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This project studies social inequalities in access to prestigious fields of studies. These fields are of interest as not only a tertiary educational degree but also the fields of study completed influence future labor market attainment. For the centrally restricted and highly selective programs in medicine and pharmacy, we investigate whether and how universities’ recruitment procedures and criteria and their interplay with applicants’ individual characteristics and application behavior contribute to social inequality in access to these prestigious fields. We use register data provided by the Stiftung fuer Hochschulzulassung and a linked online survey, conducted by the WZB.

In my research I am interested in the sense-making process of school inspections while developing evaluation criteria. Therefore, I analyze the development process of evaluation criteria by school inspections in Germany.

There are two developments in the educational sector, which are relevant in regard to my research: The implementation of inclusive education and the creation of school inspections in Germany.

Background

In recent years, the number of young students in Germany who earn a university entrance qualification has continually risen. However, the likelihood of entering higher education is still strongly linked to social origin. For this reason, an increasing number of counseling programs have been implemented in recent years that aim to break the link between young people's educational decisions and their social origin.