Selected Publications

Seegers, M., & Ehlert, M. (2025). Gendered Returns to Further Training: Can Non-Formal Training Help Close the Gender Pay Gap? (Preprint). https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/mnxeb_v1 [under review]

Policy debates have increasingly focused on further training in adulthood as a tool to promote equal career opportunities. Yet it remains empirically unclear whether further training acts as an equaliser, reducing existing wage inequalities, or as an amplifier, reinforcing the Gender Pay Gap. This article examines whether the wage returns to non-formal job-related further training differ between women and men. We use data from the adult cohort of the German National Educational Panel Study (2007–2023) and apply individual fixed-effects panel regression models with a cumulative approach to estimate the long-term effects of participation in further training on wages. Our findings show that both men and women benefit from further training. However, men achieve significantly higher wage gains from longer spells of participation, particularly in selective, employerprovided formats. Leadership positions further amplify men’s returns. Although gaps in training participation have narrowed and in part reversed, returns show no equalising potential and instead contribute to the persistence of the Gender Pay Gap. Building on Relational Inequality Theory, our findings contribute to the broader debate on inequality reproduction through gendered claims-making by focusing on further training in organisational and institutional contexts.

Keywords: Gender Pay Gap, Further Training, Wage Returns, Labour Market Inequality, Relational Inequality

Seegers, M., & Zeyer-Gliozzo, B. (2025). Evolving Work, Evolving Skills: How different forms of further training are used to adapt to technological change depending on task complexity (Preprint). https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/tcvwb_v1  [accepted by the Journal of Education and Work (JEW)]

Technological transformation is changing the task and skill requirements for employees in modern Western societies, necessitating further training to adapt. However, the specific types of training used to address the increasing task complexity and technology use remain unclear. This study examines the impact of technology use at work on participation in informal and nonformal further training in Germany, considering the complexity of job tasks. Using data from the German National Education Study (NEPS), logistic regression models show that a more frequent use of networked digital technology tends to favour participation in informal training while for non-formal training the effect is smaller and insignificant. Regarding the interaction between technology use and task complexity, it can only be shown for the sample that the impact of technology use on training decreases with task complexity for non-formal training and increases for informal training, as hypothesised. Additional analyses suggest that this relationship may be more complex and vary by age and sector. Overall, the findings provide initial evidence that nonformal and informal training appear to play different roles in the process of technological change, although further research is needed to validate and understand the underlying dynamics.

Keywords: further training, technology, task complexity, job tasks, individual level

Seegers, M. (2024). Geschlechtsspezifische Selektionsmechanismen non-formaler beruflicher Weiterbildung (1. Auflage). BIBB-Forschungsberichte. Verlag Barbara Budrich. https://www.bibb.de/dienst/publikationen/de/19721 

Current labour market challenges, such as digitalization, socio-ecological transformations, and demographic change, are increasingly leading to skill obsolescence and a growing mismatch between labour demand and available qualifications. In this context, non-formal continuing vocational training (CVT) serves as a crucial adaptation strategy, raising important questions about equal access to CVT opportunities. The dissertation examines gender disparities in CVT participation in Germany and the underlying selection mechanisms.

While existing research provides mixed evidence on gender differences in CVT participation, it consistently highlights a motherhood penalty. However, little is known about the mechanisms driving this disparity. Using data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), the dissertation provides descriptive evidence that men tend to participate in CVT for longer durations, whereas women engage more frequently in shorter training programs.

Employing serial mediation analyses and zero-inflated negative binomial regression models, the findings indicate that women’s CVT participation decreases both in frequency and intensity as their childcare responsibilities increase – an effect not observed among men. Moreover, the results show that this motherhood penalty is primarily mediated by selective access to the labour market and a lower position within the firm’s wage structure.

Keywords: continuing vocational training, gender inequalities, selection mechanisms, gender training gap, motherhood training penalty

Seegers, M., & Ehmann, K. (2024). Task-biased technological change in Germany. Is it the routine or the manual? In R. E. Rodríguez Pérez & L. Meza González (Eds.), Routledge studies in labour economics. Technological change and labor markets: Productivity, job polarization, and inequality (56–76). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003389965-4/task-biased-technological-change-germany-marco-seegers-kathrin-ehmann 

Technological change in the workplace affects individuals’ tasks and work organisation in different ways. However, research on structural labour market change and jobs at risk of technological substitution often assumes routine-biased technological change (RBTC) rather than examining how different technologies affect tasks. This chapter takes the analysis of RBTC to the workplace level in Germany. We review key contributions to task-based technological change at the labour market, firm, and employee and task levels. Combining the task approach with ideas from the socio-technical systems approach, we present evidence against RBTC in Germany. Propensity score matching models with data from the 2018 German BIBB/BAuA Employment Survey show that the introduction of software complements all types of tasks, while new machines/plants and manufacturing/process technologies replace analytical and interactive non-routine tasks and complement (routine) manual tasks. On the basis of these findings, we dispute that the ‘routine’ category is suitable for inferring risks of technological task substitution at the workplace level. When ‘routine’ is conceptualised as a way of organising work rather than a task content, we show that the introduction of software reduces task standardisation while other technologies increase task standardisation. 

Golsch, K., & Seegers, M. (2020). Perceptions of Technological Change at Work through a Gender Lens. Gender a Výzkum / Gender and Research, 21, Article 2, 32–58. https://doi.org/10.13060/gav.2020.013 

In Germany, like in many other countries, much of the research on technological changes and their consequences has been devoted to investigating the field of industrial production. A shortcoming of this research is that many female-dominated occupations are excluded per se from consideration. However, whether and to what extent men’s and women’s perceptions of technological changes in their workplace differ is an important subject of debate. This article addresses the following questions: To what extent are men and women experiencing changes in the technologies of their workplace? Are women less likely to experience such changes? Do men and women anticipate to differing degrees a threat to their future job security and the skills demanded of them? And do they expect technological changes in their workplace to impact their health or work performance demands? The analysis, based on data from the Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP, 2015–2017), compares men and women across gender-typical and gender-atypical occupations and identifies conditions that increase or decrease perceived risks of technological change at work. The results indicate that technological change is perceived as most threatening in female-dominated occupations, and especially by women.

Keywords: technological change, risk perception, gender