What Influences Participation in Non-formal and Informal Modes of Continuous Vocational Education and Training? An Analysis of Individual and Institutional Influencing Factors

Abstract

Participation in further education is a central success factor for economic growth and societal as well as individual development. This is especially true today because in most industrialized countries, labor markets and work processes are changing rapidly. Data on further education, however, show that not everybody participates and that different social groups participate to different degrees. Activities in continuous vocational education and training (CVET) are mainly differentiated as formal, non-formal and informal CVET, whereby further differences between offers of non-formal and informal CVET 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 both forms of CVET, namely, non-formal and informal. To learn more about the reasons for participation, we focus on the individual perspective of employees (invidual factors, job-related factors, and learning biography) and additionally integrate institutional characteristics (workplace and company-based characteristics). The results mainly show that non-formal CVET is still strongly influenced by institutional settings. In the case of informal CVET, on the other hand, the learning biography plays a central role.

On the Effect of Employer Offered Leave of Work on Participation in Continuing Vocational Education and Training – Investigating the Intention-Behavior Relation

“…Second, the results displayed in Table 2 reveal that support for CVET by the employer significantly increases the conditional odds of CVET participation between-individual. The results support current evidence on the importance of organizational support for CVET (e.g., Hurtz and Williams, 2009;Kaufmann and Widany, 2013;Lischewski et al, 2020). Based on the results, financing or providing classes or training courses as well as offering financial support increase the conditional odds by, respectively, 73,68% (financing; p < 0.01) and 35,73% (offered financial support; p < 0.05).…”

“…Following Lischewski et al (2020), we can make four overall differentiations in defining CVET. (1) Purpose: In comparison to private educational activities, CVET entails any activity with a vocational and work reference.…”

“…However, such surveys are characterized by a "conceptual diversity of CVET" (Lischewski et al, 2020, p. 3), therewith giving a "scattered impression" (Kyndt and Baert, 2013, p. 307) of CVET participation. However, research has identified patterns of CVET participation (e.g., Grund and Martin, 2012;Becker, 2019;BMBF, 2019;Lischewski et al, 2020). To explain such patterns, scholars build on different theoretical approaches.…”

“…However, despite the large body of theoretical approaches and empirical findings, one can identify a standard model of determinants in current research: On the individual level, determinants can be broadly classified as socio-demographic, -economic and -cultural factors on one side and psychological factors on the other (Boeren et al, 2010). Key characteristics that contribute to CVET are the individuals' employment and occupational status, age, gender, level of formal educational attainment, wage, migration background, household characteristics such as marital status, family responsibilities or household income (Lischewski et al, 2020). In addition, scholars investigated a multitude of psychological characteristics including attitude and motivation (e.g., Hurtz and Williams, 2009), intentions (e.g., Kyndt et al, 2011), or personality traits (e.g., Ruhose et al, 2020).…”

“…CVET is expected to enable economic and social benefits for the society, economy, and individuals, such as safeguarding the labor force, enhancing the economic efficiency and productivity, contributing to the sustainable employability of adults and their social capital as well as opening individual career moves and improving career opportunities (e.g., Barrett and O'Connell, 2001;de Grip and Sauermann, 2013;CEDEFOP, 2015;Ruhose et al, 2020). However, despite significant monetary and non-monetary outcomes, research highlights that opportunities and resources in accessing CVET are unequally distributed depending on characteristics of the individual, the company-side, and the policy context (e.g., Saar and Räis, 2017;Lischewski et al, 2020). In addition, the availability of opportunities does not guarantee participation (Fleuren et al, 2020).…”