How Welfare-State Regimes Shape Subjective Well-Being Across Europe

in Social Indicators Research (2016), 129(2), 565-587

Welfare-state regimes achieve different outcomes in dealing with social inequalities. For example, the social democratic or Scandinavian welfare-state regime is often considered as the most egalitarian ... [more ▼]

Welfare-state regimes achieve different outcomes in dealing with social inequalities. For example, the social democratic or Scandinavian welfare-state regime is often considered as the most egalitarian with a high social transfer rate and a comparably low level of income inequality. While most research on welfare-state regimes focuses on objective indicators of quality of life and inequalities, we are interested in how citizens actually evaluate their lives, using subjective well-being (SWB) as an indicator. The paper deals with two research questions: (1) How does the welfare-state regime affect subjective well-being, and (2) does the welfare-state regime influence the effect of status on SWB? Status is an essential first-order goal to produce subjective well-being according to the social production theory of Lindenberg and colleagues (Ormel et al. 1999), but is also linked to many other instrumental goals such as comfort and stimulation. The study carries out a multilevel analysis using pooled European Social Survey data from the years 2002–2012, covering more than 30 European countries. While we first look at how status drives SWB levels in different welfare-state regimes as classified by Esping-Andersen 1990, 1999), our focus is mainly on cross-level interactions between welfare-state regime type and the relationship between status and SWB. Our results provide evidence that social-democratic welfare-state regimes not only provide for living standards that are associated with the highest SWB levels, but also compensate best for status differences in SWB compared to other welfare-state regimes. [less ▲]

Wie soziale Herkunft, Geschlecht und Migrationshintergrund den Übergang in Hochschule und höhere Berufsbildung prägen: Die Schweiz und Frankreich im Vergleich

in Kriesi, Irene; Liebig, Brigitte; Horwath, Ilona (Eds.) et al Gender und Migration an Universitäten, Fachhochschulen und in der höheren Berufsbildung (2016)

Gender and Educational Achievement

Book published by Routledge (2016)

Education systems and gender inequalities in educational attainment

in Hadjar, Andreas; Gross, Christiane (Eds.) Education systems and inequalities. International comparisons (2016)

Theorising the impact of education systems on inequalities

in Hadjar, Andreas; Gross, Christiane (Eds.) Education systems and inequalities. International comparisons (2016)

Education systems and the dynamics of educational inequalities in low educational attainment: a closer look at England (UK), Finland, Luxembourg, and German-speaking Switzerland

in European Societies (2016), 18(3), 264-287

For decades, reforms aiming at educational expansion attempted to boost economic growth and to reduce inequalities. This study sheds light on the link between institutional settings of the education ... [more ▼]

For decades, reforms aiming at educational expansion attempted to boost economic growth and to reduce inequalities. This study sheds light on the link between institutional settings of the education system and educational inequalities in the course of educational expansion along two axes of inequality: social origin and gender. Looking at the educational attainment of cohorts born between 1925 and 1982 in the European Social Survey data, changing patterns of inequalities are analysed regarding four distinct education systems – England (UK), Finland, Luxembourg, and (Germanspeaking) Switzerland. Employing a comparative perspective, characteristics of the educational system that influence the societal change of educational levels and educational inequalities are considered. Our results show that although the patterns of educational inequalities were comparable in all four countries, Finland seems to have been the most successful in reducing educational inequalities if looking at both inequalities related to social origins and gender at the same time. However, in regard to social inequalities Switzerland also performs well. [less ▲]

School Alienation, Patriarchal Gender-Role Orientations and the Lower Educational Success of Boys. A Mixed-method Study

in Masculinities and Social Change (2015), 4(1), 85-116

This paper is an empirically backed contribution to the current ‘failing boys’ debate in regard to their lower educational success. The cross-sectional analysis focuses on two possible factors behind the ... [more ▼]

This paper is an empirically backed contribution to the current ‘failing boys’ debate in regard to their lower educational success. The cross-sectional analysis focuses on two possible factors behind the lower educational success of boys in secondary school: school alienation and patriarchal gender-role orientations (as an expression of the ‘hegemonic masculinity’). School deviance on the behavioural level is considered as a main mediator between these factors and educational success. Furthermore, teaching style, peer attitudes and social origin are taken into account as important factors of educational success. Analyses are based on a Swiss mixed-method study (questionnaires among 872 eighth-graders, group discussions, class room observations). Results indicate that the gender gap in educational success is caused partly by boys being more alienated from school and preferring patriarchal gender-role orientations. The impacts of these factors on educational success are mediated by school deviance. An authoritative teaching style can largely reduce school alienation. [less ▲]

Gender stereotypes and gendered vocational aspirations among Swiss secondary school students

in Educational Research (2015), 57(1), 22-42

Background: Horizontal gender inequalities appear to be rather stable, with girls more often choosing ‘female’ service professions, and boys choosing career paths related to science, technology ... [more ▼]

Background: Horizontal gender inequalities appear to be rather stable, with girls more often choosing ‘female’ service professions, and boys choosing career paths related to science, technology, engineering or Mathematics. Purpose: Non-egalitarian patriarchal gender-role orientations and gender associations (perceived femininity) of the school subjects German Language Arts and Mathematics are theorised – triangulating different theoretical backgrounds – and empirically analysed as a major predictor of gender-typical vocational aspirations, considering interest in these school subjects as a mediating factor. Furthermore, we focus on a patriarchal relation of father’s and mother’s workforce participation as a root of gender-role orientations, and teacher gender in regard to its impact on gendered images of subjects. Sample: Empirical analyses are based on survey data from eighth-graders (around the ages of 14 and 15 at the time of data gathering) in the Swiss canton of Bern. The sample only encompasses children from two-parent families, as patriarchality in terms of differences in workforce participation between father and mother is taken into account. Design and methods: The research issues are analysed employing structural equation models. The statistical package Mplus allows for an analysis of the two dependent dichotomous variables ‘gender-typical vocational aspiration’ and ‘gender-atypical vocational aspiration’. The hierarchic structure of the sample (school class clusters) is taken into account. Results: Findings reveal different patterns for boys and girls; for boys, gender-typical (male) vocational aspiration could be explained to a small extent via gender-role orientations, interest in Mathematics and gender associations of school subjects; for girls, the factors under consideration could be empirically linked to ‘atypical vocational aspiration’. Teacher gender only has an impact among girls: if girls are taught by a female Mathematics teacher, they perceive the subject as a bit more female and show a higher interest in this subject. Their likelihood of having a gender-atypical vocational aspiration is a bit higher than among girls with a male Mathematics teacher who perceive the subject as a bit less female and, thus, show somewhat lower interest in this subject. Conclusions: There are still links – although weak – between gender stereotypes and vocational aspirations. Gender-role orientations are rooted in the family. A sensitisation towards gender stereotypes and their impact on aspirations and career would appear to be meaningful in broadening the vocational perspectives of men and women. [less ▲]

Die Legitimation sozialer Ungleichheit – Bildung, Status und die Akzeptanz von Ungleichheit auf Basis des meritokratischen Prinzips

in Dammayr, Maria; Grass, Doris; Rothmüller, Barbara (Eds.) Legitimität. Gesellschaftliche, politische und wissenschaftliche Bruchlinien der Rechtfertigung (2015)

Does upward social mobility increase life satisfaction? A longitudinal analysis using British and Swiss panel data

in Research in Social Stratification and Mobility (2015), 39

A main assumption of social production function theory is that status is a major determinant of subjective well-being (SWB). From the perspective of the dissociative hypothesis, however, upward social ... [more ▼]

A main assumption of social production function theory is that status is a major determinant of subjective well-being (SWB). From the perspective of the dissociative hypothesis, however, upward social mobility may be linked to identity problems, distress, and reduced levels of SWB because upwardly mobile people lose their ties to their class of origin. In this paper, we examine whether or not one of these arguments holds. We employ the United Kingdom and Switzerland as case studies because both are linked to distinct notions regarding social inequality and upward mobility. Longitudinal multilevel analyses based on panel data (UK: BHPS, Switzerland: SHP) allow us to reconstruct individual trajectories of life satisfaction (as a cognitive component of SWB) along with events of intragenerational and intergenerational upward mobility—taking into account previous levels of life satisfaction, dynamic class membership, and well-studied determinants of SWB. Our results show some evidence for effects of social class and social mobility on well-being in the UK sample, while there are no such effects in the Swiss sample. The UK findings support the idea of dissociative effects in terms of a negative effect of intergenerational upward mobility on SWB. [less ▲]