The Factors Influencing the Contribution of Continuing Education toward Workforces´ Professional Development and Human Capital Investment

Continuing education has become a way with which organization invests employees as human capital, and individual secures personal career and enhance professional development. Working people choose to return schools for either getting advanced degrees or enhancing their professional knowledge and skills in order to secure their jobs. With all the aspects for human capital investment in organizational and individual levels, it has been contributed by continuing education over the decades. In this study, researchers tried to explore the factors affecting the contribution of continuing education by adapting a prior empirical framework and model. Investigated participants were based on the incumbent workforces with different backgrounds, who resumed their degree studies at a college in the middle of Taiwan. 252 students were analyzed by path analysis. Predicated variables include motive for resuming degree study, reasons underlying major selection, students´ satisfaction with studies. The research results indicated that motives for resuming degree studies will increase the contribution of continuing education through two variables of reasons underlying major selection and students´ satisfaction with studies as mediators. The research result can be the reference of human resources management in practice and benefit for college program design in academics.