Right Competence at the Right Time—but for Whom? Social Recruitment of Participants in an Expanding Higher Vocational Education Segment in Sweden (2005–2019)

It is well established that participation in formal adult education varies by individual background characteristics. However, less attention has been paid to examining inequality inparticipation as a consequence of policy changes, such as educational expansion. Thispaper examines the process of tremendous expansion in Swedish Higher VocationalEducation (HVE), a vocationally oriented postsecondary educational segment driven bylabor market needs. Using a demographic approach with a sociological lens on educational participation, we analyze administrative data from registers, uncovering who hasbeen served by this expanding adult educational form. Our results indicate that expansionof HVE has led to growth in participation for policy-prioritized groups, although the rateof growth in enrollment between groups varies and corresponds to population changes.We also locate the extent of cumulative advantages in participation and discuss theseresults in relation to social (in)equality in formalized HVE.