Is adult education a ‘white’ business? Professionals with migrant backgrounds in Austrian adult education

Abstract

This paper is based on an applied research project, which examines the participation of migrants (first and second generation) as professionals in Austrian adult education. We present selected outcomes concerning barriers and encouraging factors in the careers of professionals with migrant background. Our main findings show the importance of the recognition of credentials, of social capital and of strategies to avoid discrimination on behalf of the institutions of adult education. Introducing the analytical perspective of critical whiteness, we conclude that Austrian adult education still has to reflect its own role in terms of white privileges. Finally we point out some approaches and strategies to widening participation and reducing discrimination in the professional field.

Keywords

• Critical whiteness; adult educators with migrant backgrounds; social capital; institutional discrimination