Introduction

Abstract

Klaus J. Jacobs was absolutely right when he proclaimed that everyone should have the right to a good education, independent of his age, social background, and gender. In contrast, reality is different and participation in learning is still dependent on class origin and, later in the life course, on age. Although class inequalities in primary and secondary education have been declining over the past decades, inequality in the transition to universities has remained relatively unchanged. Same holds true for participation in further training: the German further training system is highly segmented and not everyone has the same access to lifelong learning. For many employees further training is still a “Fremde Bildungswelt” (Bolder and Hedrich 2000). Older employees are less likely to participate in further training than their younger colleagues, and lower skilled employees normally show poor training participation, whereas their higher educated colleagues participate more regularly in training. However, in the near future further training will become even more important. It helps to maintain one’s own employability and thus avoid unemployment, and from the firms’ perspective, investments in further training can strengthen productivity and make the company more competitive.