In the course of the demographic change the target group of older workers gains importance. The optimal use of the latter’s work potential turns out to be a long-term socio-political task in Germany (and in many other developed countries). Studies pointed out, that German companies have practised a youth focused personnel policy imprudently amplifying prejudices against older workers and thus leaving them unconsidered for further education. Against this background the possibility of aging people to start an enterprise as an alternative to an employment or a (threatening) unemployment was almost ignored. And because older people have an increased fear to fail it is often declined by themselves, too, though they possess skills and potentials which are estimated more advantageous compared with younger entrepreneurs. Therefore it makes sense to examine already well established older entrepreneurs’ experiences and conceive their way into entrepreneurship as a learning process which refers to the acquirement of specific competences. The based definition of learning doesn’t mean just the reception of information but the acquirement and enhancement of cognition. Such dispositions of self-organization can be characterised as competences. Particularly certain competences of self-organization are in the focus here. Thus I intend to study experiences, problems and subjective estimates regarding helpful and missing competences and abilities, as well as the process of competence acquisition before and during the entrepreneurial process. The following questions will be guiding this study: - Which competences are presumed to be entrepreneurial competences? - How, when and where do older entrepreneurs acquire those competences, which lead their competent acting? - Which competences do elderly bring along and which do they acquire during the working or learning process? - How is the acquiring process (as a learning process) constituted? Do older people use specific learning-strategies (self-directed learning, informal learning, institutional learning), which are important to master a start-up process successfully? - Is there a connection between biographic incidences and the acquisition of relevant competences? Overall it is essential to analyse the way into entrepreneurship of older people, who are successful. Thereby the process of learning and the acquirement of competences are focal for me: Which competences are decisive for the success and how, where and when were they acquired? By studying consistencies and differences within the acquirement and utilisation of competences I hope to identify correlations between learning biographies and current samples of accomplishment or by current ways of learning. Hence pedagogical conclusions both, theoretical and practical nature, can be drawn. For instance in regard to learning theories, inferences on the learning behaviour and the learning efficiency of older people can be derived. Efficient educational measures and programs for (aspiring) older entrepreneurs can be outlined.

The methodical approach of the study will be qualitative based on biographic in-depth-interviews. According to the method of ‘competence biography’ of Erpenbeck/Heyse I want to expound biographic processes as a history of directed, self-directed, organised and self-organised learning processes, where the competences which constituted the entrepreneurial success, were acquired. The competences are therefore analysed in stages. First the initial competences at the date t1 are to be reconstructed, then the competence-stock at the present date t2 has to be detected and afterwards the transformation from t1 to t2 has to be explained. Because of (partially) unknown competences and strong emotional bias of the ‘competence biography’ the biographic in-dept-interviews are considered to be the appropriate method. Particularly, I want to put the research method up for discussion at the Pre-Conference.

Pedagogical conclusions both, theoretical and practical nature, can be drawn. For instance in regard to learning theories, inferences on the learning behaviour and the learning efficiency of older people can be derived. Efficient educational measures and programs for (aspiring) older entrepreneurs can be outlined.