The academic workforce is recognised as being key to the ability of both modern economies to innovate and societies to solve current problems and avert future ones. However, the German academic system is characterised by increasingly fierce competition and offers young researchers career prospects that are difficult to plan. This special issue aims to understand the social mechanisms behind the career decisions, prospects and paths of higher education graduates both inside and outside academia. It sheds light on employment trajectories and monetary returns, the embedding of careers in private and professional social networks and academic recruitment processes. The contributions in this special issue provide the latest research in a vibrant research field.With contributions bySimone Bartsch | Khulan Bayarkhuu | Frerk Blome | Aaron Bohlen | Guido Buenstorf | Sara Connolly | Thorsten Euler | Christina Elhalaby | Nurith Epstein | Stefan Fuchs | Lea Goldan | Christiane Gross | Isabel M. Habicht | Channah Herschberg | Ester Höhle | Steffen Jaksztat | Martina Kroher | Kathrin Leuze | Mark Lutter | Kai Mühleck | Richard Münch | Laura Naegele | Nicolai Netz | Jessica Ordemann | Anne Otto | Knut Petzold | Brigitte Schels | Andreas Schmitz | Martin Schröder | Ulrike Schwabe | Maria Theissen | Fabian Trennt | Claartje J. Vinkenburg | Jonas Volle | Oliver Wieczorek
Degree Differentiation and Changing Career Outcomes of Higher Education Graduates in Germany: A Matter of Specialization, Extracurricular Activities or Labor Market Segmentation?Pages 20 - 54
Social inequalities in postdoctoral dropout from academia by gender, parental academic background, and migration background, and their intersectionsPages 130 - 168
Types of Collaboration and the Consolidation of Sociological Research Evidence from publications in five German sociology journals 2000–2019Pages 239 - 279
Female advantage in German sociology: Does accounting for the “leaky pipeline” effect in becoming a tenured university professor make a difference?Pages 407 - 456
