News

As part of the LIfBi lectures series, Dr. Gabriele Steuer, Research Assistant at the University of Augsburg, presented the results of several studies on the topic “effective regulation of motivation”.

As part of the LIfBi lectures series, Prof. Dr. Marcus Hasselhorn, the Executive Director of the German Institute for International Educational Research (Deutsches Institut für internationale Pädagogische Forschung, DIPF), presented results from the early support program "The Mature School Child" (Schulreifes Kind).

Playing a lot of video games makes adolescents stupid—a statement that is often referred to by the term “digital dementia”. This popular assumption is challenged by studies in which video gamers demonstrate a quicker perception and can solve complex problems more easily. Researchers could not validate either assumption through their new study. They did not find any significant correlation between the time 15-year-olds spend playing video games and their cognitive abilities.

This year’s special award of the women’s representative at the University of Bamberg was given to Regina Jusri for her thesis in the field of gender research. The PUSh prize (Preis der Universitätsfrauenbeauftragten für Studentinnen mit hervorragenden Leistungen) is awarded every year to three female students for their outstanding final papers.

Over the last months, the ReGES team has worked intensely to prepare the first wave of the survey of the ReGES study.

The international closing conference of the second funding phase of the DFG Priority Programme 1646, which was initiated in 2012, was held again this year in cooperation with the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories.

In addition to characteristics such as the family’s migration background or place of residence, especially the parents’ personal opinions influence their decision for or against sending their child to a day-care center. These opinions include, for example, the significance that parents attribute to their own working life and if they see child care outside the family as favorable for their child’s development.

In his guest lecture at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories, Prof. Dr. Rainer Schnell from the University of Duisburg-Essen, currently Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences at Curtin-University of Perth (Australia), presented a method to calculate spatial distances between individuals and infrastructure facilities without using "genuine" geocoordinates. The technique he presented creates approximate values of high quality and simultaneously ensures sufficient protection of individual data.

On November 7, 2017, Dr. Irene Kriesi, Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (SFIVET), presented results of her joint work with Ariane Basler, University of Zurich, and Christian Imdorf, University of Basel, on gender-typical career aspirations as part of the lecture series LIfBi lectures.

During his visit at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi), Prof. Dr. Clemens Kroneberg, University of Cologne, presented the Model of Frame Selection (MFS) as well as its added value and limitations in contrast to (primarily incentive-based) Rational Choice (RC) approaches from the field of decision theory.

How quickly women will return to work after taking family-related leave depends on the income level of their last job. In case of low salaries, women are more likely to take more time off from work—and this is largely regardless of the share of part-time work in their profession. These findings have now been revealed by a study based on data of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS).

With the beginning of the new school year of 2017/18, the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) welcomes already its second generation of trainees.

Men working in professions with a high male rate evidently find it easier to find a new job after a period of unemployment. In contrast, the last job prior to unemployment is less significant for women returning to work. Instead, the family situation is of key importance: Mothers of small children (below the age of four) are facing difficulties on reentering the labor market. This is what researchers have found out in a study investigating the influence of the profession and other factors on the duration of unemployment.

David Osher and Sanjay Arora (AIR) visited the LIfBi for consultation meetings from October 9 to 11.

The NEPS Publication Award was presented to Dr. Fabian Ochsenfeld, honoring his extraordinary scientific contribution based on data of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS).

On September 27 and 28, 2017, the 4th Meeting of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) was held in Bamberg.

Many people know from experience that, apart from having good grades or relevant work experience, a pleasant personality or an intelligent appearance will also affect successful job-hunting. In a current investigation, Dr. Timo Gnambs of the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories relates individual characteristics to the duration of adults’ job searches until they are successful. In fact, the study shows that emotional stability and high articulateness make the job search easier and, consequently, also shorten periods of involuntary unemployment.

In the 2009/2010 survey waves of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), roughly 70% of adult respondents replied to the question about their income with an approximate value—a common phenomenon also in other surveys. This distortion of the actual income distribution has a negative influence on the accuracy of the statistical analysis and relating conclusions. Dr. Sabine Zinn and Dr. Ariane Würbach of the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories have developed a statistical model that allows researchers to make reliable statements about the actual income distribution even in the case of values rounded not at random.

Unexpectedly, Prof. Dr. Volker Stocké has passed away at the age of 51.

LIfBi congratulates first apprentice to complete vocational training at the Institute.