Being a lifelong learner rides on curiosity early in life and continuing the journey beyond formal education to a wider pursuit of knowledge. The link between age and education is growing weaker with increasing numbers are pursuing college at advanced ages, while others are joining the workforce early to gain real-world experience. A young colleague of mine holds a degree in Economics, worked her first job in Leadership Training, then moved on to Editorial for a business magazine. She did a course in French language and learned coding on the internet in her spare time and finally went on to pursue a second degree in policy making in France. She was self-driven, learned on the job, learned in her own time, expanded her interests.

Degrees are becoming less important and recently skill-training has gained prominence for employment opportunities. In some fields such as medicine, research and technologies evolve so rapidly that it becomes imperative to rely on journals, conferences, mandatory training to stay on top of the latest medical science. With technology, it’s much easier to find multiple perspectives and connections who can be mentors (via organizations like Donut) or have similar interests. We have an office Slack channel for people learning a language learning from across departments and geographies.

All major learning platforms like Coursera offer just-in-time learning on the go, at your own convenience, on any device, in a variety of formats – reading, video, podcasts, assessments, etc to see what sticks for each person like this fun guide by Liz and Mollie;

Liz and Mollie

Today learners have the ability to pursue multiple interests simultaneously and get just as much learning as they need on a topic; rather than learning to play the piano I can learn to play the one song I like on the piano via Youtube ; or get some quick tips on difficult conversations before getting into a feedback conversation.

The great part about lifelong learning is how the teacher is also a learner unlike traditional classrooms. With students often having access to the same or more information on the subject, the role of teachers has evolved and been challenged beyond lectures. Podcasts like After Hours show Harvard Business School professors getting out of the academic setup and discussing business and even culture, while getting new topics and information prompts from their listeners.

Continuing to engage in learning experiences has a positive impact on social connectivity, cognition, employability and mental health. What did you learn today?