Weiterbildungsbeteiligung und Weiterbildungshürden bei Arbeitsuchenden und Erwerbstätigen

"Despite the great importance of further training in the modern world of work, not all individuals participate in training equally. Our article provides an insight into the structures of training participation and attempts to identify possible barriers. To this end, we present results from the adult study of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS-SC6) and look at informal learning activities, e.g. reading of specialized literature, as well as non-formal, course-based further training. In our analyses, we differentiate between employed persons and job seekers. Our analyses initially show that participation in further training is closely linked to qualification and age. Higher-qualified persons – neither employed or job seekers – as well as middle-aged people participate more frequently in non-formal further training than lower-qualified and younger or older people. With regard to participation in informal learning activities, however, we only find a correlation for the qualification level, but not for age. There are also differences between non-formal and informal training in terms of gender: Women (job seekers and employed) are more likely to participate in non-formal further training, whereas men are more likely to participate in informal training. In terms of competencies, our analyses show that employees with higher competencies in the areas of reading, math and information and communication technology (ICT) participate more frequently in non-formal and informal training. For the group of job seekers, such a pattern only emerges for informal, but not for non-formal further training. In addition to factors such as qualification, age, gender and competencies, we also consider other characteristics that may represent barriers to participation in further training. We find that participation in further training is closely linked to the individual health status. Poor health appears to be a barrier to participation in further training, particularly in the group of job seekers. In addition, individual expectations of the benefits and costs of further training affect training participation. Hardly surprising, participation in further training is higher when the expected benefits are high and costs are low. According to our analyses, information about further training opportunities also plays an important role. Especially job seekers often feel poorly informed about further training opportunities. The less information there is, the lower the level of participation in further training – both among the employed and the job seekers. Finally, the training motivation is also important for participation, but our study shows that not all people with plans for further training are actually able to implement them. Overall, our analyses indicate that participation in further training is linked to a variety of factors that should be considered when thinking about how to increase training participation. Potential measures to increase training participation include the expansion of advisory and information activities or the provision of digital forms of learning, which could better meet the specific needs of some individuals." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))