According to the World Economic Forum, by 2025, half of the global workforce will require upskilling or reskilling to adapt to new technologies. Adult education is the cornerstone of upskilling or reskilling the workforce. This study examines the motivational factors that influence adult learners’ motivation to continue their education. A descriptive, cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire surveyed 325 adult learners from a tertiary institute in Singapore. The findings reveal that adult learners’ top three reasons for pursuing continuing education were personal development, staying current in their field, and career advancement. Factors influencing motivation at the personal, course materials/content, and institutional levels were identified among two groups of adult learners: diploma course learners and certificate course learners. Adult learners agree on all instructor behaviour factors without significant variations. Institutional-structural factors were the strongest predictors of motivation at the personal level. Recommendations for instructors and administrators on how to enhance adult learners’ motivation to continue their education are discussed.
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Nasirudeen et al. (2025) studied this question.
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