Completed Research Projects

Higher education reforms, such as the introduction of tiered bachelor’s/master’s degree programmes as part of the Bologna process, but also the expansion of higher education due to rising student numbers, have influenced the quantity and quality of the labour supply entering the labour market. The aim of the project is to evaluate the effects of the introduction of the tiered degree structure on the labour market returns enjoyed by graduates with different degree types (traditional German degree types, bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees). Specifically, the interdisciplinary research project asks two overarching research questions: 1. How and why have the labour market returns of university graduates with different degree types (traditional German degree types, bachelor's degrees, master's degrees) changed over the last decades? (sociology) 2. Can these changes be causally attributed to the introduction of the tiered degree structure (bachelor’s and master’s degrees) or to the general expansion of the higher education system? (economics). The project thus aims to investigate the effects of changes in the higher education system caused by educational expansion and the Bologna Process on modern contemporary societies, especially with regard to the labour market for highly qualified people.

Funding: Bridging project of the Leibniz Center for Science and Society (LCSS), University of Hannover
Project duration: April 2019 – March 2021
Cooperation partners: Prof. Dr. Stephan L. Thomsen, Dr. Martina Kroher, Johannes Trunzer, Leibniz University Hannover, Dr. Markus Lörz, German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW)

Publikationen:

Leuze, K., Lörz, M. (2019): Bildungsverläufe im Hochschulbereich. In: Köller, O.; Hasselhorn, M.; Hesse, F.; Maaz, K.; Schrader, J.; Solga, H.; Spieß, K.C.; Zimmer, K. (Hrsg.): Das Bildungswesen in Deutschland. Bestand und Potenziale. Bad Heilbrunn: UTB Verlag Julius Klinkhardt, 629-662.

Lörz, M., Leuze, K. (2019): Der Masterabschluss als neues Distinktionsmerkmal? Zu Bedeutung der Studienstrukturreform für herkunftsspezifischer Einkommensunterschiede. In: Lörz, M.; Quast, H. (Hrsg.): Bildungs- und Berufsverläufe mit Bachelor und Master. Determinanten, Herausforderungen und Konsequenzen. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 341-370.

The project focuses on researching three crucial educational transitions in young women’s academic and professional careers: 1. the formation of aspirations to a mathematical/scientific and/or engineering/technical profession in secondary school and the transition to an appropriate degree programme, 2. the decision in the first semesters to change degree programme (or not) and successful graduation in the above-mentioned fields, and 3. the transition from success at university to a STEM profession. The systematic differentiation of subject groups serves to explain differences within the STEM area. In addition, the study looks solely at women to see where they end up in the “leaky tech pipeline” and to identify variations within the gender category. To this end, we are looking in particular at the interplay between personality and social factors. 

Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project duration: April 2020 – March 2023
Project staff: Ralf Minor

Cooperation partners: Dr. Susanne Strauß, University of Konstanz

Publications

Stefani, A., Minor, R., Leuze, K. and Strauss, S. (2024): Empirical challenges in assessing the “leaky STEM pipeline”—How the research design affects the measurement of women’s underrepresentation in STEM. International Journal of STEM Education, Vol. 11, Nr. 54, S. 1-19. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40594-024-00512-4External link

Minor, R., Leuze, K. and Winkler, E.: Is there a “STEM Personality” in Germany? Linking Personality Traits with STEM Occupational Aspirations in German Secondary Education. International Journal of Gender, Science, and Technology, Vol. 15, Nr. 3, S. 264-294. https://genderandset.open.ac.uk/index.php/genderandset/article/view/1454External link

Stefani, A. (2024). Parental and peer influence on STEM career persistence: From higher education to first job. Advances in Life Course Research, 62, 100642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2024.100642External link

Presentations

• Stefani, Antje; Minor, Ralf; Leuze, Kathrin; Strauss, Susanne (2021): Is there really such a thing as a “leaky STEM pipeline”? Evidence from Germany, ECSR Annual Conference 2021
• Stefani, Antje; Minor, Ralf; Leuze, Kathrin; Strauss, Susanne (2021): Is there really such a thing as a “leaky STEM pipeline”? Evidence from Germany, 28th Annual Workshop of the European Research Network on Transitions in Youth

In Germany, the occupational principle plays a central role in linking the education and training system and the labour market and is therefore particularly relevant for the genesis of inequalities over the life course. The project therefore investigates the significance of the occupational principle for the (re)production of gender inequalities in the German labour market. In the first phase of the project, we initially described the development of occupational gender segregation in Germany between 1976 and 2010 and analysed how the share of women in occupations is causally related to other occupational characteristics, e.g. the occupational wage level or the share of part-time work. The results of these analyses are used to examine the influence of these occupational characteristics on non-monetary aspects of labour market inequalities between women and men. In the second phase of the project, we will investigate the significance of the gender differentiation of the occupational structure in Germany for the development of the gender wage gap since the mid-1970s. Theoretically, we investigate three different mechanisms for this: 1) the devaluation of job contents typical for women and 2) the declining demand for specific human capital in “women's jobs” due to technological change. The wage analyses are based on an innovative data set on individual wages over the life course: NEPS Starting Cohort 6, which is linked to register data from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) and thus additionally contains very valid wage and company information for the respondents.

Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG)
Project duration: April 2015 – November 2018 (second funding phase)
Cooperation partners: Prof. Dr. Corinna Kleinert, Dr. Ann-Christin Bächmann, Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories, Dörthe Gatermann, German Association for Public and Private Welfare, Dr. des. Anna Erika Hägglund, Family Federation of Finland

Publications:

Althaber, A., Leuze, K. (2020): Der Einfluss der beruflichen Geschlechtersegregation und beruflicher Arbeitszeitarrangements auf Teilzeitarbeit. Gleiche Übergangsbedingungen für Frauen und Männer? Sonderband “Berufe und soziale Ungleichheit” der Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, herausgegeben von Christian Ebner, Andreas Haupt und Britta Matthes, online first. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11577-020-00666-3.

Bächmann, A.-C., Gatermann, D. (2017): The duration of family-related employment interruptions – the role of occupational characteristics. Journal for Labour Market Research 50, 143–160.

Hägglund, A.-E., Bächmann, A.-C. (2017): Fast Lane or Down the Drain? Does the Occupation Held Prior to Unemployment shape the Transition Back to Work? Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 49, 32-46.

Hausmann, A.-C., Kleinert, C., Leuze, K. (2015): Entwertung von Frauenberufen oder Entwertung von Frauen im Beruf? Eine Längsschnittanalyse zum Zusammenhang von beruflicher Geschlechtersegregation und Lohnentwicklung in Westdeutschland. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie 67, 217–242.

Hausmann, A.-C., Zucco, A., Kleinert, C. (2015): Berufspanel für Westdeutschland 1976-2010 (OccPan). Dokumentation zur Erstellung und Anonymisierung. FDZ-Methodenreport, 09/2015, Nürnberg.

Hausmann, A.-C., Kleinert, C. (2014): Berufliche Segregation auf dem Arbeitsmarkt: Männer- und Frauendomänen kaum verändert. IAB-Kurzbericht 09/2014, Nürnberg.

It is well known from the literature that women and men work in different occupations and that this gender-specific “career choice” is associated with unequal labour market returns. Yet, little is known about why young women and men are interested in different occupations and why gender-specific career aspirations differ among industrialised countries. In a first step, the project therefore investigates the possible factors influencing the development of gender-(a)typical job aspirations and focuses on the importance of competences and grades, the parental home and the school environment. In a second step, these analyses will be extended to 30 EU and OECD countries. The study will examine the extent to which cultural and institutional differences between countries influence gender-stereotypical career expectations and whether this also explains differences in preferences for STEM occupations (science, technology, engineering, mathematics).

Cooperation partners: Prof. Dr. Marcel Helbig, WZB Berlin Social Science Center and University of Erfurt, Dr. des. Anna Erika Hägglund, Bath University UK

Publication:

Hägglund, A. E., Leuze, K. (2020): Gender differences in STEM expectations across countries: How perceived labor market structures shape adolescents’ preferences. Journal of Youth Studies, online first. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2020.1755029External link.

Leuze, K., Helbig, M. (2015): Why do girls' and boys’ gender-(a)typical occupational aspirations differ across countries? How cultural norms and institutional constraints shape young adolescents’ occupational preferences. WZB Discussion Paper Nr. P 2015-002, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, http://bibliothek.wzb.eu/pdf/2015/p15-002.pdf.

Helbig, M., Leuze, K. (2012): „Ich will Feuerwehrmann werden!“ Zur Bedeutung von Kompetenzen, Noten und elterlichen Vorbildern für die Ausprägung geschlechts-
(un-)typischer Berufsaspirationen. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie 64, 91–122

This PhD project, which forms part of the research on higher education, concerns economic influences on participating in, accomplishing and succeeding in tertiary education. It particularly focuses on investigating aspects of social justice and segregation in relation to students’ different starting points or the effects of political interventions. The three working papers developed in the context of this PhD project have different focuses. While the first paper examines the political intervention of levying and abolishing tuition fees on the basis of panel data, the second paper explores this instrument and the various forms it takes by means of a systematic review at the European level. The third paper examines the determinants of successful degree completion at German universities of applied sciences based on administrative individual data.

Project duration: August 2019 – Juli 2022
Cooperation partners: Prof. Dr. Matthias-Wolfgang Stoetzer, University of Applied Sciences Jena

Presentations

• Minor, Ralf (2021): The Rise of Private Higher Education in Germany: Did Public Tuitions Push Private Institutional Development?, EffEE PhD Workshop on Causal Analyses of School Reforms

In the research project  Impacts on occupational choices of male nurses – a systematic review, we develop a synthesis of the international state of research on career orientation of male nurses. The study aims to determine support factors but also challenges in the career choice of nurses. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motives of atypical career choices among men come into focus. For the research overview, qualitative and quantitative empirical studies from the period from 1995 to 2020 are analyzed. Through the international comparison of career orientations of male nurses, potentials for the recruitment of skilled workers are shown – not least with regard to the labour market integration of young men with a migration background. Since April 2020, a team led by Simon Bohn at the Chair of Empirical Methods and Social Structure Analysis has been working on the systematic review, drawing on funding from the IMPULSE 2019 junior research program at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, among others.

Funding: IMPULSE 2019 of the Friedrich Schiller University JenaProject duration: 2020 – 2021

Publikationen: 

Bohn, S. (2020), Altenpflege: Männersache?! - Die Konstruktion beruflicher Passungsverhältnisse in der Anwerbung männlicher Pfleger. In: Martin Dinges (Hrsg.), Männlichkeiten und Care. Selbstsorge, Familiensorge, Gesellschaftssorge. Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, S. 279-296.

Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Project duration: October 2007 – September 2012
Cooperation partners: Prof. Dr. Susanne Strauß, University of Konstanz

Funding: Hans-Böckler-Foundation
Project duration: July 2010 - June 2014
Cooperation partner: Prof. Jutta Allmendinger, PhD, Berlin Social Science Center, Prof. Dr. Johannes Giesecke, Humboldt University Berlin
Project staff: Dr. Janine Bernhard, Dr. Lena Hipp, Stefan Stuth

 

Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Project duration: Oktober 2010 - September 2012
Cooperation partner: Prof. Dr. Heike Solga, Berlin Social Science Center
Project staff: Jonna Blanck, Dr. Cornelia Gresch

 

The doctoral thesis investigates the extent to which there are differences in the course of the educational paths of young people with a migrant background compared to native young people and how these are influenced by institutional conditions of the education system. The overarching goal of the doctorate is thus to explore the causes of migration-related educational inequalities that go beyond individual and family conditions and address and explore the specific national and school contexts as additional explanations. In three articles, the cumulative doctorate will explore how migration-related educational differences develop over the course of life. The focus of the respective dissertation papers is on cross-country research in order to examine the contextual factors at the institutional level and their influence. In particular, the focus is on the institutional stratification wheel of the education system, as previous research assumes a considerable inequality-promoting influence on educational inequalities. The focus of the doctoral thesis is on inequalities in school performance, educational aspirations and tertiary education between young people with and without a migration background.

Project duration: October 2015 - March 2020

The research project focuses on gender inequalities among highly qualified women and men in both higher education and the labour market and asks what significance the gender-typical choice of field of study has in this respect. On the one hand, women today may be more highly qualified than men, they receive better grades and they complete a university degree more often than men. On the other hand, they are still disadvantaged in the labour market and have a higher risk of not being employed at all or working part time after their degree, or they may find themselves working in other professions and lower status positions. Since women still study different subjects than men, the project examines the significance of horizontal segregation of degree subjects for two phenomena: first, for gender inequalities in academic achievement, especially with regard to switching degree course, and, second, for the development of unequal labour market opportunities in the life course of university-educated women and men.

Cooperation partners: Prof Dr. Susanne Strauß, Jasmin Meyer, University of Konstanz

Publications:

Leuze, K., Strauß, S. (2016): Why do occupations dominated by women pay less? How ‘female-typical’ work tasks and working time arrangements affect the gender wage gap among higher education graduates. Work, Employment and Society, 30, 802-820.

Leuze, K., Strauß, S. (2014): Female-typical Subjects and their Effect on Wage Inequalities among Higher Education Graduates in Germany. European Societies, 16/2, 275-298.

Leuze, K., Strauß, S. (2013): Die Bedeutung von typisch „weiblichen“ Studienfächern für Lohnungleichheiten zwischen Akademikerinnen und Akademikern. Career Service Papers 11/2013, 37-54.

Leuze, K., Strauß, S. (2009): Lohnungleichheiten zwischen Akademikerinnen und Akademikern: der Einfluss von fachlicher Spezialisierung, frauendominierten Fächern und beruflicher Segregation. Zeitschrift für Soziologie 38/4, 262-281.

Leuze, K., Rusconi, A. (2009): Should I Stay or Should I Go? Gender Differences in Professional Employment. WZB Discussion Paper Nr. SP I 2009-501, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, Berlin.

Funding: BIOFABRICATION, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
Project duration: Oktober 2013 – August 2018
Cooperation partner: Prof. Dr. Jörg Eberhard, University of Sydney, Australien (formerly Medical University Hannover)
Project staff: Ann Christin Bartels, Leibniz University Hannover

 

Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Project duration: September 2008 - September 2012
Cooperation partners: Prof. Dr. Heike Solga, Berlin Social Science Center, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Ludwig-Mayerhofer, University Siegen
Project staff: Rosine Dombrowski, Ralf Künster, Anna Marczuk, Laura Menze

 

Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Project duration: September 2008 - September 2012
Cooperation partners: Prof. Jutta Allmendinger PhD, Berlin Social Science Center, Dr. Corinna Kleinert, Institut for Labour- and Careerresearch
Project staff: Agnieszka Althaber, Claudia Finger, Dr. Janina Söhn, Dr. Reinhard Pollak