Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

Abstract

United States workers are facing a workplace in which globalization, outsourcing, accelerating technology innovation, and changing demographics demands changes in the way they keep their job skills current. As a primary representative of workers‘ interests in the workplace, unions want their members to acquire and improve the skills, knowledge, and qualifications that enhance their employability and increase autonomy and self esteem. The problem was to identify the attitudes of two Northwest Ohio UAW locals regarding participation in lifelong learning, and utilization of online learning strategies within a union environment. The study was a quantitative descriptive study that utilized cross sectional survey research design. The data collection instrument for this study consisted of a 24-item survey that was posted online as a web survey and also distributed in hard copy format to two UAW locals in Ohio. The population included a wide range of workers who were diverse in terms of race, gender, levels ofEducation and skills. A sample of n = 74 responded to questions designed to investigate attitudes of union members towards lifelong learning, union-led learning, and online learning. Independent variables were age andEducation level, and dependent variables consisted of responses to survey questions. A chi-square statistical test was performed to determine if there were any associations between responses and the independent variables. No statistical significance was found, but there was a positive response over the range of ages andEducation level demonstrating support for lifelong learning, union-led learning and online learning.

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