Formação profissional, a ancoragem da formação no trabalho real e envelhecimento

Abstract

The ageing process in the last few decades, along with the retirement age being increased (European Commission, 2004), has increased the awareness in society for the need to retain older workers in employment status for a longer period of time (Hessel, 2008). In this context, continuous training is one of the solutions to cope with the new requirements that are related to the permanent changes of society and the need for professional updating. However, literature has shown that the participation in training activities tends to decrease with age (Instituto Nacional de Estatística [INE], 2009b). This study aims to explore the representations of the relationship between ageing and vocational training of the participants in certain organizational contexts. The access to these representations became possible through the contact with various organizations. On the one hand, we sought to understand the representations of workers and, on the other hand, of the employers. Our sample involved nine participants, two employers (organizational representatives) and seven workers of two separate organizations. Having as guidance the principles of Grounded Theory, we proceeded to the subsequent data processing and analysis. In general, we found that the significations of workers and employers are identical regarding the development of training. Although the workers have evaluated training positively, regarding it as an added value, they do not conceive it as a contribution to their daily work activity. Employers, however, stressed the importance of conducting such training activities, thus imposing mandatory participation. With regard to older workers, there was resistance to their participation in training sessions. We realize that the work undertaken by the workers seems not to be considered in the design of training and in the remaining phases of the training cycle.

Date of Award	Dec 2011
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	António Fonseca (Supervisor) & Joana Fernandes (Co-Supervisor)