Training Participation and Gender: Analyzing Individual Barriers Across Different Welfare State Regimes

Lifelong learning is becoming increasingly important in today's societies. Individuals need to develop their skills through training in order to be successfully integrated in the labor market. We use data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies to investigate gender differences in training across 12 countries. We analyze participation and perceived barriers to training for women in comparison with men and control for family structure and employment. As institutional framework, we use four different welfare state regimes to show how policies can affect the decision to participate. Our results show that different welfare regimes have an impact on the extent adults take part in training and on their perceived barriers. In all countries except Belgium and the Nordic states, men are more likely to participate in training. However, this inequality disappears once controlling for further individual characteristics. Our research provides insights why adults are deterred from engaging in training.