In the province of Québec, continuing education refers to diverse realities depending on the level of education and institutions. For several university institutions, it includes all short-term programs that do not lead to a degree, while for others the term refers to non-credited programs only, such as professional development activities. At the college level, continuing education includes both short-term credited and non-credited programs, as well as training offered to businesses to meet their skills development needs. In higher education, although the continuing education sector is integrated into the institutional organizational structure, it is generally a separate entity within institutions.

In the field of scientific research, continuing education is generally associated with the field of adult education – “adults” referring to people who go back to school some time after completing, or not, their initial education, and who take on roles characteristic of adulthood in our society1 (Doray & al., 2007, p. 7; Kasworm, 2018).  Some adult learners make a real “return to school” in a credited program, while for others it is more of a punctual and targeted training project (for example, for the purpose of professional development). A number of adults choose to enroll in a regular program, but the vast majority turn to non-credited programs and short-term programs offered through continuing education services.

1 P. Doray and his colleagues explain that “this convention is based on the idea that an individual has left school for a certain period of time […] has entered the labour market (or has sought to do so) and that they may have founded their own unit of life. In other words, they have taken a step toward adulthood” (Doray & al., 2007, p. 7).

A broad concept will be adopted in this dossier to deal with continuing education in all its diversity; i.e., all the educational projects of the so-called “adult” student population in higher education. Considered in this way, continuing education refers more to a specific “relationship to studies” rather than to a specific training offering and is part of a lifelong learning perspective.

The 3 fields of adult learning and education according to UNESCO (CSE, 2016a, p. 20)

1. Literacy and basic skills

2. Continuing training and professional development

3. Active citizenship

A continuing education project can be based on a professional development objective: updating or having one’s skills recognized, making a transition in one’s career or (re)qualifying. The objective can also be of a different kind, such as educating oneself in different areas of life (consumption, interpersonal relationships, lifestyle), learning new knowledge or supporting citizen engagement. Some adults are also seeking education to acquire basic knowledge to function in society, such as literacy, French language integration or digital skills development.

While higher education is present in the three spheres of adult education identified by UNESCO, for the past forty years the educational offering has been very strongly concentrated around employment-related continuing education. Continuing education services within institutions develop responses to the needs formulated by various stakeholders in the labour market (such as employers, sectoral labour committees or even ministries with economic vocations). They are also closely linked to government priorities for the requalification and upgrading of the workforce. Economic logics, which are in tension with other purposes of education across the field of higher education (Carpentier, 2017), are thus particularly predominant in continuing education (Doray & Ionici, 2023; Doray & Manifet, 2017).

Until recently occupying a peripheral place in reflections on higher education, continuing education is nevertheless at the heart of colleges’ and universities’ mission of teaching and providing services to the community. In a regional context, continuing education also constitutes an important driver of social, economic and cultural development (Proulx & Bouchard, 2020). Moreover, by opening the doors of higher education to less traditional populations (first-generation students, women, adults, people from immigrant backgrounds, First Peoples) (ACDEAULF & ICÉA, 2013; Raby & al., 2023),

continuing education is both a response to the diversification of student pathways and a vector of diversification of the various higher education student populations (CSE, 2013b).

Such diversification is one of the major trends identified for the university of the future (Quirion, 2021). In a context of crises and uncertainties, continuing education is set to play a major role in the response higher education institutions will provide as to the skills and knowledge needed by current and future generations.

Consult the first issue

References

ACDEAULF et ICÉA. (2013). La place des adultes dans les universités québécoises : un enjeu de société. Association canadienne d’éducation des adultes des universités de langue française et Institut de coopération pour l’éducation des adultes. https://acdeaulf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Memoire_Place-des-adultes-dans-les-universites-quebecoises.pdf

Carpentier, V. (2017). Historical Perspective, Research in Higher Education. Dans P. Teixeira et J. C. Shin (dir.), Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions (p. 1‑6). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1_167-1

CSE. (2006). En éducation des adultes, agir sur l’expression de la demande de formation : une question d’équité. Conseil supérieur de l’éducation. https://www.cse.gouv.qc.ca/en/publications/education-adultes-demande-formation-50-0450/

CSE. (2013). Parce que les façons de réaliser un projet d’études universitaires ont changé…. Conseil supérieur de l’éducation. https://www.cse.gouv.qc.ca/publications/projet-detudes-universitaires-50-0480/

CSE. (2016). L’éducation populaire : mise en lumière d’une approche éducative incontournable tout au long et au large de la vie. Conseil supérieur de l’éducation. https://www.cse.gouv.qc.ca/publications/leducation-populaire-50-0492/

Doray, P. et Ionici, A. (2023). L’éducation des adultes dans les cégeps et les politiques publiques au Québec : De l’État providence au néo libéralisme. Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, 35(01). https://cjsae.library.dal.ca/index.php/cjsae/article/view/5718

Doray, P. et Manifet, C. (2017). La professionnalisation des universités par la formation continue des adultes : une comparaison Québec-France. Formation emploi. Revue française de sciences sociales, (138), 139‑163. https://doi.org/10.4000/formationemploi.5101

Doray, P., Mason, L. et Bélanger, P. (2007). L’art de vaincre l’adversité : le retour aux études des adultes dans l’enseignement technique (2007‑05). Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur la science et la technologie (CIRST). http://bv.cdeacf.ca/EA_PDF/147605.pdf

Duchaine, S., Gagnon-Paré, M.-È. et Morin, O. (2014). Rôles et usages des programmes de courte durée et des programmes constitutifs de grade. À la mesure des besoins de formation universitaire de l’ensemble de la société québécoise. Université du Québec. https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/2436883

Kasworm, C. E. (2018). Adult Students: A Confusing World in Undergraduate Higher Education. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 66(2), 77‑87. https://doi.org/10.1080/07377363.2018.1469077

Proulx, M.-U. et Bouchard, P.-L. (2020). L’enseignement supérieur et les systèmes d’innovation en région au Québec. Recherches sociographiques, 61(1), 31‑55. https://doi.org/10.7202/1075899ar

Quirion, R. (2021). L’Université québécoise du futur : Tendances, enjeux, pistes d’action et recommandations. Fonds de recherche du Québec. https://cdn-contenu.quebec.ca/cdn-contenu/adm/min/education/publications-adm/rapport-reflexion-consultation/Rapport-universite-quebecoise-futur.pdf

Raby, R. L., Legusov, O., Addae, D., Martel, J., Mou, L. et Wood, D. (2023). Role of community colleges and other TVET institutions in advancing sustainable development by supporting access, diversity, and inclusion for nontraditional student populations. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 17(3), 214‑231. https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2022.2157397