Adult lifetime skills: a literature review

Annex A: Methods

This report is based on a review of the literature carried out between September and November 2022. The focus of the literature review is on adult work-based learning and retraining opportunities for those already in work or at risk of redundancy.

The following search terms were used to find relevant literature:

• Adult and "lifelong skills" or "lifetime skills"
• Adult and "lifelong learning"
• "Adult education"
• Adult and "lifelong training"
• Adult and "training programmes"
• Scotland and Adult and training and workplace
• Scotland and work* and training
• Scotland and work* and skills
• Scotland and skills and (economy or "labour market" or productivity)
• Scotland and work* and learning
• Scotland and Adult and "training programmes"
• Scotland and Adult and ("lifelong skills" or "lifetime skills")
• Scotland and Adult and "lifelong learning"
• Scotland and "adult education"
• Scotland and apprenticeship* and skills and (strengths or weaknesses)
• Scotland and apprenticeship* and training
• Scotland and (upskilling or reskilling or retraining)
• Scotland and (workforce or employee*) and training and barriers
• Scotland and Adult and (upskilling or reskilling or training or learning) and barriers
• Adult and (upskilling or reskilling or retraining or training or learning) and barriers
• "Work-based" or "workplace" and (skills or "lifelong learning" or training)
• Poverty and (skills or training)
• "Child poverty" and (skills or training)
• "In-work poverty" and (skills or training)
• Training and (awareness or promotion)
• Training and equalit* and barrier*
• (Upskilling or retraining) and equalit* and barrier*
• "Skills system" and international (or specific country) and "best practice"
• "Skills system" and international (or specific country) and "lessons learned"
• Scotland and (micro-credentials or micro-credentials)
• Benefits and limitations and (micro-credentials or micro-credentials)
• Scotland and "green skills"
• Strengths and "skills system" and Scotland
• Strengths and "skills initiatives "and Scotland
• Strengths and "skills programmes" and Scotland
• Strengths and "lifelong learning" and Scotland
• Strengths and ("lifelong skills" or "lifetime skills") and Scotland
• Weaknesses and "skills system" and Scotland
• Weaknesses and "skills initiatives" and Scotland
• Weaknesses and "skills programmes" and Scotland
• Weaknesses and "lifelong learning" and Scotland
• Weaknesses and ("lifelong skills" or "lifetime skills") and Scotland
• Training and (equalit* or sex or gender or race or age or "older workers" or disability) and Scotland
• Lifelong learning and (equalit* or sex or gender or race or age or disability) and Scotland
• Adult and lifelong learning and (equalit* or sex or gender or race or age or disability) and Scotland
• "Skills provision" and (equalit* or sex or gender or race or age or disability) and Scotland
• "Skills system" and (equalit* or sex or gender or race or age or disability) and Scotland
• "occupational segregation" and Scotland
• "older workers" and Scotland

The search was limited to English language texts published in the last 5 years. All working-age adults in work were in scope. Schools, formal further education, formal higher education and the unemployed were out of scope.

The following databases and websites were used to search for available literature:

• Idox
• Knowledge and Evidence: EBSCO Host
• Policy Commons
• ProQuest
• Google Advanced Search
• Google Custom Search
• OECD website
• European Commission website
• UNESCO "skills for work and life" website
• Government websites for specific countries of interest

The search yielded a sample of over 200 sources. The sources were collated and abstracts / introductions / summaries reviewed for relevance by Scottish Government Advanced Learning and Skills Analysis. From this 92 reports / papers were identified to review in full. Key findings from the literature were identified and organised into themes. It is this thematic analysis that forms the basis of the report.