Research Projects of the Sociology of Education Working Group
On this page you will find brief information on ongoing and completed research projects of the working group
ONGOING RESEARCH PROJECTS
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Progressing Promising Skills to Work in Bulgaria (ProSkills2Work)
Duration: 03/2025 – 02/2030
Project leaders: Prof. Dr. Vassil Kirov, Prof. Dr. Christian Imdorf
Project funding: Horizon Europe – Widening Participation and Spreading Excellence Programme
Project summary: The Progressing Promising Skills to Work (ProSkills2Work) project is paving the way for transformative change in education and labour research in Bulgaria and beyon, while positioning the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IPS-BAS) as a centre of scientific excellence and a hub for stakeholder engagement on policy issues.
The ERA Chair project aims to put IPS-BAS on the global research map. It aims to elevate the institute's expertise in research on vocational education and training in Bulgaria to a world-class level. At its core, ProSkills2Work explores how vocational skills are formed in Bulgaria, how people develop skills throughout their careers, and the factors that influence their transition from education to the workforce. Prof. Dr Christian Imdorf from Leibniz University Hannover holds the ERA Chair ProSkills2Work.
ProSkills2Work promotes the continuous development of diverse skills and competencies among IPS researchers, with the aim of implementing structural reforms to ensure long-term research excellence. The project addresses key challenges in workplace learning and skill development, while also refining sociological concepts to improve our understanding of the evolving relationship between education and work in the dynamic social and economic context of Bulgaria.
ProSkills2Work's long-term objective is to establish IPS as a leading hub for scientific excellence and policy-driven collaboration by setting up a Bulgarian Observatory of Education and Work, which will be a key institution for advancing skills and workforce development.
Project website: https://proskills2work.eu/en/
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European Labour Market Under Pressure – New Knowledge on Pathways to Include Persons in Vulnerable Situations (Paths2Include)
Duration: 03/2023 – 02/2026
Project leader: Prof. Dr. Christian Imdorf
Project staff: Prof. Dr. Dominik Buttler
Project summary: PATHS2INCLUDE will expand our understanding of the multidimensional aspects of labour market discrimination, the impact of different policy frameworks, and the gaps and possible need for change on various levels in order to detect mechanisms and processes that shape barriers or facilitate inclusive labour markets in Europe.
Attention will be made on the importance of how context puts people in vulnerable positions within three central labour market processes: recruitment, career trajectories, and work exit. Furthermore, the project will focus on predicting risk factors of vulnerability in the future of work.
We will employ a harmonized cross-national factorial survey experiment and qualitative interviews with employers to gain a better understanding of why and under which contextual conditions barriers are shaped, and how to develop inclusive practices. Moreover, we will use available harmonized data sets to conduct comparative quantitative analyses and microsimulations to generate best practices that promote inclusion in employment and decent work.
Paths2Include will provide insights on how institutional and contextual factors shape barriers for persons in vulnerable situations. Based on this knowledge, the project will develop proposals for effective policies combating labour market discrimination on the EU labour market.
In addition to Germany, these countries participate in the project: Norway (coordinator), Romania, Italy, Luxemburg, Spain, Belgium and Poland.
Press release from 20th April 2026: A focus on inclusion and integration: PATHS2INCLUDE highlights methods for increasing fairness in the labour market
Study results in German: Studienergebnisse in deutscher Sprache
Project website: https://paths2include.eu
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Education and Conventions: Potentials, Empirical Findings, Challenges and Desiderata of Convention Theory in Education (Special Issue)
Special Issue of the online-journal Historical Social Research
Guest Editors: Christian Imdorf (Leibniz University Hannover), Arne Böker (Institute for Higher Education Research Halle-Wittenberg), Romuald Normand (University of Strasbourg), Christian Schnejiderberg (University of Kassel) and Rebecca Ye (Stockholm University)
Deadlines and timeline:
- Deadline for abstracts: 1 November 2023
- Decision to authors to submit a full paper: until early December 2023
- Deadline for articles (first versions): 30 March 2024
- Peer-review until early-May 2024
- Deadline for articles (final versions): mid-October 2024
- Publication: Spring 2025 (earliest date)
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Vocational Schools as Pathways to Higher Education: International Perspectives (Special Issue)
Special Issue of the online-journal Social Inclusion (Vol.13, 2025)
Guest Editors: Christian Imdorf (Leibniz University Hannover), Claudia Schuchart (University of Wuppertal) and Nadine Bernhard (Technische Universität Berlin)
Timeline:- Deadline for abstracts: 1-15 July 2024
- Deadline for articles (first versions): 1-15 December 2024
- Publication: July/September 2025
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International students in STEM subjects and the role of their social networks
Funded by the Leibniz Centre for Science and Society (LCSS)
Duration: 2023 – 2025
Project leaders: Prof. Dr. Lysann Zander; Prof. Dr. Christian Imdorf
Project staff: Jannika Haase, M.Ed.
Project summary: Given the skills shortage due to demographic and technological changes in Germany, especially in STEM professions, international students are an important target group for German employers. Although research has been carried out on international students, their integration and their academic success in their host country, only few studies have investigated the role of social relationships from the perspective of international students as potential employees in Germany. In our research project, we focus on international (STEM) students’ well-being and further experiences, their future prospects, and in particular on their social relationships within and outside the university. We use quantitative and qualitative methods, i.e., the combination of a three-wave quantitative panel study and interviews with international (STEM) students at Leibniz Universität Hannover.
Dissertation projects
How do recruiters and employers construct the values of hiring criteria?
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Christian Imdorf, LUH & Prof. Dr. Irene Kriesi, SFUVET
Planned Submission Date: 2026/2027
Recruiters and employers are key gatekeepers in the labour market: their hiring decisions shape applicants’ career paths. However, research has often focused on the applicants’ characteristics and the outcomes of hiring processes rather than on the processes themselves (Bills et al. 2017; Rivera 2020). To better understand how hiring decisions are made, this doctoral project investigates how recruiters and employers evaluate selection criteria and recruitment tools across various organisational contexts.
Drawing on qualitative interviews (N=35) and a quantitative survey (N=2351) with recruiters and employers from various occupational fields and organisations of different sizes and legal forms, this doctoral project investigates the (de)valuation of several criteria and tools in hiring processes for skilled personnel.
This doctoral project addresses three main questions. First, how do recruiters and employers (de)value occupation-specific educational credentials when selecting skilled workers for open positions? Second, how do different types of recruiters prioritise and legitimise applicants’ fit with supervisors, teams and organisations as hiring criteria? Third, how do recruiters and employers value recruitment through employee referrals compared with referrals from private job agencies?
The analyses draw on organisational sociology and sociology of valuation. This dissertation is part of the project The role of educational credentials and skills in the hiring process at Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training. The project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.