Publications

Ageism in universities—meaning unequal treatment based on (older) age—is rarely addressed in higher education research. Yet with increasingly age-diverse student populations, older students may face discrimination for defying chrononormative expectations. Using data from the 2021 German Student Survey (N = 4,811; 300 students aged 30+), this research note identifies six forms of ageism. Logistic regression shows older students more often feel excluded or disregarded, but less often report unwelcome sexual remarks. Findings point to the need for policy action and greater scholarly attention to ageism in higher education.

Why are children with lower socioeconomic status (SES) substantially less likely to be enrolled in child care? We study whether barriers in the application process work against lower-SES children — the group known to benefit strongest from child care enrollment. In an RCT in Germany with highly subsidized child care (N = 607), we offer treated families information and personal assistance for applications. We find substantial, equity-enhancing effects of the treatment, closing half of the large SES gap in child care enrollment. Increased enrollment for lower-SES families is likely driven by altered application knowledge and behavior. We discuss scalability of our intervention and derive policy implications for the design of universal child..

The German academic system faces the challenge of reconciling traditional and mod-ern qualification paths to a professorship. The historically established habilitation and the newly introduced tenure-track junior professorship play a central role in the academic career system but differ significantly in structure and requirements. This article contrasts the two career paths and highlights the factors that restrict their com-parability. The findings highlight the need for a review and harmonization of the existing regulations.

This paper outlines two studies on education bias in German probability-based surveys. Study 1 reviews data from 67 surveys across 19 survey programs conducted in Germany from 2000 to 2023. We found a consistent underrepresentation of individuals with a low level of formal education. We also found that the transition to self-administered modes due to rising survey costs may exacerbate this bias in the future. In study 2, we use the results of a workshop with experts on probability-based surveys, to discuss various strategies to deal with this bias, including increased face-to-face contacts and incentives, while emphasizing the need for research on adapting survey designs.