Factors influencing global citizenship competencies: A structural equation model of adult learners in Taiwan

Compared to formal education, adult education is one of the most crucial systems for social education and lifelong learning. This paper examines learners' global citizenship competencies and analyzes the influence of demographic variables. Moreover, this article employs structural equation modeling by developing a survey instrument to measure global citizenship competence. The researchers sampled learners from community colleges in Taiwan, distributing 1,400 paper questionnaires, and receiving 1,280 responses. Research findings are: (1) Adult learners' performance in global citizenship competencies is uneven. Participation in multiculturalism, economic phenomena, and political organizations needs to be more advanced. (2) Adult learners' global citizenship competencies were significantly affected by demographic variables such as educational attainment, occupation, monthly personal income, and in an urban or rural area. (3) Results showed that the structural equation modeling is appropriate and has good explanatory power. Implications and suggestions are given at the end.