publications

This study examines the long-term impact of educational expansion, occupational restructuring, and economic modernization on the prestige trajectories of Swiss men and women from 1946 to 2023. The impacts of these macro trends on individuals’ career prospects are discussed by applying different theoretical approaches used in labor market research, such as the human capital approach, signal and filter theory, the labor queue model, the vacancy competition model, as well as the theory of labor market segmentation. Using data from the Swiss Household Panel and historical macroeconomic indicators, we apply growth curve models to analyze how structural changes shape occupational prestige over the life course and we test several hypotheses derived from different theoretical approaches (e.g., human capital theory, signal and filter theory, skill-biased technological change, and the vacancy competition model). Our findings reveal significant differences between cohorts, with younger generations benefiting from educational expansion and the shift toward a service economy. While modernization and labor market conditions influence career entry prestige, the role of education has become increasingly decisive over time, mitigating adverse structural effects. Men’s prestige trajectories are more sensitive to macroeconomic fluctuations, while women’s career advancements are more strongly linked to educational investment. Cohort size effects indicate increased intra-cohort competition, particularly among men. The study highlights the interplay between individual qualifications and structural labor market constraints, emphasizing the importance of a dynamic micro-macro approach for understanding social mobility. These findings contribute to the broader discourse on occupational stratification and the long-term returns to education, in the context of modernizing labor markets.

Switzerland’s comparatively slow but ongoing educational expansion, alongside the persistent gender disparities in the Swiss labor market, offers a unique context in which to investigate how returns to education, as regards occupational status, have evolved for men and women over the last 50 years. Drawing on large-scale administrative census data (1970, 1980, 1990, 2000) and annual structural surveys (2011–2020), social changes across pseudo-birth cohorts (1920–1994) at two career stages (ages 25–30 and 45–50) are analyzed. Two questions are investigated: (1) How have inequalities in occupational status between men and women with similar levels of educational attainment shifted over time? (2) Which mechanisms – such as part-time work, childcare responsibilities, and sector allocation – explain these gender differences, and how have their impacts changed? The findings reveal that although raw gender gaps in occupational status have narrowed in younger cohorts – particularly at early career stages – significant disparities persist when accounting for key mechanisms. A Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition shows that part-time work and labor market segregation continue to produce gendered penalties. The results underscore that even as women’s educational attainment has surpassed that of men in recent cohorts, structural factors continue to limit full returns to education for women, in regard to their occupational status.

Growing gender differences in political ideology among young people are a major concern because of their potential long-term societal implications. This study examines ideological shifts between young men and women in 32 European countries from 1990 to 2023, and how they are linked to societal levels of gender equality. Using data from several Eurobarometer surveys, we analyse the left–right self-placement of over 466,089 individuals aged 20–29. Using graphical analyses, regression models and age-period-cohort (APC) analyses, we find heterogeneity in the extent and development of ideological youth gender gaps. In 14 countries, the ideological positions of women and men are almost equal. In seven countries there is a modern youth gender gap in political ideology, with women being more left-wing than men. This has remained roughly stable since the 1990s. In 11 countries, a modern youth gender gap has emerged and/or widened over time. Finally, we find that modern youth gender gaps tend to be greater in countries with greater gender equality. The mainly small to moderate gender gaps—with important differences between countries—contradict the narrative of a strong and uniform shift towards a modern gender gap in political ideology among young adults.

Anhand von Massendaten, d. h. den Daten der Strukturerhebungen seit 2010, untersuchen die Autoren in einem Kohortendesign für die letzten 60 Jahre, ob in der Schweiz eine Geschlechterumkehr beim Bildungserwerb stattfand, wie diese in der Struktur, Dynamik und Komplexität vonstattenging, und welche sozialen Gruppen als die treibende Kraft für diesen Wandel im Bildungsverhalten verantwortlich waren.

We aim to uncover grading bias by gender, socio-economic status, ethnic/migration background as well as body weight in the German secondary school system. Following an intersectional approach, we test whether—controlling for ability—students receive different grades depending on (the specific combination of) ascriptive characteristics. Using data from the fourth starting cohort (SC4, 13.0.0, first survey in year 9 in 2010) of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) consisting of more than 14,000 ninth graders, we compute the predicted differences in grades for the different groups of students depending on whether they are a boy or a girl, whether they are obese/overweight or not, their socio-economic status (SES) and ethnic background. We rely on a grade equation approach, assuming that discrepancies between observed grades and achievement as measured in standardised tests are evidence of biased grading. We control for two different competence tests—the Domain General Cognitive Functions (DGCF) and a standardised domain-specific competence test—as objective measures of ability as well as secondary school track. Even after controlling for different personality and behavioural traits—the “big five”, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), the Sick, Control, One, Fat and Food (SCOFF), health satisfaction and class retention—substantial differentials in grading across almost all factors and subjects remain. To account for the fact that many students may face bias on multiple grounds, we then compare the differences in predicted grades for groups with overlapping (dis)advantaging characteristics (e.g. low SES overweight Turkish boy vs a high SES non-overweight majority girl), while controlling for the objective ability measures. Significant differentials in grades are found in almost all cases, with the largest effect sizes for the subject German. We also compute models including all 2-way or 4-way interactions between the four axes of inequality and find the main effects largely unchanged. On the whole our findings are indicative of widespread additive intersectional effects of gender, social and ethnic origin as well as body weight on grading bias.

Dieser Beitrag untersucht auf der Basis von administrativen Daten die intergenerationale Bildungsmobilität von Männern und Frauen, die zwischen 1950 und 1990 in der Schweiz geboren wurden. Der Vergleich des Bildungsniveaus der Eltern und ihrer Kinder zeigt, dass Männer in den älteren Geburtskohorten bessere Mobilitätschancen hatten als Frauen. Dieser Unterschied hat sich über die Geburtskohorten hinweg verringert, so dass in der jüngsten Kohorte keine geschlechtsspezifischen Unterschiede mehr zu beobachten sind. Generell nehmen die Mobilitätschancen im Zeitverlauf ab: Weniger Menschen sind aufwärts mobil, während der Anteil der Abwärtsmobilität und der Immobilität zunimmt. Diese Entwicklung ist auf die Bildungsexpansion zurückzuführen, in deren Folge immer mehr Eltern höhere Bildungsabschlüsse erwerben und damit die Aufstiegschancen ihrer Kinder einschränken. Dennoch erreichen in der jüngsten Geburtskohorte rund 85% der Männer und Frauen mindestens das Bildungsniveau ihrer Eltern und ein Drittel sogar einen höheren Bildungsabschluss als ihre Eltern.

The extent to which achievement gaps become wider or narrower over the course of schooling is a topic that is widely discussed, both publicly and in educational research. This study examines whether absolute achievement (in language and math skills) and social origin gaps grow throughout the school career. To investigate the achievement growth of three German student cohorts (N = 14,273) at different stages of their school career (primary school, lower secondary school, and upper secondary school), I use multilevel models to estimate the effects of prior achievement and social origin on achievement growth. The results consistently suggest a negative association between prior achievement and subsequent growth; hence, initially low-performing students have higher achievement gains than initially high-performing students. Additionally, I find that social origin gaps remain stable over time. However, when controlling for initial achievement, slightly growing socio-economic status gaps can be observed.

This paper aims to illustrate the extent to which structural changes and institutional modifications within the higher education landscape influenced the rates of completion, dropout, and changes in the subject of study of Swiss university students between 1975 and 2018. Using administrative data, our results indicate that the completion rate and the subject of study change rate increased during that period. Furthermore, student dropout rates fell significantly over the observation period.

Research shows a heterogeneous picture of migration-related disparities regarding adolescents’ educational trajectories at the end of lower-secondary education. Among other disparities, migrants face large disadvantages with regard to the transition to vocational education and training (VET). They are, however, also more likely to change to upper-secondary school tracks at the end of lower-secondary education. Using longitudinal data drawn from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS, Starting Cohort 4), this study empirically captures patterns in school-leavers’ transition trajectories after lower-secondary education and empirically tests theoretical mechanisms of migration-related educational inequalities. Building on the concept of secondary effects of migrant origin, this study asks to what extent self-selection explains migration-related disparities in the educational trajectories at the end of lower-secondary education. Particular attention is devoted to the extent to which migration-related inequalities in adolescents’ transitions can be explained by differences in (1) rational choice factors and (2) the educational expectations and demands of parents and friends. The results show that rational choice factors and the educational expectations of social groups largely contribute to migration-related educational inequalities. The results provide important starting points for educational policy discussions on strategies and measures to address migration-related inequalities in the transition to VET.

In many societies, educational attainment determines social inequality in terms of life chances, and at the same time there is a strong link between social origin and educational success. Therefore, analysis of educational mobility patterns is a central concern for sociologists. In the context of societal changes, such as trend of modernization, educational expansion and significantly increased female participation in education, we use administrative data from different sources (N = 556,112) to examine the extent to which absolute and relative intergenerational educational mobility has changed in Switzerland for women and men from the 1951–1990 birth cohorts. We show that there is significantly more upward than downward mobility, while a large proportion of individuals are laterally mobile. By looking at absolute mobility patterns by cohort and gender separately, we extend previous research and show that the decreasing absolute mobility rates are due to the changing educational composition of the parental generations. Following on from previous studies, we reveal that the observed trend toward less relative social mobility continues in the youngest cohorts. It is also worth noting that, while the father’s educational attainment has a higher predictive power for children’s education in all cohorts, the impact of the mother’s education approaches that of the father. Overall, the mobility patterns of men and women converge very strongly over the cohort sequence. Beyond these substantive points, our study demonstrates the potential of using administrative data for social stratification research.

Abstract The aim of this paper is to explain ethnic differences in the transition from school to vocational education and training (VET) in German-speaking Switzerland. I examine the impact of application behavior and resource endowment on access to VET and the number of applications submitted. Even after controlling for differences in resource endowment, I find clear ethnic penalties in success rates and the number of applications submitted between natives and minority students. Once I introduce different application behavior in my models, ethnic differences in success rates either diminish sharply or even vanish. However, substantial ethnic penalties remain in the number of applications submitted. There are therefore indications of discrimination in the application process on the Swiss–German VET market.

Many empirical studies have demonstrated positive ethnic choice effects at the transition to upper secondary education. This means that ethnic minority students—given the same academic performance, parental resources and type of school at lower secondary level—aspire to more demanding educational programs than ethnic majority students. Previous research has often examined only single cohorts of school-leavers and has rarely considered differences between ethnic minority generations. Therefore, little is known about the extent to which these positive ethnic choice effects vary over time and across minority generations. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap using large-scale survey data from Switzerland (2000–2016; N = 100,495). Using multilevel analyses, I am able to show that positive ethnic choice effects are persistent over time in Switzerland. Furthermore, it becomes clear that positive ethnic choice effects vary across ethnic minority generations, with these effects decreasing with each succeeding minority generation. Ethnic minority students with one parent born in Switzerland hardly differ from ethnic majority students in their educational decisions.

This paper aims to compare ethnic disadvantages in the transition fromschool to vocational education and training (VET) between Germany and German-speaking Switzerland. These two countries are suitable for comparison because oftheir similar school systems, occupational structure and VET system. At the sametime, they differ in terms of the societal prestige of their less demanding lowersecondary school tracks. I focus in particular on the extent to which these differen-ces have an impact on the signaling value of the obtained certificates, and hence onthe transition from school to VET. Furthermore, I consider the following theoreti-cal approaches to explain ethnic differences: differences in human capital endow-ment, theories of discrimination and educational aspirations. My analyses are basedon two panel studies: the DAB panel study for German-speaking Switzerland and CILS4EU for Germany. To estimate VET success rates, I apply multilevel linearprobability models (N = 1,682). My results indicate that there are country differen-ces regarding the premiums associated with holding more demanding lower secon-dary school leaving certificates. In Germany, native students benefit much morefrom having a certificate from a secondary school with extended requirements thanminority students. In Switzerland, in contrast, no group differences regarding the premiums can be detected.

Many studies on social mobility use operationalizations of social positions that do not take occupational upgrading into account. In order to estimate social mobility patterns net of occupational upgrading, I propose an operationalization involving administrative data to measure social positions by applying a percentile approach. Based on this measurement I calculate absolute and relative intergenerational mobility patterns. Using this operationalization, I aim to answer the question of how far intergenerational mobility patterns have changed over time in West Germany. Therefore, I analyze the occupational data of 7,416 38- to 42-year-olds born between 1944 and 1978 belonging to the sixth starting cohort of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). Compared to previous studies, I observe significantly higher rates of downward mobility. However, I do not find any cohort trends in absolute mobility rates and do not detect any changes in social fluidity patterns. I therefore conclude that there are no cohort trends in absolute or relative intergenerational mobility in West Germany, implying that it is not on its way to becoming a society of downward mobility. In contrast to previous studies, my results indicate high social fluidity and no changes in relative mobility over time. Hence, the picture of a rigid German social structure should be reconsidered.

Dieser Beitrag untersucht erstmalig für eine Schweizer Universität auf Basis prozessproduzierter Daten aus Lehrveranstaltungsevaluationen den studentischen Workload. Die Messung des Workloads auf Ebene der Lehrveranstaltungen ermöglicht es folgende – für die Studiengangsplanung relevante – Fragen zu beantworten: Entsprechen die den Lehrveranstaltungen zugeordneten ECTS-Punkte dem tatsächlich geleisteten Arbeitspensum? Verändern sich über die Zeit hinweg die Disparitäten von vorgegebenen Arbeitsbelastungen und den geleisteten Arbeitspensen? Wovon hängen aus Sicht der Studierenden die subjektiven Einschätzungen ihres Workloads ab? Wir konnten nachweisen, dass es lediglich einen schwachen Zusammenhang zwischen ECTS-Punkten und studentischen Arbeitspensen gibt. Weiterhin konnten wir zeigen, dass der studentische Workload im Zeitverlauf kaum schwankt und deutlich hinter den institutionellen Vorgaben zurückbleibt. Schliesslich ist ersichtlich, dass die subjektive Wahrnehmung der Arbeitsbelastung mit dem Umfang und Schwierigkeitsgrad der Lehrveranstaltung korreliert. Insgesamt ist die Vergleichbarkeit von ECTS-Punkten über Lehrveranstaltungen stark anzuzweifeln.