Education is regarded as a fundamental condition for participation in social life like few other social categories. Only those who are educated are capable of meeting the demands of modern living conditions and not only absorbing them but also actively shaping them. However, if education aims at (social) participation, then participation in education itself is indispensable and a systemic requirement – for exclusion from education inevitably means exclusion from society. In late modernity, both aspects of participation as implications of education have come into question: education neither guarantees adequate social participation nor is it universally accessible to all. This volume explores the connection between education and participation from foundational, social theoretical, and empirical perspectives.