Abstract:

Technological and global developments in economy and labor market, mainly digitization, lead to new qualification requirements due to an increasing amount of knowledge intensive work-places. With respect to these developments, participation in further education is a central key factor for economic growth and societal welfare as well as individual development. Data on further education, however, show that not everybody participates and that different social groups participate to different degrees. Additionally, new challenges are emerging in work-related learning with digital media. There has been a strong increase in online offerings for further vocational training since the coronavirus pandemic. It is assumed that the relevance of online activities will continue to increase in the future (due to time and cost constraints, a better integration of the continuous further training of employees into the work processes, to changes in work organization resulting from mobile working or because the individuals themselves want to keep pace with technical developments). In Germany, approximately one quarter of the working population (adults aged between 25 and 64) use the internet for online learning activities. This is in line with the OECD average, but is significantly lower than in European countries such as Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden, which achieve participation rates of substantially more than 40%. Looking at socio-demographic characteristics, people with a lower level of education are significantly less likely to use the internet for learning activities. People with a high level of education (21%), for example, are twice as likely to take part in online courses as people with a medium level of education (11%).

Most studies that analyze the use of the internet and other types of learning with digital media try to explain the participation rate with the socio-demographic context and neglect the influence of the working environment. We assume that the digitalization of the workplace and the integration of digital media into the learning culture of the company also represent explanatory variables to digital learning activities, additionally to individual resources. In our study with approximately 2.600 employees and a representative sample over branches, we asked the participants how often they use the internet and digital media at the workplace for work-integrated learning. In our paper we will present results of a regression analysis showing the influence of factors on the individual level, personal factors (e.g., gender, age, children in need of care) and education related characteristics (highest educational and occupational degree) as well as factors on the institutional level (e.g., opportunities for using digital media at the workplace) and company related factors (e.g., company size, learning culture, innovation climate).

Initial findings point in particular to significant, positive influences of the institutional level (e.g., opportunities to use digital media in the workplace) and company-related factors (e.g., company size, learning culture, climate of innovation) on participation in further education. The results are discussed with regard to the conditions for the success of further education, particularly in the context of creating favorable company conditions.

Keywords:

Lifelong learning, continuous learning, workplace learning, e-learning.