Method: The following study was conducted within the realms of the Marsilius Kolleg’s interdisciplinary research project “Perspectives of Ageing in the Process of Social and Cultural Change” – “Center for Advanced Study” (for further information, see the Marsilius Kolleg’s project homepage: http://www.marsilius-kolleg.uni-heidelberg.de/projekte/perspectivesageing.html). The point of departure for the following contribution is a qualitative analysis based on data of the “Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study of Adult Development” (ILSE) (Schmitt/Wahl/Kruse 2008). The ILSE study was conducted by the German Center for Research on Aging at the University of Heidelberg in co-operation with the University of Leipzig and the University of Rostock. The study was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth as well as the Ministry for Science, Research and the Arts Baden-Württemberg. The ILSE is characterised by its longitudinal and cohort approach, differentiation between eastern and western Germany, inclusion of middle and advanced ages, linking of biographical perspective and current life situation, as well as interdisciplinarity. The study was qualitatively analysed on the basis of a theoretical sampling of semi-standardised interviews with the ILSE participants in order to gain information about informal learning processes, e.g. in overcoming critical life events, or to empirically reassess the interaction between different learning processes over a lifetime. In doing so, learning in different contexts – taking into account different learning potentials and learning content – and against the backdrop of the relevant educational biography was qualitatively evaluated. The study took the form of a content analysis evaluation of the data material according to a category system – along the lines of the “Adult Education Survey” (European Commission EUROSTAT 2005; European Commission EUROSTAT 2007). Further, a connection is made between the ILSE findings on educational behaviour and the results of a discourse analysis of flexibilisation and democratisation processes in the workplace, which illuminate the accompanying skills requirements: here the extent to which an increasing flexibilisation in the workplace can be identified was examined. This question is the point of departure for a secondary analysis of publications from eight renowned industry magazines in the area of Human Resources / Personal Development. Specialist discourses from 2000-2015 on the subject of flexibilisation and democratisation processes in the workplace were observed. The intention behind the study is to create transparency within the discourse – both regarding the terminology used and the thematic emphasis over time.

Results: It is possible to identify a change in the educational settings over a lifetime, which is characterised by an increase in learning in informal settings at (advanced) adult age. In particular, such skills as the development of the ability to reflect, of critical distance and of dimensions of responsibility were primarily acquired in informal learning contexts. A higher significance can be ascribed to these skills due to increasing demands placed on the individual with regards to self-organisation. Against the backdrop of increasing flexibilisation and democratisation in the workplace, a high degree of participation, self-organisation and responsibility as well as an increasing “learning competency” appear to be required as a prerequisite for employment. But for the so-called “unaccustomed learners” it is much more difficult to assume the role of one’s own “career planner”. The study produces indicators regarding the development of informal educational activities beyond adult age and clarifies what learning opportunities (above and beyond direct crisis management), learning impulses as well as modes of learning, e.g. twists and turns or transitions in the career, can offer. The results regarding informal learning activities should, with regards to a needs-oriented approach, act as a bridge between institutional (further-) education offerings and low-threshold, scouting offerings and structures in an informal context. Conclusion: In the context of changing work and business organisation, including the move away from standardised working conditions to non-standardised career paths, these changes increase the requirements of working people and companies. For individuals, this means that they are increasingly faced with the challenge of taking individual responsibility for tailoring their career paths to their own needs. The said requirement, namely taking responsibility for shaping one’s own life-long learning in order to retain employability in contexts where learning is organised by others, requires competencies that cannot be assumed to be present.