Adult Education, Economic Inequality, and the Limits of Human Capital Theory in Nigeria

This study provides a critical theoretical and empirical examination of the limits of human capital theory for explaining the relationship between adult education and economic inequality reduction in Nigeria, and proposes a more adequate theoretical framework that incorporates structural and political economy dimensions. Human capital theory, which posits that education investment increases individual productivity and earnings, is the dominant framework underlying adult education policy in Nigeria and international development institutions. This study challenges this framework's adequacy for understanding adult education outcomes in a structurally unequal, informally employed, and patronage-driven economy. The study uses a mixed theoretical and empirical design, combining critical theoretical analysis of human capital theory's assumptions with longitudinal panel data analysis using the General Household Survey for 2010, 2015, and 2019. Human capital returns to adult education are estimated using Mincer-type earnings equations with correction for selection bias using instrumental variable estimation. Structural inequality moderators including household wealth, geographic location, gender, and informality of employment are interacted with adult education returns. Findings reveal that human capital returns to adult education in Nigeria are highly heterogeneous and structurally conditioned, with returns close to zero for rural women in informal employment regardless of education level. Returns are concentrated among urban male formal sector workers with prior secondary education. The study proposes a Structural Opportunity Framework for adult education that situates learning returns within structural conditions. It recommends structural employment and market reforms as necessary complements to adult education investment for achieving inequality reduction goals.

Keywords: human capital theory, economic inequality, adult education, structural framework, Nigeria.