A new concept of adulthood through organisational well-being and quality of professional life

Abstract

What does adult education have to do with the issue of organisational well-being? Is this the exclusive preserve of occupational psychologists and sociologists? This contribution highlights how, contrary to popular belief, organisational well-being deserves pedagogical attention because it is useful to form adults who overcome their self-referential logic and develop a sense of society. This allows us to reconsider that adult education can play an important role in the sciences of management and organisation if time and space are made available for the creation of a culture of good jobs and good living. In fact, countless opportunities are envisaged to improve the quality of working lives, widening choices, bridging the gender gap and remedying inequalities. In this way, governments, workers, employers and educational institutions can have complementary responsibilities in the construction of an effective lifelong learning ecosystem that creates “happy” adults and workers and ultimately democratic societies (ILO, 2019).