The WZB
The WZB Berlin Social Science Center investigates fundamental societal issues. Our focus is on education and work, markets and choice, migration, democracy and autocracy, international politics and law. At the WZB researchers from various disciplines work together – mainly from sociology, political science, economics, law and psychology.
Working at the WZB
The WZB offers a modern working environment, where both equal opportunities and the compatibility of work and family are highly valued. Find out more about it here.
Effort and Performance
Why are resources and opportunities unequally distributed? To answer this question, people like to refer to the principle of performance: Those who achieve a lot also get a lot. On closer inspection, however, this answer raises numerous new questions: How is performance measured and evaluated? Is performance really due to individual capacities or is it not also due to the social background? And what about the needs of the underperforming?
The September issue of WZB-Mitteilungen explores these questions. It takes a look inside classrooms - because schools in particular still function according to the performance principle. Other articles shed light on training and studying, gender in working life, household-related services; the promise of equality, competition and solidarity are discussed.
Luck versus Effort
Is hard work alone enough? Of course, not everyone believes that. In her dissertation, Rebecca Wetter examines the belief in meritocracy among applicants for medical school - and how it differs depending on admission or rejection. However, success and failure also change ideas about social inequality in general, because those who believe that success depends mainly on one's own performance underestimate the influence of other factors such as social background. More in the video.
