Choosing a Field of Study

Researchers working on this bridging project adopt the perspective of educational sociology and economic policy to address the question of why students from different social backgrounds choose different courses of study. The first step is to develop an interdisciplinary theoretical model that will shed light on the possible processes and determinants involved in the selection of a course of study. Comprehensive empirical studies will then be conducted to identify the ways in which course selection in Germany differs as a function of student background. The processes and mechanisms of social inequality will be identified through a detailed analysis of current data that the German Center for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW) has collected on secondary-school graduates who have qualified for higher education. In addition, changes over time will be identified by synchronizing and cumulating data sets from previous decades. The objective of the project is to generate a theoretical and empirical understanding of the processes of course selection and to study their role in the reproduction of various aspects of social inequality.