Social Obstacles for Including of Adults in Life Long Education in Russia

This master's thesis analyzes the phenomenon of life-long education that is especially relevant nowadays. Returning to education helps adults actualize their knowledge and skills and create their own life trajectories. Moreover, participation of adults in lifelong learning builds the educational potential of the country. According to statistics, the tendency of lifelong education is far from widespread in Russia. This thesis aims to study what social obstacles prevent adults from returning to education. The studied phenomenon is considered at two different levels, that are institutional and individual. Institutional level includes characteristics of economy, labor market, educational institutions that prevent from returning to education. Individual level considers returning to education as a part of the life trajectories of individuals. Conceptual framework of our research includes structural functionalism, critical theory and phenomenology. The main method of collecting empirical data is a qualitative semi-structured interview based on typical case sampling. We interviewed 10 informants aged from 25 to 34 who have returned to university education. As a result of the research it is revealed that returning to education in adulthood is associated with overcoming a number of difficulties that are particularly shaped by the institutional characteristics of the education system and the labor market. Adults who return to education experience difficulties with converting their symbolic capital to other forms such as economic and social capital. The meaning of the episode of returning to education is shaped by the events that occurred earlier in individual’s life.