This Research Group will investigate if, to what extent, and how educational chances are unevenly distributed among different social groups in contemporary European societies. The specific question it will try to answer is: to what extent do such individual characteristics as gender, generation, social origin, and ethnicity affect the opportunity to reach the various educational levels and degrees offered by contemporary societies? Another set of important questions concerns the gain that individuals and society have from education. To what extent exactly do different types and levels of education affect individuals’ life chances, in particular provide secure and profitable employment, protect against unemployment, poverty and other social risks, and enable advantageous occupational and mobility chances? Both, inequalities in educational participation and the returns to education can change over time and there are substantial differences between countries. A systematic comparative evaluation of these issues will be undertaken in cooperative research using solid data bases that also include countries of the South and East of Europe.
EDUC: Education, Social Mobility and Social Cohesion