.