Abstract
The notion of lifelong learning is gaining importance, not only in the labor market but also in other areas of modern societies. Previous research finds variation in occupation-related training participation by worker and workplace characteristics, gender, and education. However, evidence on the individual's socio-emotional skills creating favorable conditions for overall further training is scarce. To close this research gap, we analyze the role of personality for further training participation. First, we compare how the Big Five Personality Dimensions relate to different training types by differentiating between non-formal and informal training measures. Second, we investigate how personality traits affect further training chosen for occupational and private reasons separately. Drawing on a sample of 10,559 individuals from the Adult Stage of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we find that throughout our estimations, openness to experience positively relates to further training participation and is the most important determinant among the Big Five Personality Dimensions. However, the relationship between personality traits and training participation varies according to the training type and the reason for participating in further training. Moreover, we find gender-specific differences in the association between personality traits and lifelong learning. We conclude that personality is an important predictor of lifelong learning decisions.
Highlights
Lifelong learning is continuously gaining importance, in the labor market, and in private areas of modern societies
Using the Adult Stage of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we show that the Big Five Personality Dimensions significantly relate to further training activities, both for overall further training participation and for specific training types
We focus on the effect of the Big Five Personality Dimensions in our analyses and estimate a binary choice model of the following form: FTPit= a0+BFi a1+x′it a2 +εit where FTPit is the further training participation dummy for the different training types chosen by individual i in survey wave t
Summary
Lifelong learning is continuously gaining importance, in the labor market, and in private areas of modern societies. Lifelong learning increases in importance, as both the shortage of skilled labor and demographic change require an increasingly later retirement age, which—together with personal preferences of older persons to stay active—prolongs employment careers for older individuals (Anger et al, 2018). New technologies, and in particular digitalization, affect many areas outside of the labor market and entail a significant societal change with the requirement to continuously learn new techniques. These developments are accompanied by trends toward increasing individualization in modern societies. Individuals, especially in societies with a steadily growing life expectancy, depend on lifelong learning as a condition for social participation
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