Individual and Institutional Influences on Participation in Nonformal and Informal Continuous Vocational Education and Training

• In Event: Technical Education in the Workplace

Abstract

Participation in continuous vocational education and training (CVET) is a central success factor for economic growth and societal and individual development. Data on further education, however, show that different social groups participate to different degrees. Activities in CVET are mainly differentiated as formal, non-formal and informal, whereby further differences between offers of non-formal and informal are seldom elaborated. Furthermore, reasons for participation or non-participation are often neglected. In this study, we therefore analyze and compare predictors for participation in non-formal and informal CVET. We focus on the individual perspective of employees and additionally integrate institutional characteristics. Results show that non-formal CVET is still strongly influenced by institutional settings, for informal CVET, the learning biography plays a central role.

Authors

• Eveline Wuttke, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University

• Susan Seeber, University of Goettingen