Effects of the Corona pandemic on job-related learning in adult life

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Corinna Kleinert
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research ; Education Systems and Educational Institutions
• Term: from 2021 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 470251989

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

The project aimed at examining the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on adults’ participation in nonformal and informal education for job-related reasons (AET) in Germany. Three research questions guided the project: (1) How has the pandemic affected the participation of adults in different forms of AET? (2) How have opportunities and barriers due to pandemic-related changes in work and everyday life contributed to explaining changes in participation? (3) How has the pandemic affected social inequalities in AET? Based on data of the adult cohort of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS-SC6), the project identified differentiated and complex changes in AET development over the course of the pandemic. Overall, AET participation decreased but did not completely collapse, which was likely related to many employees’ need to upgrade their skills, especially at the beginning of the pandemic, and to the sudden increase in digital education formats. In the longer run, declines in AET participation were stronger among groups that participated more before the pandemic, that is, among highly educated workers and employees in high-skilled jobs. Furthermore, against theoretical expectations, we could not confirm that these declines were stronger among women and mothers. In sum, the project’s results do not suggest an increase in social inequalities in adult education in the first two years of the pandemic. Future research must show whether this is a stable change or a temporary outcome of the crisis.

Publications

• Wer bildet sich in Pandemiezeiten beruflich weiter? Veränderungen in der Nutzung digitaler Lernangebote während der Corona-Krise. NEPS Corona & Bildung 7. Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsverläufe
  Kleinert, C., Vicari, B., Zoch, G. & Ehlert, M.
  
• Work-related online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Zeitschrift für Weiterbildungsforschung, 44(3), 197-214.
  Kleinert, Corinna; Zoch, Gundula; Vicari, Basha & Ehlert, Martin
  
• Editorial: Consequences of the Corona crisis for social inequalities in Germany. Soziale Welt, 74(1), 3-13.
  Kleinert, Corinna & Gebel, Michael
  
• Polarisierung oder Verringerung ungleicher Teilnahmechancen? Auswirkungen der COVID-19-Pandemie auf das berufliche Lernen im Erwachsenenalter. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 26(2), 495-524.
  Kleinert, Corinna & Zoch, Gundula