'European education policy and lifelong learning policies in Greece: exploring the achievement of employability and mitigate social inequalities goals before and during economic crisis

The aim of this doctoral thesis is to investigate the influences of the European education policy in lifelong learning (LLL) policies in Greece and to evaluate the effectiveness of the policies of Continuing Vocational Training (CVT) in Greece, with reference to the achievement of the aims of employability and social cohesion, the emphasis being on the unemployed. The first part of the thesis attempts to review the theoretical approaches to the concepts of employability and social cohesion, which form two complementary objectives of the European Union (EU) LLL policies. The second part of the thesis critically analyses the EU policies for LLL and their impact on the policies for lifelong learning in Greece, using the concept of europeanisation as interpretative tool. The third part of the thesis examines the degree to which the aims of employability and social cohesion are achieved through the participation of the unemployed in CVT in Greece, through the data of 2007 and 2012 Adult Education Survey. The analysis and interpretation of the reforms in LLL and of the Greek governments’ policy discourse on their LLL policies, and the statistical processing of the Adult Education Survey data on the participation of the unemployed in CVT in Greece, show the strong influences of the European education policy in LLL policies in Greece and the failure of CVT policies to develop the employability of the unemployed and to ensure social cohesion.