Bildungsbiographische und soziale Bedingungen des Lernens in der Nacherwerbsphase

The authors of the present article explore the question of what kinds of biographical and life phase-related aspects have an effect on older people’s interests in learning and education after they finish gainful employment and what the consequences are for adult education. To this end, they rely on data from the current research project "Competencies in Later Life" (CiLL), which is being carried out by a research association consisting of the German Institute for Adult Education and the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich. The authors describe, among others, five groups of older learners in connection with their life situations and media use. The CiLL project aims at expanding the sample for the national PIAAC survey in Germany to include adults between the ages of 65 and 80. This should help to survey competence profiles of adults beyond the normal age of employment and to discuss them against the backdrop of socio-demographic and educational science categories. For the effectiveness and efficiency of continuing education offerings for older people to increase in the future, they will have to be better suited to the target groups and be designed to motivate the learners.