Determinants of Participation in Vocational Education and Training for Korean Middle-Aged Career Interrupted Women in Korea

Abstract

• The purpose of the study was to identify the determinants of participation in vocational education and training for career-interrupted women aged 40 to 64. This study used the data of Lee, Yang, Song & Kim (2020). The web survey method using the questionnaire and the self-subjective survey were conducted simultaneously for one month in February 2020. In this study, the data of 328 women who have had a job, but do not currently have a job, and yet wish to have a job, were analyzed. First, 21.6% of career interrupted women participated in vocational education and training. It was found that they received vocational education and training at 'Vocational education and training corporations' mainly for reemployment, with only 11.3 percent receiving training at the 'Women's Workforce Development Centers', one of the leading vocational education and training institutions for career-interrupted women. Second, the job before career breaks for women who participated in vocational education and training was often 'service/sales business'. Third, the participation in vocational education and training, the level of economic retirement preparation, basic job competency, and job seeking skills were different according to the individual characteristics of career-interrupted women. Forth, the higher the job-seeking skills, the more likely they are to participate in vocational education and training. Therefore, it is imperative to include content on job-seeking skills as part of vocational education and training.