Inequality and Education: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Registration

This is an interdisciplinary doctoral seminar also open to advanced master students (3rd semester or higher).

Please see below for registration details.
Registration deadline: 25th October 2019

Time and Room

Tuesday, 10:00 - 11:30, Y310

Course Description

This seminar for doctoral students studies the association between education and inequality from different, interdisciplinary perspectives (mostly psychology, sociology, economics and political science). More specifically, the course addresses issues such as:

To what extent are patterns of educational attainment and participation connected to factors such as individual social, ethnic, or religious background?
Why does the association between individual background and attainment vary over time and across educational systems?
Which policies are most effective in reducing education-related inequality?
Why is it often difficult to implement these policies from a political perspective?
What is the role of political parties and interest groups in shaping education policy across time and countries?
How do education systems cope with the challenge of digitalization and automation?
How can we empirically evaluate the causal effects of policies?

In order to address these questions, we will read and discuss a broad literature from educational sociology, economics of education and comparative public policy analysis. Students are expected to contribute actively to class discussions and write a research paper based on and related to the literature discussed in class. Selectively invited guest speakers will contribute to enhancing the course program and to ensuring that topics discussed are at the cutting edge of research.

Course Objectives

Students acquire the ability to put together a summary of existing research on a topic
Students can develop a theory
Students are able to design a research project
Students are able to transfer the results of their research into a broader context

Registration

This is an interdisciplinary doctoral seminar also open to advanced master students (3rd semester or higher).

In order to register for participation, please send an email to sophia.timmermann@uni-konstanz.de stating your study programme and your study semester.
Deadline for registration is 25th October 2019. In case of large registration numbers, priority will be given to doctoral students.

Assessment

Students are expected to contribute actively to class discussions and write a research paper based on and related to the literature discussed in class.

Literature

Busemeyer, Marius R, 2015: Skills and Inequality, CUP.

Diehl, Claudia, and Nadia Granato. 2018. Intergenerational inequalities in the education system and the labour market for native-born children of immigrants from Turkey and the former Yugoslavia", in Catching Up? Country Studies on Intergenerational Mobility and Children of Immigrants, OECD Publishing, Paris.

Schlotter, Martin, Guido Schwerdt and Ludger Woessmann (2011). Econometric Methods for Causal Evaluation of Education Policies and Practices: A Non-Technical Guide. Education Economics, 19 (2), 109-137.