The promotion of further education has become an integral part of European and national policies in order to face the challenges of an aging society, the consequences of globalization and technological developments in a competitive world market.

Against this background, the observation of adult’s participation in educational institutions or in learning activities has become an essential instrument of evidence based educational policy in most of the European member states. In connection with the concept of 'lifelong learning' the interest in information on adult learning participation in national perspective and international comparison increased within the last few years.

Especially quantitative information is required in order to gain knowledge about participation patterns, monitor developments in this dynamic field of education and to explain positive and negative influencing factors on participation in further education.

Quantitative research in further education is an upcoming field of research. Studies in the field are rather rare and hardly connected, especially on the international level. Furthermore, differences in the respective national data sources foster problems of comparability. Data sources for examining aspects of further education are often limited for in-depth educational research. Those data sets which are available primarily promote research questions led by a sociological or an economical perspective. Therefore, educational research projects using those data sets, often have a sociological focus.

However, recent developments point towards an improvement in data sources on further education, which will enhance an educational research focus, i.e. the implementation of the Adult Education Survey (AES) or the upcoming Program of International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).

Regardless of varying focuses and different data sources, certain aspects are highly topical in latest research: What influences the participation of adults in further education? Taking into account social background, demographic and workplace variables - can typical participation patterns be identified? What are the implications of further education and is there a measureable outcome?

The symposium aims on promoting an interdisciplinary and international perspective regarding quantitative research in further education.

The range of the topics might include the following issues:

• implications of demographic and technical developments
• migration and social inclusion
• discussion on national and international definitions and concepts of further education and their implications for international comparability and data assessment
• data quality and empirical analysis/research methods

In the discussion we hope to find out about differences and communalities in the respective research approaches. In doing so the scope of knowledge concerning issues of research in further education can be extended – with emphasizes on the international comparative perspective.