In a rapidly changing world, it behooves adults to stay updated on current trends. For many in the workplace, keeping up with the latest technology is a matter of job security and not simply a means for advancement. Relying on your previous experience and training is not always enough to ensure you’ll keep your job when the company requires employees to convert to a new system or engage in more advanced communication functions, for example. Without advanced training, you might find your position becomes obsolete.
Education can serve as a means of advancing your career. In many industries, advancement can’t occur unless you get additional accreditations or degrees. In academia, for example, a Ph.D. is often required for certain positions, while an M.B.A. may help a business professional move to an executive position. Many professions, such as medicine, require additional training and licensing to advance, while promotions occur for those with additional degrees and training. You might get a job as a nurse with a two-year registered nursing degree but can’t seek a nurse manager slot without a four-year bachelor of science in nursing.
For the unemployed, additional education provides an effective gap-filler while you’re looking for work. When asked what you’ve been doing since you were laid off or since you left your last position, you can reply positively that you’ve been updating your skills. Additionally, according to the Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning, adult education helps you keep an open mind so that you can fit in better at a changing workplace. Education as an adult opens your eyes to possibilities you might not have considered and prepares you to enter a more dynamic and diverse workplace than you might have experienced in the past.
Schooling of any kind can help keep you healthier. Whether you take accredited, work-related courses or take leisure classes to pursue a hobby, the act of learning enhances your memory and your verbal acuity. In other words, you’ll be a better conversationalist and possibly enjoy a higher social status as a result because upwardly mobile adults tend to have more effective verbal skills. The benefits of adult education are equally important for adults who’ve already pursued advanced education and those with no formal advanced education working in manual labor jobs.