Adult Education Survey (AES 2022 - Germany)

The study on continuing education behavior in Germany was conducted by Verian (until November 2023: Kantar Public) on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The German Adult Education Survey 2022 (AES 2022) is part of the EU-AES 2022. Based on survey-based information on participation in adult education, the research project provides information for educational monitoring and for the scientific community.
In the survey period 12.07.2022 to 20.03. 2023, the German resident population aged 18 to 69 was surveyed in personal interviews (CAPI) and online interviews (CAWI) on the following topics job-related information, professional situation currently and in the last 12 months, origin (migration background); educational background, participation in formal education (FED) and non-formal further education (NFE) activities in the last 12 months, follow-up questions on NFE activities, (further) education barriers and needs, transparency and advice, informal learning (INF), digitalization and internet use, self-assessment of foreign language skills and health issues. The respondents were selected using a multi-stage random sample from population registers.<br>1. General statistical and regional data
2. Sex, age
3. Household composition
4. Occupational information
4.1 Occupational situation (current and last 12 months)
4.2 Occupational information (current)
5. Origin of the target person (migration background part 1)
6. Origin (migration background part 2) and education of parents
7. Educational background
8. Participation in formal education in the last 12 months (FED): inquiries
9. Participation in non-formal further education activities in the last 12 months (NFE)
10. Inquiries about NFE activities
11. (Further) education barriers and needs
12. Transparency and guidance
13 Informal learning (INF)
14. Additional questions on digitalization and internet use
15. Self-assessment of own foreign language skills
16. Net household income
17. Health issues

1. Occupational information: employment status; employment status summarized; currently employed; employment status on parental leave; receipt of unemployment benefit; type of unemployment benefit; full-time or part-time employment; type of internship; uninterrupted employment situation since: year and month; paid part-time employment; previous employment; year and month of last employment; year of last employment (grouped); previous employment ended in the reference period (e.g. in the month of the survey); company training or paid internship in the last 12 months; reason for internship (company training or paid internship in the last 12 months); reason for internship (company training or paid internship in the last 12 months). e.g. in the month of the survey); company training or paid internship in the last 12 months; reason for the internship (as part of company training, as part of a course of study, as part of other education or vocational training or for another reason).

2. Characteristics of the main occupational activity: employment in the last 12 months; weekly working hours; full-time/part-time activity; occupational activity stated (ISCO08); type of education or training required for this occupational activity; activity corresponds to the occupation learned; occupational status (grouped); employee subject to social security contributions or dependent employee; position blue-collar or white-collar employee; career group; group self-employed; employment of permanent employees; number of employees; family members helping out: work with or without pay; sector of the establishment in which the current activity is carried out dependent employees; position worker, employee; career group; group of self-employed persons; employment of permanent employees; number of employees; contributing family members: work with or without pay; industry of the establishment of the current activity; type of establishment; public service; economic sector; number of employees in the establishment; less than 10 or more than 10 persons working in the establishment; establishment size class (aggregated); number of employees; establishment is part of a larger enterprise; number of employees in the total enterprise; date (month and year) of employment start with current or with the last employer; start of employment with the current employer in the reference period; fixed-term or permanent employment contract; frequency of various job requirements; unemployment in the last year; duration of unemployment in months; attitude towards own school time (enjoyment of school lessons, felt bad, liked going to school longer, found learning difficult, achieved desired school-leaving qualification, fear of teachers, learned a lot of interesting things, skipped class more often, repeated class).

3. Educational background: attendance of regular educational programs

a) School education: type of school attended; no school attended; grade level attended at present or when leaving school; school-leaving qualification sought; school completed with qualification or left without qualification; type of school-leaving qualification; school attendance in Germany or abroad: grade level when leaving school; foreign school completed with qualification or left without qualification; successful recognition of foreign school-leaving qualification in Germany; date (year and month) of leaving school; school completed within the last 12 months with or without qualification; grade level attended when leaving school; grade level currently attended at this school; intended school-leaving qualification; completed school with or without a qualification; type of school-leaving qualification.

b) Vocational educational background: Type of vocational training and higher education (vocational preparation year (BVJ); apprenticeship or vocational internship, basic vocational training year (BGJ), vocational school, apprenticeship with vocational school (dual system), preparatory service for civil servants in the intermediate civil service, vocational school, school for health and social professions, training center or School for educators, technical school in the GDR, technical academy (Bavaria), advanced training as a master craftsman or technician, business administrator/specialist, technical school or technical academy, studies at a vocational academy, studies at an administrative college, studies at a vocational academy, at an administrative college, at a university of applied sciences), studies at a university, doctorate, other course of education (open), no vocational training or higher education); course completed or currently in progress; education or training completed in full; date of completion (year and month); activity completed within the last 12 months; course completed with or without a degree within the last 12 months; more than one course started; previous education or training: previous education or training completed with or without a degree; date of completion of training (year and month); activity completed within the last 12 months; educational course completed with or without a qualification within the last 12 months; educational course completed or current participation; education or training completed in full or completed prematurely; qualification obtained in Germany or abroad; successful recognition of this qualification obtained abroad in Germany; educational institution (open entry); previous vocational training course: Educational institution (open entry); currently in a course of education; completed at least one course of education, completed at least one course of education without a qualification; highest school-leaving qualification; highest vocational qualification; ISCED level 2011; type of course of education; course of education: currently/ completion/ discontinuation; end of course of education (month and year); result of educational attendance.

4. Participation in formal education (FED) in the last 12 months: Inquiries
Number of regular education courses (FED) attended in the last 12 months; one or more education courses; continuously in school, vocational or academic education; year and month in which FED was completed; currently attending the education course; auxiliary variable: Destination of the educational pathway (currently, completed, dropped out); FED educational pathway (ISCED Fields 2013, ISCED Fields 5-26 Basic Categories and Learning Fields); year and month of starting the educational pathway; employment status before starting the educational pathway; initial education or further education phase; part of initial education/second chance; academic FED; reasons for participating in the educational pathway; most important point for participating in the educational pathway; Duration of the educational program; duration of the educational program including vacations in months; how many months fell into the period of the last 12 months (total, converted into weeks, weeks corrected); absences due to vacations, vacation, illness or other reasons in the last 12 months; review of learning time in the last 12 months; number of FED weeks; weekly teaching hours or training time in the educational program; volume of FED in hours; educational program entirely or partly during paid working hours or leave of absence; educational program takes place entirely, predominantly or only to a small extent during paid working hours; self-funded costs as part of the educational program; costs covered by (future) employer, employment office, another public or private institution, parents, partner, other family members, friends, tax office or other; no cost coverage); frequency of Internet use for materials and documents, for exchange with teachers or with other participants); educational program took place purely online on the Internet, predominantly online on the Internet, predominantly or completely in an on-site event; formal educational activity with digital media; online educational activity simultaneously with others or with a time delay; satisfaction with the educational program; frequency of use of the knowledge and skills acquired through the educational program; benefits of the educational program (e.g. to find a job, etc.); greatest benefit of the educational program.

5. Participation in non-formal education activities in the last 12 months (NFE: non-formal education):
Participation in courses or training in the last 12 months; subject of courses or training (ISCED Fields 2013, ISCED Fields 5-26 basic categories, ISCED Fields 5-26 learning fields); number of activities mentioned; participation in short-term education and training events; Subject of these short-term education and training events (ISCED Fields 2013, ISCED Fields 5-26 basic categories, ISCED Fields 5-26 learning fields); number of activities mentioned; participation in workplace training; participation in private lessons in leisure time; subject of private lessons (ISCED Fields 2013, ISCED Fields 5-26 basic categories, ISCED Fields 5-26 learning fields); number of activities mentioned.

6. Follow-up questions on NFE activities: Name of the NFE activities mentioned; activity still ongoing; duration of the activity in total; time spent on the activity (number of days, weeks, months, months converted into weeks and hours); employment status when the activity took place; activity completed or completed before the end; educational activity during paid working hours or paid time off for educational purposes; proportion for activity during working hours or paid time off; reason for taking time off for educational purposes; participation for professional or private reasons; reason for participation (initiator: e.g. on company order, at the suggestion of the supervisor, etc.); important points for participation; most important point for participation; digitalization as reason for course participation). (e.g. on company order, at the suggestion of the superior, etc.); important points for participation; most important point for participation; digitalization as a reason for course participation (acquiring knowledge and skills required due to increasing digitalization in the context of the job, learning how to obtain information on the Internet, learning how to use a specific digital technology, learning more about social, ethical or legal aspects of digitalization); organizer or client of the activity (e.g. employer, other company, employment agency, NFE activity self-organized or commissioned, etc.); institution or person who offered and carried out the activity; receipt of a certificate or attestation and type of certificate or attestation; certificate or attestation required by law from the employer for certain activities; costs of activity borne by the participant him/herself; costs of continuing education covered by the employer, the employment office, another public institution, use of the education premium, use of regional education vouchers, parents, partner or family, tax office, other, none of the above: no costs were incurred; type of continuing education: Participation in in-company continuing education, in individual job-related continuing education or in non-job-related continuing education; amount of privately financed costs; frequency of internet use for materials or documents for continuing education activity; frequency of internet use for exchanges with teachers or other participants; non-formal continuing education activity with digital media; participants in educational activity with digital media (FED/NFE); online part takes place simultaneously with the person teaching and other participants; educational activity takes place purely online/ predominantly online on the internet vs. predominantly/completely in an on-site event; overall satisfaction with the continuing education; most important skill learned through the continuing education activity; assessment of the overall benefit of the knowledge gained from the continuing education; concrete benefit of the continuing education (e.g. was it worthwhile to find a job or a new job) (e.g. was it worthwhile in order to find a job or a new job); point where further training was most worthwhile; expected future benefit of the knowledge gained from further training; reasons for discontinuing further training; attitude towards further training (if you want to be successful in your career, you have to improve your knowledge, further training can help you to cope better in everyday life, learning new things is fun, learning gives you self-confidence); Desire to participate in further training activities; need for further training despite non-participation; interviewee would have liked to participate in further training activities; need for further training despite non-participation; reasons for non-participation (e.g. participation requirements were not met); reasons for non-participation (e.g. participation requirements not met, too expensive, no support from employer, no state support, COVID-19, no time due to work commitments, family commitments, long distance to provider, no suitable offers, school learning methods, health, fear of COVID-19 infection, age, lack of advice, lack of computer or internet access, offer fully booked, offer did not take place, other personal reasons, none of the above); most important reason for non-participation; financial reason: Probable participation with cost subsidy; good overview of education and training opportunities; search for information on education and training opportunities; information found; desire for more information and advice; receipt of professional advice on education and training opportunities; determination of personal education or training needs; advice or support on formal recognition of skills acquired outside the education system; visited institution offering advice (educational institution, further education institution, employment agency, job center, ARGE, current or future employer or company, information hotline for further education advice, other institution, none of the above); type of advice (advice from a person or without human/personal contact, none of the above); satisfaction with the advice center, with the outcome of the advice, with the competence of the advisor, and with the advice overall; benefit of the advice in school grades; selected an educational event on the basis of advice, registered for an educational event, already participated in an educational activity, none of the above.

7. Informal learning (INF) or self-learning in the last 12 months: Participation in informal learning; learning pathway (learning from family, friends or colleagues, reading books or journals, using educational resources on computer or internet (on- or offline), knowledge programs in other media, guided tours of museums or historical sites, visits to libraries or open learning centers, none of the above); asked for up to two learning activities: Topic of informal learning activity (ISCED Fields 2013; ISCED Fields 5-26 basic categories; ISCED Fields 5-26 learning fields); main way of learning; motivation for self-learning (professional or private reasons); timing of informal learning (during working hours or during leisure time; frequency of Internet use in the last three months; frequency of Internet use for different purposes (to retrieve information at short notice, to learn, for example, to find out news); Internet access in the household.

8. Self-assessment of own foreign language skills: other language skills, German as a foreign or native language; other language skills (first foreign language, best spoken other language, second foreign language; second best spoken foreign language, etc.); assessment of other language skills (best spoken, second best spoken, language 3).

9. Health: subjective state of health; restrictions due to state of health; restriction for more than half a year.

Demography: Sex; age (year of birth, month of birth, birthday, age open and grouped); household type; living with a partner; age of partner (grouped); children; total number of children; number and age (grouped) of children in household; children under 5 in household; children from 5 to 13 in household; other persons in household; number and age group of other persons in household (household composition); household size (open, grouped); number of persons in the household under 18 years and from 18 to 69 years, from 18 to 64 years and from 25 to 64 years; first language learned in childhood (mother tongue); German nationality; migration background; non-German nationality; born in Germany; non-German country of birth; country of birth; lived abroad for at least one year; years in Germany; age when moving to (returning to) Germany; net household income (grouped); satisfaction with household income.

Parents´ origin and education (migration background): Country of birth Germany; non-German country of birth of parents; German citizenship; acquisition of German citizenship; migration background generations 1 and 2; parents´ highest school-leaving qualification; parents´ vocational training, university or university of applied sciences degree.

Additionally coded: ID (respondent, informal learning activities, courses); survey mode; interview date (day; month and year); 12 months before survey month and survey year; region west-east; regions direction; location size (BIK structure type of municipality); political municipality size class; Nielsen areas; degree of urbanization; Weighting factors and extrapolation factors; filter variable persons currently working in any occupation; number of employees in the company (locsizefirm for EU); current country of birth of father and mother; coding according to ISED Fields 2013; ISCED Fields 5-26 basic categories; ISCED Fields 5-26 learning fields; detailed information is available in school loops/vocational loops; participation in private lessons, participation in continuing education events, participation in continuing education in the last 12 months; FED/NFE participation in the last 12 months; matrix of NFE activities; activities used for inquiries in loop x; selected activity (course); auxiliary variables (e.g. Number of NFE activities); demand block; NFE follow-up loop; total activities mentioned; total courses in demand loops 1-12; segments of continuing education; type of continuing education; NFE loop (ISCED fields 2013); coding according to ISCED fields 2013; ISCED fields 5-26 basic categories; ISCED fields 5-26 learning fields; NFE hours (imputed); scientific NFE; FED and NFE: Scientific NFE; NFE providers grouped; Frequency of internet use for exchange with teachers and/or participants (mean value); selected activity; participation an FED, NFE or INF in the last 12 months.