Jessica Ordemann graduated with a PhD in Sociology from the University of Leipzig and a master from the Free University Berlin. Before joining the DZHW she worked as researcher at the universities of Hamburg and Leipzig and scientific coordinator for the German national report on education.
Dr. Jessica Ordemann
Research Area Educational Careers and Graduate Employment
Researcher
- +49 511 450670-128
- +49 511 450670-960
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Academic research fields
Educational inequalities, labor market
List of projects
List of publications
Forty and over the academic hill? Biological and academic age and the race for tenure.Ordemann, J., & Naegele, L. (2024).Forty and over the academic hill? Biological and academic age and the race for tenure. Soziale Welt , Special Edition(26), 457-489. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748925590-457 Abstract
This paper investigates the relationship between age and attaining a tenured position in academia. Following considerations about ageism towards doctoral graduates who were 40 years and older upon attaining a PhD and Robert K. Merton’s idea of cumulative advantages in academic careers, we differentiate between biological and academic age. We test the relationships and the resources accumulated behind the latter using data from the DZHW PhD Panel 2014. Applying piecewise constant exponential estimations and an entropy balancing, we find that PhDs aged 40+ experience a significantly positive effect on attaining a professorship at a university of applied science or receiving tenure as a postdoctoral researcher. |
Zu alt für die Wissenschaft? Wissenschaftliche Karrierewege von älteren Promovierten in die Entfristung.Naegele, L., & Ordemann, J. (2023).Zu alt für die Wissenschaft? Wissenschaftliche Karrierewege von älteren Promovierten in die Entfristung. In Villa , P.-I. (Hrsg.), Polarisierte Welten. Verhandlungen des 41. Kongresses der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie 2022 (S. 1-11). Bielefeld: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie. |
Forty and over the academic hill? Biological and academic age and the race for tenure.Ordemann, J., & Naegele, L. (2023).Forty and over the academic hill? Biological and academic age and the race for tenure. Online first: SocArXiv. Abstract
This paper investigates the relationship between age and attaining a tenured position in academia (postdoctoral researcher or professorship at a university of applied sciences or university). Following considerations about ageism towards doctoral graduates who were 40 years and older (40+) upon attaining a PhD and Robert K. Merton’s idea of cumulative advantages in academic careers (Matthew-Effect), we differentiate between biological and academic age. We test the relationships and the resources accumulated behind the latter using data from the DZHW PhD Panel 2014. Applying piecewise constant exponential estimations and an entropy balancing, we find that PhDs aged 40+ experience a significantly positive effect on attaining a professorship. |
Higher education graduates, vocational qualification, and income. Is higher education worthwhile for dual qualifiers?Ordemann, J. (2023).Higher education graduates, vocational qualification, and income. Is higher education worthwhile for dual qualifiers? Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 1-27 (online first). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-023-01157-9 Abstract
This article explores the income of higher education graduates who have also completed vocational and educational training. I use data from a linked data set of the student cohort SC5 of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) and the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), NEPS-SC5-ADIAB. The sample contains 3483 direct qualifiers, 1002 dual qualifiers with and 213 without Abitur. Longitudinal and pooled Poisson regressions are estimated to explore the income trajectories within the careers of dual qualifiers and for comparison with direct qualifiers. The results are ambiguous—from an intragenerational perspective only dual qualifiers without Abitur and a master’s degree earn more after studying. Measured against direct qualifiers ... |
Von direkten und alternativen Wegen ins Studium: Eine quantitative Analyse zum sozialen Phänomen der beruflich-akademischen Doppelqualifizierung von Studienberechtigten.Ordemann, J., Buchholz, S., & Spangenberg, H. (2023).Von direkten und alternativen Wegen ins Studium: Eine quantitative Analyse zum sozialen Phänomen der beruflich-akademischen Doppelqualifizierung von Studienberechtigten. In J. Ordemann, F. Peter, & S. Buchholz (Hrsg.), Vielfalt von hochschulischen Bildungsverläufen (S. 47-77). Wiesbaden: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-39657-2_3 Abstract
This paper focuses on dual qualifications (vocational and academic) and on how they affect social disparities in the probability of going to university. We analyze data from the DZHW Panel Study of School Leavers with a Higher Education Entrance Qualification 2012 to assess whether students find their way into academia via alternative pathways (vocational training) and whether this reduces existing social disparities in their likelihood of studying. This approach allows us to look at the educational pathways and detours to higher education over a more extended time than has been done in earlier studies and to highlight the effect of the timing of vocational training. On the one hand, our results confirm earlier findings ... |
Vielfalt von hochschulischen Bildungsverläufen – neue Aspekte, Erkenntnisse und Entwicklungen.Ordemann, J., Peter, F., & Buchholz, S. (2023).Vielfalt von hochschulischen Bildungsverläufen – neue Aspekte, Erkenntnisse und Entwicklungen. In J. Ordemann, F. Peter, & S. Buchholz (Hrsg.), Vielfalt von hochschulischen Bildungsverläufen (S. 1-20). Wiesbaden: Springer (online first). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-39657-2_1 Abstract
Educational and employment careers do not always follow a straight line, as the nine chapters of this volume demonstrate. The chapters cover various topics related to access to higher education and transition to the labour market. They address the direct and indirect pathways to higher education, the potential complexity of the decision-making involved, and possible returns to the multiple educational pathways. The variety of educational trajectories, the focus of the volume, has gained importance in empirical educational research, not least because there are now rich longitudinal data sets such as the DZHW Panel Study of School Leavers or the National Education Panel (NEPS). Only by monitoring individuals over an extended period ... |
Vielfalt von hochschulischen Bildungsverläufen.Ordemann, J., Peter, F., & Buchholz, S. (Hrsg.) (2023).Vielfalt von hochschulischen Bildungsverläufen.Wege in das, durch das und nach dem Studium. Wiesbaden: Springer (online first). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-39657-2 Abstract
Individual educational and life paths are far more diverse today than is often assumed. Many paths with and without a university entrance qualification lead to higher education at different points in time. Diversity persists in higher education and beyond. Students have different backgrounds, change their course of study, interrupt their studies, or drop out. The current findings in this anthology impressively explore this diversity, from the paths to a degree program to the labor market. |
Hochschulzugang und Studium nicht-traditioneller Studierender – Die Situation in Österreich, Deutschland und der Schweiz.Freitag, W. K., Kerst, C., & Ordemann, J. (Hrsg.) (2022).Hochschulzugang und Studium nicht-traditioneller Studierender – Die Situation in Österreich, Deutschland und der Schweiz [Sonderheft]. ZfHE – Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung, 17(4). Graz: Verein Forum Neue Medien in der Lehre Austria. Abstract
Providing access to higher education and establishing a conducive framework for lifelong learning are important goals of the European Higher Education Area. In the D-A-CH countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), the group of “non-traditional students” includes graduates of technical and vocational training without a school-based university entrance qualification, employees, family workers and “learners in later life”. Based on current data, and operating from the perspective of diversity and inequality theory, the papers in this issue examine university access regulations, students’ time budgets, the effects of care responsibility, and student dropouts, including during the Covid-19 pandemic. |
Editorial: Hochschulzugang und Studium nicht-traditioneller Studierender: Die Situation in Österreich, Deutschland und der Schweiz.Freitag, W. K., Kerst, C., & Ordemann, J. (2022).Editorial: Hochschulzugang und Studium nicht-traditioneller Studierender: Die Situation in Österreich, Deutschland und der Schweiz. In W. K. Freitag, C. Kerst, & J. Ordemann (Hrsg.), Hochschulzugang und Studium nicht-traditioneller Studierender: Die Situation in Österreich, Deutschland und der Schweiz (S. 9-21). Graz: Verein Forum Neue Medien in der Lehre Austria. https://doi.org/10.3217/zfhe-17-04/01 |
The evolution of educational wage differentials for women and men in Germany, from 1996 to 2019.Ordemann, J., & Pfeiffer, F. (2022).The evolution of educational wage differentials for women and men in Germany, from 1996 to 2019. Journal for Labour Market Research , 2022(17), 1-12. Abstract
This paper studies the evolution of three higher education wage differentials from 1996 to 2019 in Germany. We distinguish between degrees from academic universities, degrees from universities of applied sciences, and the master craftsman\craftswoman certificate. The educational reference category is a standard degree within the German vocational education and training system. Based on samples of male and female workers from the Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), regression methods show that all three educational wage differentials in 2019 exceeded the ones in 1996. However, workers graduating from universities experienced an inverse u-shape pattern with a maximum of about 0.5 log points around 2012.... |
Nicht-traditionelle Hochschulabsolventinnen und Hochschulabsolventen und der Arbeitsmarkt.Ordemann, J. (2022).Nicht-traditionelle Hochschulabsolventinnen und Hochschulabsolventen und der Arbeitsmarkt. In Wolter & C. Kerst (Hrsg.), Studierfähigkeit beruflich Qualifizierter ohne schulische Studienberechtigung. Studienvoraussetzungen, Studienverläufe und Studienerfolg (S. 289-310). Wiesbaden: Springer. |
The Evolution of Educational Wage Differentials for Women and Men, from 1996 to 2019.Ordemann, J., & Pfeiffer, F. (2021).The Evolution of Educational Wage Differentials for Women and Men, from 1996 to 2019. ZEW Discussion Paper (21-066). Mannheim: ZEW. Abstract
This paper studies the evolution of three higher education wage differentials from 1996 to 2019 in Germany, a period when significant changes in the educational composition of the workforce took place. Based on regression analysis and samples of male and female workers from the Socio-Economic Panel Study, the study finds that while all three educational wage differentials increased, workers graduating from universities experienced an inverted u-shape pattern, reaching a plateau between 2011 and 2015. We argue that the decline which began after 2015, and which is detectable as well in the occupational prestige scores, may have resulted from a relative educational upskilling of the workforce as well as changes in the subject composition. |
The 2021 ASA Virtual Annual Meeting Newsletter Issue.Ordemann, J. (2021).The 2021 ASA Virtual Annual Meeting Newsletter Issue. 7 (3). Washington, DC: American Sociological Association. Abstract
The 2021 August Newsletter Issue with a symposium about the virtual meeting topic "Rising to the Du Boisian Challenge: IPMs Contribution to Activism vs. Science". |
List of presentations & conferences
Professional Career
since 11/2020
Senior Researcher (Post-Doc) at the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW)
11/2018 - 10/2020
Scientific Coordinator at the DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education
02/2017 - 09/2018
Junior Researcher at the DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education
04/2014 - 01/2017
Junior Researcher at the University of Leipzig
04/2012 - 03/2014
Junior Researcher at the University of Hamburg
04/2009 - 03/2012
Student Researcher at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW)
Education and Academic Degrees
2014 - 2019
PhD in sociology at the University of Leipzig
2010 - 2011
Master in sociology at the Free University Berlin
2006 - 2010
Bachelor in cultural studies with focus on sociology at the Long Distance Learning University Hagen
- Member of the Executive Committee of the Society of Longitudinal and Lifecourse Studies (SLLS)
- Research Committee on Social Stratification (RC28) of the International Sociological Association (ISA)
- Academy of Sociology
- German Sociological Association
- Inequality, poverty and mobility section of the American Sociological Association (ASA)