Thomas Eichhorn

Areas of research

  • Family sociology
  • Social structure analysis (particularly social inequality)
  • Social network analysis
  • Sociology of work
  • Practice theory
  • Quantitative and qualitative methods in empirical social research
  • CV

    Professional Career

    Since 10/2025: Research associate in sub-project B06 "Property Inequality in the Private Sphere"

    10/2020 – 09/2025: Research advisor, Family Circumstances and Lifestyles Section, German Youth Institute (Deutsches Jugendinstitut e.V.), Munich

    • Development, analysis and publication of results from the German family survey AID:A as part of the Family Competence Team
    • Collaboration on projects addressing the counselling needs of stepfamilies, labour market integration of migrant mothers, and the experiences of parents and family counsellors with adolescents going through puberty

    03/2017 – 02/2020: Research associate, Institute for Communication and Media Studies, University of Leipzig

    • Involvement in (international) research projects on online participation, digital inequality, privacy and trust in digital media Design, implementation and analysis of quantitative and qualitative surveys, report writing, academic publications, specialist presentations at international conferences
    • Teaching
    • Acquisition of external funding

    Education

    Since July 2024: PhD at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

    • PhD thesis in Sociology (supervised by Prof. Arránz Becker)
    • Working title: “Modern Fathers: Between-, Within-, and Cross-level Differentiation of Involved Fatherhood”

    Oct 2010 – Nov 2016: Studies at Dresden University of Technology

    • Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, with Economics and Psychology as minor subjects (grade: 1.3)
    • Title of bachelor’s thesis: “Working old. An investigation into the determinants of old-age poverty and low social participation in relation to continued employment after retirement in the context of the social policy reforms of the 2000s” (Supervised by Prof. Kupfer and Prof. Häder, grade: 1.3)
  • Teaching
    • Workshop „Data Analyses with the Growing Up in Germany Survey (AID:A)” (2023)
    • Workshop zur wissenschaftlichen Beobachtung (Forschungsseminar, WiSe 2018/19)
    • Wissenschaftliche Beobachtung (Seminar, WiSe 2017/18)
    • Lesegruppe (Tutorium, WiSe 2014/15 bis SoSe 2016)
  • Publications

    Articles (peer-reviewed)

    Eichhorn, T., & Zerle-Elsäßer, C. (2026). How Child and Partnership Characteristics Influence Paternal Involvement. Journal of Family Issues, Article 0192513X261427676. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X261427676External link

    Eichhorn, T., Boll, C., Zerle-Elsäßer, C., Leßmann, O., & Eichhorn, H. (2024). Clusters of Relative Deprivation for Children under 12 Years of Age. Journal of Poverty, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/10875549.2024.2379772External link

    Eichhorn, T., & Zerle-Elsäßer, C. (2024). Does the (socio-political) socialization context matter for paternal involvement? Journal of European Social Policy, Article 09589287241251993. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/09589287241251993External link

    Öztürk, Y., Eichhorn, T., Zerle-Elsäßer, C. (2023). Conflicts in Adolescence and their Association with Closeness: Results of a Multi-Perspective Study from Germany. Youth, 3(4), 1363–1377. https://doi.org/10.3390/youth3040085External link

    Boll, C., Castiglioni, L., Eichhorn, T., Nikolka, T. & Zollner, C. (2023). Maßnahmenerfolge des Arbeitsmarktintegrationsprogramms für Mütter mit Migrationshintergrund „Stark im Beruf“ [Successes of the labour market integration programme for mothers from migrant backgrounds, ‘Stark im Beruf’]. Migration und Soziale Arbeit, (1), 79–85. https://doi.org/10.3262/MIG2301079External link

    Eichhorn, T., Schüller, S., Steinberg, H. S. & Zerle-Elsäßer, C. (2023). Family Climate in Pandemic Times: Adolescents and Mothers. Social Inclusion, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v11i1.6007External link

    Eichhorn, T., Hoffmann, C. & Heger, K. (2022). “Doing gender” by sharing: examining the gender gap in the European sharing economy. Internet Policy Review, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.14763/2022.1.1627External link

    Eichhorn, T., Jürss, S. & Hoffmann, C. P. (2022). Dimensions of digital inequality in the sharing economy. Information, Communication & Society, 25(3), 395–412. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2020.1791218External link

    Jürss, S. & Eichhorn, T. (2021). Conjunctive Knowledge of environment-related Consumption. Soziologie und Nachhaltigkeit, 7(1), 43–69. https://doi.org/10.17879/sun-2021-3282External link

    Weitere Artikel

    Nikolka, T., Eichhorn, T. & Zollner, C. (2022). Migrantinnen profitieren von berufsnahen Förderangeboten [Migrant women benefit from work-related support programmes]. DJI Impulse(2), 82–83.

    Sammelbandbeiträge

    Boll, C., Eichhorn, H., & Eichhorn, T. (2024). Einkommensarmut und Deprivation in Familien [Income poverty and deprivation in families]. In Deutsches Jugendinstitut (Ed.), AID:A 2023 Blitzlichter: Zentrale Befunde des DJI-Surveys zum Aufwachsen in Deutschland (pp. 46–48). wbv Media. https://doi.org/10.3278/9783763978007External link

    Eichhorn, T., & Zerle-Elsäßer, C. (2024). Betreuung der Kinder durch ihre Väter mit Blick auf Zeit und Rahmenbedingungen [Care of children by their fathers, taking into account time and circumstances]. In Deutsches Jugendinstitut (Ed.), AID:A 2023 Blitzlichter: Zentrale Befunde des DJI-Surveys zum Aufwachsen in Deutschland (pp. 63–66). wbv Media. https://doi.org/10.3278/9783763978007External link

    Eichhorn, T., Jürss, S., Hoffman, C. P. (2019). To share or not to share: A Digital Divide in the Sharing Economy. In D. Wurk, A. Oberg, & I. Maurer (eds.). Perspectives on the Sharing Economy (pp.134-140). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

  • Memberships

    Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie