Stability and Change in Adult Competencies: Patterns and Predictors of Literacy and Numeracy Development

• Applicant: Dr. Clemens Lechner
• Subject Area: Developmental and Educational Psychology ; Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: from 2017 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 390679405

In the light of globalization, technological advance, and demographic ageing, several researchers have highlighted the critical role that continuing education and professional development over the entire lifespan will play in helping the workforce meet the growing, and rapidly changing, skill requirements of today's labor market. This shift towards a paradigm of lifelong learning directs attention to the issue of adult competency development. Yet, surprisingly little is known about whether basic competencies needed to function effectively in modern societies, such as literacy (i.e., the ability to understand and apply information from written texts) and numeracy (i.e., the ability to understand and apply mathematical information), continue develop during adulthood. We also have limited knowledge about the potential drivers of gains and losses in adult competencies. Moreover, the existing evidence is predominantly cross-sectional, whereas large and representative panel studies on competency development in adults are scarce, especially in Germany.The advent of two recent German large-scale panel studies - the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS, Starting Cohort 6 - Adults) and the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competency (PIAAC) with its longitudinal extension in Germany (PIAAC-L) - offers a unique opportunity to fill this long-standing empirical void. Both NEPS and PIAAC-L now comprise two waves of reading competence (literacy) and mathematical competence (numeracy) measures, covering six (three) years of adulthood. Harnessing the potential both these data sources, our project, therefore, aims to shed light on three fundamental questions about adult competency development:(1) How stable or malleable are competencies during adulthood, and does their plasticity differ between major sociodemographic subgroups (by age group, educational attainment, gender)? We will address this descriptive question from the complementary perspectives of mean-level, rank-order, and intraindividual changes. (2) What are the factors that shape lifelong learning processes? Because prior research has championed the role of learning in occupational settings, our focus will be on occupational factors such as patterns of labor market participation, skill use on the job, and participation in continuing education and training. (3) Which individual factors co-shape competency development? In this regard, we will examine whether prior educational attainment, initial competency levels, and non-cognitive skills (i.e., personality traits such as Openness to Experience) predict gains and losses in adult competencies; and whether they moderate the effects of the occupational factors thereon.By addressing these questions, our project will make a significant contribution to our understanding of adult competency development, expanding the small body of longitudinal evidence and paving the way for further theoretical developments in this research area.

• DFG Programme: Infrastructure Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1646: Education as a Lifelong Process. Analysing Data of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS)
• International Connection: USA
• Cooperation Partners: Professorin Dr. Corinna Kleinert; Professor Stephen Reder, Ph.D.
• Co-Investigators: Professor Dr. Daniel Danner; Professorin Dr. Beatrice Rammstedt