| Summary: | Since 2010 one of the main aims of Icelandic educational policy has been to lower the proportion of people who have not completed formal qualifications beyond compulsory education from 31% in 2008 to 10% in 2020 (Mennta- og menningarmálaráðuneytið, 2010). Legislation on continuing education (lög um framhaldsfræðslu nr. 27/2010), has been enacted and legal changes made in the formal education system, directing adults toward enrolling in the continuing education system (lög um framhaldsskóla, 92/2008). Research has shown that adult learners seeking education at life long learning centres and preparatory programmes at higher education institutions are content with and successful in their studies (Björk Erlendsdóttir, 2013; Eydís Katla Guðmundsdóttir, 2012; Gestur Guðmundsson & Hulda Karen Ólafsdóttir; Halla Valgeirsdóttir, 2011), but progress is slow towards the policy aim for 2020. In 2015, 27% of the adult population had only completed compulsory education. Most notably, young adults do not seem to use opportunities created within the adult education system to finish upper secondary education (OECD, 2015). It is important for policy makers and educational institutions to gain a better understanding of why adults do not seek programmes leading to educational qualifications as expected. In this study we, therefore, explored the institutional and situational barriers (Cross, 1981) that young adults, in particular, face when seeking an upper secondary qualification in the various educational landscapes created by recent policies, laws and institutional practices in Iceland (Mennta- og menningarmálaráðuneytið, 2015). We also applied the concept of bounded agency (e.g., Evans, 2007) to examine the interplay of structures and individuals in the choices of young people and their efforts to overcome barriers. A comparative cross-national study shows that adults in Europe face similar barriers on their road to education, but that a greater proportion of the people are able to overcome them in the Nordic welfare ...
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