The secondary analytical project “Effects of the Corona Pandemic on Adult Learning” investigates how the pandemic and the numerous changes it brought about have affected participation in various forms of adult education and training (AET), which learning barriers and opportunities the crisis has brought, and how patterns of social inequality in AET have changed as a result. As AET will be a key component in mitigating pandemic-induced disruptions in the labor market, a prompt response to these questions is important to derive targeted educational strategies. The project is funded within the focus funding program “Education and Corona: Effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Educational Processes across the Lifespan” by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The focus funding program enables the addressing of particularly pressing scientific questions. It aims to analyze pandemic-induced influences on people’s educational pathways and consider the long-term implications for societal developments (e.g., social inequality). The funded one-year evaluation projects therefore focus on longitudinal studies.
The effects of technology diffusion and narratives on firms and workers
This research project explores the diffusion and perception of digital technologies in the German labor market. We measure diffusion via information conveyed in online job vacancies and perception via media reports. Concentrating on emerging digital technologies, we stress both, their potentials, such as wage and employment growth, and pitfalls, such as inequality and biased narratives. Our analyses rely on novel text data, which we partially construct ourselves, and modern Machine Learning and NLP methods to analyze textual data. By combining our text data with survey and administrative information, we are able to shed light on the impact of digitalization on Germany’s labor market outcomes and educational decisions from different perspectives.
Evaluation of Active Labor Market Programs for the Integration of Refugees – Follow-up project
The follow-up study builds on an extensive evaluation study completed in 2021, which examined and assessed the implementation, utilization, effectiveness and efficiency of labor market-oriented integration measures for refugees. The goal of the follow-up project is to extend the quantitative analyses conducted in the main project to a longer observation period in order to capture longer-term effects of the measures studied on the labor market integration of refugees or to assess the sustainability of the measured short-term effects. Within the consortium, RWI is particularly involved in the evaluation of training programs.
Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB)
The Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) investigates the causes and consequences of demographic change.In an advisory capacity, the BiB is in contact with the federal government and federal ministries and advises them on the basis of scientific research. As part of the advisory cooperation, the BiB supports the Federal Government in international cooperation on population issues within the framework of the United Nations. Informing the public about demographic change and the Institute’s research findings is another important task. The Institute was founded in 1973 and is since then is based in Wiesbaden, Hesse.
As part of the advisory cooperation, the BiB supports the Federal Government in international cooperation on population issues within the framework of the United Nations.Informing the public about demographic change and the Institute’s research findings is another central task.
The Institute is a federal departmental research institution and is part of the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Home Affairs.
Important works and tasks:
- Research: Research is a central task at the BiB. It is the basis for sound advice and information. One of its core tasks is the continuous monitoring of demographic trends. Other areas of focus include the three research areas of family and fertility, migration and mobility, and demographic change and ageing. In addition, the Education and Human Capital research group, which was newly formed in 2021, investigates the importance of education for population development in Germany. One example of this is the study “Why children from potentially disadvantaged families are less likely to attend daycare – even if they need it” which was conducted on behalf of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
- Policy advice: On the basis of the institute’s own research findings, the institute advises the federal government and federal ministries. Information, interpretation of demographic trends and the preparation of scientific expertise represent core competencies in policy advice. At the level of international cooperation within the framework of the United Nations, the BiB advises and supports the federal government on population issues.
- Information: The BiB publishes the results of its research in numerous publications. In more than 430 charts, maps and tables, the BiB regularly publishes information on demographic facts for Germany, Europe and the world.
PIAAC
PIAAC was a survey supported by the OECD that aimed to determine the competence level in international relation – similar to PISA. In contrast to PISA, PIAAC focused on the survey on adult competencies. The PIAAC survey determined basic competencies which are necessary for a successful participation in society and especially in professional life. Thus, PIAAC described the potential of human capital on which countries in global competition can draw on. The survey findings built a profound basis for possible political and social interventions. The survey was implemented simultaneously in 25 countries as a population survey. The first wave was conducted in 2011/2012. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) entrusted GESIS with the national project management in Germany. This included the planning of the national survey, the adaption of the survey instruments, the implementation of the survey, as well as the data analysis and the reporting. The national PIAAC report was published simultaneously with the international publication of results in October 2013.
ifo Education Survey
The ifo Education Survey was developed by the ifo Center for the Economics of Education as part of the project “The political economy of education policy: Insights from an opinion survey” funded by the Leibniz Association. The ifo Education Survey is based on an annual public opinion survey of over 4,000 individuals who constitute a representative sample of Germany’s adult population.
The results of the ifo Education Survey in can be found on the website of ifo Institute.
PIAAC-L
PIAAC-L was the nationwide long-term study of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) in Germany. The project was conducted by a consortium consisting of GESIS, the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) at the DIW Berlin, and LIfBi. Test takers from PIAAC in Germany and their families were re-interviewed three more times between 2014 and 2017, respectively subjected to alternative competence measures.
Research Questions
- How do individual competencies impact on the employment careers of people living in Germany?
- How are person abilities interrelated with occupational mobility?
- How are competencies distributed between individual families and between partners?
- And what does this mean for chances of upward mobility in our society?
NEPS
The German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) is a study carried out by the LIfBi. It is an interdisciplinary and multilocational network of excellence consisting of research institutes, research groups, and individual scientists. To find out more about the acquisition of education and its effects on individual life courses and to describe and analyze key educational processes and trajectories over the entire life span, this longitudinal study examines educational processes and competence development from early childhood to late adulthood. Data collected by NEPS are made available free of charge to international scientists aiming to study educational processes. Over the mid- and long-term, the design of NEPS will make an important contribution towards answering the following key questions:
- How do competencies develop over the life course?
- How do competencies influence decision-making processes at various critical transitions in educational careers (and vice versa)?
- How and to what extent are competencies influenced by learning opportunities in the family, in the peer group, and in the learning environments of kindergarten, school, higher education, vocational training, and further education?
- What competencies are decisive for obtaining educational qualifications, which for lifelong learning and which for a successful personal and social life?
Personality and Education Effects (PEB)
The project aimed to prepare a concept for the description of non-monetary return on education for the education report of the federal government on the basis of theoretical and empirical approaches. The subproject „Personality and education effects“ examined to what extent education variables predict personality changes in childhood and adolescence and whether these effects are independent of the students’ cognitive competences or whether the cognitive competences have an effect on personality beyond the influence of education. Furthermore the subproject investigated whether adults’ level of competence and (previous) participation in education determines personality pattern and changes. Additionally, interaction effects of personality and competences on outcome variables (e.g. life satisfaction) were examined. The central data sources are the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and especially the additional national longitudinal study PIAAC-L.
Follow-up study within the NEPS
Students who were in grade 9 in 2010 were interviewed since then on a regular basis within the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). After the first funding period, the NEPS-consortium excluded former students of special schools from the main sample in December 2013. Therefore, there was a need for external funding to continue with the “special school sample”.
There is a lack of data on educational trajectories and transitions of former students who graduated from special schools. However, NEPS data allowed an analysis of transitions from general school systems to either a transition or a vocational training system (after grade nine or ten). Nevertheless, it is not known if those transitions succeed or fail.
This research project continued surveys of those students on a regular basis and contributed to the following research questions:
- How do they proceed through different educational stages (after grade nine or ten)?
- Who are the ones experiencing a smooth transition from school to the vocational training system?
- Who is dropping out and who is not making use of available options at all?
- Which factors have an impact on the school-training-transition?
- Do students from special schools differ regarding their development of competences?
- Which measures support the transition to the vocational training system, which do not?
- Is in-school-guidance perceived as more helpful compared to extracurricular guidance?
- And are there differences between these students and those with similar competences from different school types?
It was expected to get profound insights into educational trajectories of former students of special schools. The dataset can be used as a German-wide reference data set to contextualize process-based data collected by the Federal Employment Agency.