This paper applies the concept of worldviews (Wohlrab-Sahr/Benthaus-Apel 2006) to the transmission of religiosity across three generations of a family, in order to understand the dynamics of religious and non-religious connections to social contexts. By comparing two Christian families, the paper empirically demonstrates the social embeddedness of the transmission of religion across generations. Qualitative interviews suggest that basic assumptions rooted in everyday life are being transformed, particularly in highly secularised contexts. A comparison of the two families also shows that passing on a religious worldview requires the faith of the previous generation to be 'translated'. Above all, the concept of worldview is unfolded in its potential to shape normative values. Here, worldviews are distinguished according to the nature and scope of their relationship to the world, how embedded they are in everyday life, and their effects on socialisation. In order to understand the conditions under which religiosity can be transmitted within families, the study demonstrates how similar family relationship issues are addressed through different worldviews.
This study examines the division of paid labor in households with children by comparing female same-sex and different-sex couples in Germany. Although research indicates that same-sex couples tend to distribute labor more equitably, most studies have focused on unpaid work or income distribution, paying less attention to working hours. Furthermore, little is known about how regional gender norms and institutional contexts, such as those in East and West Germany, influence these patterns. Using ten years of data from the German Micro-census (2010-2019), this study analyzes a sample of 461 female same-sex couples and 363,192 different-sex couples to address these gaps. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression models are employed to examine variations in the division of paid work across these couple types and regional contexts. The findings reveal that mothers in female same-sex couples work more hours on average and share paid work more equally than mothers in different-sex couples. Regional analysis shows that in East Germany, both same-sex and different-sex couples exhibit similarly egalitarian work arrangements. In West Germany, however, different-sex couples are more specialized. These results highlight the importance of structural and cultural factors in shaping the division of paid labor in households with children.
This article examines the factors that enable prospective students from non-academic families to overcome social disparities within higher education. Building on the resource substitution hypothesis (Mirowsky & Ross, 2011) and rational choice theory of educational decision-making (Boudon, 1974), particular attention is given to the role of personality traits. The analysis of three critical transitions-entry into higher education, completion of a bachelor's degree, and transition to a master's program-shows that social origin continues to exert a strong influence on educational decisions. At the same time, the findings indicate that the personality traits openness and extraversion can serve compensatory functions for students from non-academic backgrounds. Specifically, high openness increases the likelihood of entering higher education for this group, but has a counterproductive effect on bachelor's degree completion. Extraversion, by contrast, facilitates both bachelor's completion and the transition to a master's program. These findings extend existing research on social disparities in higher education by demonstrating that individual resources such as personality traits can partially offset social disadvantages. The results suggest that, in particular, more open and extraverted individuals from non-academic households are more likely to benefit in the higher education context.
The Bologna Process, which began in 1999, introduced a variety of changes in higher education systems across Europe, primarily in the form of a comreturns). To this end, we have reviewed quantitative empirical studies listed in the to 2025. We find that the literature is surprisingly limited, selective, and ambiguous, making a meta-analysis currently unfeasible. While enrolment appears to have increased as a consequence of the Bologna Process, the evidence on study success is inconclusive. The results related to employment outcomes are more consistent: BA graduates tend to have lower labour market returns than graduates with MA or pre-reform degrees. Overall, studies often do not allow for causal conclusions and only provide a fragmented picture, making evidence-based adjustments to reform implementation difficult. Further empirical research is required that uses better data, more state-of-the-art methods and deeper theoretical reasoning.
The extent to which crowdwork platforms enable learning processes and professional development is controversial. This article contributes to resolving this controversy by focusing on a specific occupational field and examining IT crowdwork on freelancing and crowdtesting platforms in Germany. The central questions are how crowdworkers combine digital platform work with other forms of employment and how they use crowdwork for professional development. Based on the concept of hybrid forms of employment, the paper analyzes the specific employment constellations of IT crowdworkers. The empirical basis of the article is 41 qualitative interviews with IT crowdworkers and 3 expert interviews with representatives of platforms. The article identifies three ideal-typical employment constellations in IT crowdwork, depending on the type of platform: (1) a sideline self-employment model, (2) platform-based self-employment and (3) platform-mediated self-employment. These three employment constellations are associated with different forms of learning and a different use of platforms for professional development.
