Higher education trajectories and social origin in Germany and the United States: A comparative sequence-analytical approach

Doctoral thesis (2021)

Students’ higher education trajectories as holistic educational processes are an underresearched aspect, particularly in the German context. This cumulative thesis fills this gap by investigating ... [more ▼]

Students’ higher education trajectories as holistic educational processes are an underresearched aspect, particularly in the German context. This cumulative thesis fills this gap by investigating students’ trajectories through bachelor’s degree courses in German and US higher education. In terms of methodology, it is based on a sequence-analytical approach using two student panel data sets (the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) and the US Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS)) and comprises a literature review and three empirical research articles, each providing a different theoretical and conceptual angle. Higher education is a non-compulsory educational phase, implying students are granted more autonomy and more choice but also require more personal responsibility to plan a path through higher education. As such, it is assumed that parents’ cultural resources – defined here as higher education-specific knowledge – and economic resources shape students’ trajectories to enable them to proceed through their studies in a more continuous or linear way and prevent students from experiencing complex trajectories, such as delays, interruptions or detours. To begin with, the literature review, constructed as a narrative review with systematic elements, captured the state of research on higher education trajectories by reviewing peer-reviewed journal articles from a wide range of mainly higher education research journals. It revealed that this research area is rather heterogeneous and dominated by studies focusing on the United States. Research articles one and two employ similar research strategies – sequence analyses followed by cluster analyses. Stressing the relationship between parents’ resources and students’ trajectories, the first article concentrates exclusively on students in German research universities, whereas the second also considers students at universities of applied sciences. Overall, these studies reveal that the trajectories of students at the universities of applied sciences are more often linear, while the opposite applies to students at research universities and students of low social origin, pointing towards the hypothesised effect of parental resources. Furthermore, students of low social origin are more likely to follow a linear standard trajectory when studying at a university of applied sciences compared to at a research university. In the third paper, based on the premise that trajectories are systematically shaped by the institutional context of the higher education system, students’ trajectories in German and US higher education are compared, allowing to simultaneously a view on system-level characteristics and national idiosyncrasies. US higher education provides almost universal access, is very marketised and highly differentiated, thereby accommodating diverse demands and heterogeneous student groups. By contrast, German higher education, based on public funding and regulation, early ability tracking and low permeability, restricts access and provides an overall much less diversified study offering. Consequently, research article three revealed that students’ trajectories are overall less standardised in US higher education – but this differs greatly by higher education sector, whereas the trajectories of students in the (selective) research universities are overall more standardized. Furthermore, the social origin differences were quite pronounced in the United States, whereas the social origin effect was almost nonexistent for students in German higher education in this study (based on a different sequence-analytical approach). Remarkable, though, remains the finding that students’ trajectories are less linear at German research universities compared to the universities of applied sciences – even more so among students of low social origin – while US research universities facilitate linear trajectories. Overall, this dissertation provides an important contribution to the state of research on link between social origin, students’ trajectories and how this link is mediated by the institutional context of the respective higher education system. [less ▲]

Social stratification in higher education trajectories: A sequence-analytical approach

Scientific Conference (2019, September 13)

The social stratification of student trajectories in German higher education

Poster (2019, March 26)

Same same, but different? Unequal student pathways in German higher education

Presentation (2018, August 30)

Ahead of the pack? Explaining the unequal distribution of scholarships in Germany

in British Journal of Sociology of Education (2017), 38(5), 705-720

This article investigates to what extent scholarships are unequally distributed among students in Germany and how these inequalities can be explained. Following sociological theory, the article argues ... [more ▼]

This article investigates to what extent scholarships are unequally distributed among students in Germany and how these inequalities can be explained. Following sociological theory, the article argues that elites seek qualitative ways of distinguishing themselves in a mass higher education system. Using student surveys, we demonstrate that class effects cannot merely be explained with reference to class differences in academic achievement but that higher classes have better access to scholarships independent of earlier school performance. Class differences were particularly persistent when the intermediate classes were compared with higher classes with more education. These findings illustrate that social classes have different strategies when it comes to participating in higher education and suggest that information about and access to scholarships is important in gaining a class advantage. [less ▲]

Soziodemografische Merkmale der Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen in Luxemburg

in Willems, Helmut (Ed.) Übergänge vom Jugend- ins Erwachsenenalter: Verläufe, Perspektiven, Herausforderungen (2015)

The transition from youth into adulthood: processes, perspectives, challenges

in MENJE; UL (Eds.) The Transition from Youth into Adulthood. Summary of the National Report on the Situation of Young People in Luxembourg 2015 (2015)

The Netherlands: Policy-enhanced Inequalities Tempered by Household Formation

in Nolan, Brian; Salverda, Wiemer; Checchi, Daniele (Eds.) et al Changing Inequalities & Societal Impacts in Rich Countries. Thirty Countries' Experiences (2014)

Income Inequality and Support for Development Aid

E-print/Working paper (2013)

Ahead of the Pack. Explaining the Unequal Distribution of Scholarships in Germany

Bachelor/master dissertation (2012)