Albert Tuijnman
A pioneer in adult education scholarship, economist Albert Tuijnman has made extraordinary, long-lasting contributions to the field. In his most groundbreaking work, he introduced the application of statistical models to longitudinal data to investigate the effects of initial schooling and later adult education on individuals’ employment, earnings, and quality of life. Tuijnman’s 1989 study unequivocally demonstrated that adult education improved its participants’ lives.
The study, “Recurrent Education, Earnings and Well-Being: A Fifty-Year Longitudinal Study of a Cohort of Swedish Men,” followed individuals from age ten to fifty-six over a half century. The work estimated the total effects of initial schooling as well as repeated cycles of subsequent adult education participation on key aspects of their lives. Tuijnman’s findings showed that the effects of adult education on the study group were statistically significant on occupational status at age forty-three and on perceived well-being at age fifty-six. A game-changer for the field of adult education, the work demonstrated that when analyzed over an extended time horizon, participants in adult education regard their lives as more worthwhile, full, rich, and interesting than those who do not take part.
The longitudinal method Tuijnman employed in the study is now considered the gold standard in adult education research. The method made it possible to model the effects of adult education over a long period of time. The work is also significant because the method of structural relations analysis Tuijnman used allows for the estimation of the effects of formal schooling and adult education participation on important outcome variables. Finally, the study’s drawing on not only readily quantifiable outcomes such as earnings but also on self-reported measures of well-being were pathbreaking. In recognition of his achievements Tuijnman was invited to become editor of the International Encyclopedia of Adult Education and Training (Elsevier Science, 1996).
In addition to his work as a researcher, Tuijnman, who serves as senior economist for human capital at the European Investment Bank, has also been an important promoter of adult education nationally and internationally. A professor of comparative education at Stockholm University, the University of Nottingham, and the Danish University of Education, he has cultivated doctoral students interested in quantitative research methods and comparative studies in adult education. His former students now hold academic positions where they are training their own doctoral students. This network still provides an impetus for empirical studies in adult education.
In 1999, Tuijnman was invited to become a Fellow of the International Academy of Education, which promotes high standards in educational research and disseminates examples of best educational practices worldwide. Until Tuijnman’s election, the field of adult education was not represented among the disciplines covered by the international academy. Today, he remains the field’s only representative in this forum. He also previously served as principal administrator at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, responsible for publications including Lifelong Learning for All and the International Adult Literacy Survey.
Tuijnman has delivered numerous keynote addresses on financing lifelong learning and comparative adult education to audiences worldwide. His publications have been widely influential inside and outside of academia. As a result of his efforts, he has been awarded honorary positions including special professorships in China, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. He is eminently distinguished in the field.