Version 5.1.0

doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC6:5.1.0

The information on this site refers to version 5.1.0. Information on the latest version you get here.

Date of Release

2015-07-16

Principal Investigator

Hans-Günther Roßbach, Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories, Bamberg (Germany)

Citation

If you publish with NEPS data, it is mandatory to quote the following reference:

Blossfeld, H.-P., Roßbach, H.-G., & von Maurice, J. (Eds.). (2011). Education as a lifelong process: The German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) [Special Issue]. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 14. (Full text)

In addition, publications using data from this release must include the following acknowledgement:

This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort 6 – Adults, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC6:5.1.0. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data were collected as part of the Framework Programme for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, the NEPS survey is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network.

Click here for the German citation.

Summary

Within this partial study conducted by the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), data on courses of education and occupation as well as on competence acquisition across adult life courses are collected. In order to be able to study adult education, the entire spectrum of educational activities and learning processes (formal, non-formal, and informal), decisions resulting in their participation, and the previous life course of the interviewees (especially the course of education and occupation, regional mobility, relationships, and children) are recorded in detail. Similar to the lack of knowledge concerning adult education in Germany, there is very little information on competences and their changes after school. This is why this partial study collects data on competences in reading, mathematics, sciences, and ICT as well as on non-cognitive skills (such as personality, motivation and social skills).
The data should enable researchers to

• trace the acquisition of education across the adultlife course, and to follow the courses of further education and occupation of younger cohorts after their job entry;
• study why individuals decide to participate or not to participate in formal or non-formal learning activities after initial vocational training;
• describe the competences of different groups of adults in Germany and to explain competence development in adult life as well as the importance of the employment situation in this context;
• analyze the impact of specific educational contexts in adult life, especially of the employment situation and family constellation, on educational choices and participation in further training;
• estimate the returns to formal qualifications, competences and professional experience in terms of wages, occupational careers and in other areas of life, e.g., well-being or volunteer work;
• generate empirical results on competences of migrants, their resources, their participation in and returns to further training;
• identify opportunities and obstacles for learning processes and education in later adult life.

The field time of the adult survey started already in 2007, i.e. prior to the foundation of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). The adult survey 2007/08 was conducted by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) under the name of “Working and Learning in a Changing World” (ALWA). Afterwards, the data collection of the adult survey continued under the umbrella of the NEPS from November 2009 to August 2010.

Availability

Data and documents are released for academic research. This release is uniquely identified by one DOI. All data sets of this release are available in different languages (English, German), formats (Stata, SPSS), and degrees of anynomization (download, remote access, and on-site).