Life is a long song – toward a dynamic participation approach of job-related training in Germany

This article examines participation in job-related training through an intersectional life course perspective to illuminate how lifelong learning opportunities are differentially structured across social groups. In line with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4, it employs sequence and cluster analyses of life course trajectories to trace how education, age, and gender jointly shape accumulations of advantage and disadvantage in training participation. Using data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS, cohort SC6), a dynamic participation approach is developed that captures intersectional inequalities and shifting socioeconomic conditions. The analysis identifies six distinct (non-)participation clusters: participants are predominantly highly educated women during employment gaps and the medium educated, whereas highly educated employees remain non-participants. Lower educated individuals value training but not formal education, while the highly educated display the reverse pattern. The resulting life course typologies demonstrate how intersecting social positions structure participation, informing policies that aim to promote more equitable lifelong learning.