Research

In my book, I analyse how education systems shape political inequality. 

Building upon and expanding literature from political behaviour and comparative (political) education research, I argue that some education systems provide better opportunities than others for the lower-educated to have strengthened in school a number of important political resources that in turn affect their turnout likelihood as adults, thereby shaping turnout inequality in a comparative perspective. 

To test my claims in a comparative perspective, I draw upon a variety of cross-national data sources. The results provide evidence that highlights the relevance of education systems for political inequality, specifically for turnout gaps. 

In the PerFair project, funded by the Cluster of Excellence The Politics of Inequality, we investigate perceptions of inequality among adolescents, and how these perceptions relate to students' educational and political engagement. I am very excited and proud to be a founding member of this project! 

The (panel) data will enable me to investigate many open questions, for example: 

• How do adolescents' political attitudes and behaviour develop during their early politically formative years? How do peers, parents, and teachers influence the crystallization of political attitudes?

• How do perceptions of inequality relate to political attitudes and behaviours? 

• Under which circumstances do perceptions of inequality result in constructive or destructive political participation or in political withdrawal?

... any many more in cooperation with the interdisciplinary project team.

As part of the DFG research group RISS, our project on internalised efficacy beliefs studies how contradictory experiences in school and family affect school-related and political efficacy beliefs, and how these in turn influence participation in educational and political life.

One core aim of the project is to differentiate between personal (internal), group-related, and system-related (external) efficacy beliefs.

The project Integration@Work, funded by the Cluster of Excellence The Politics of Inequality, surveys students in vocational education programmes across Germany to learn more about workplace integration. Luckily, I could feed some questions on political engagement into the panel study! 

My research agenda with these data is to explore political engagement among vocational students, for example: 

• How does political interest develop among students in different vocational programmes (e.g., in technical vs social programmes)?

• (How) do labour unions, opportunities for democratic participation at the workplace, and civic education in vocational schools influence political engagement among vocational students?

• Does better workplace integration foster political participation among migrants? 

Thanks very much to the whole project team for this great opportunity and smooth cooperation!