Online series INCHER Working Papers

INCHER Working Papers

  • "Misfit(s) in academia": On the forms, functions and consequences of deviance in science

    Both the field of science and previous research on higher education or science have been shown to have a conformity or order bias. Although we are learning ever more about how science or academic careers work in conventional ways, what do we know about deviations from the prevailing structures, socialization mechanisms, and practices? This paper presents the basic need and the specific desiderata for a sociology of deviance in science (which exceeds violations of the ethics of science) are elaborated.

  • No. 14: A. Hertwig, A. Kosmützky & M. Rhein (2020): Internationale Forschungskollaborationen

    Our literature review aims to identify disciplinary, topical, regional, and communicative patterns in the context of international collaborative research. From a social science perspective, this paper illustrates the core discourse on international collaborative research based on articles in key journals in the fields of science studies and higher education research. Additionally, a broader systematic quantitative and qualitative analysis is carried out for an expanded, cross-disciplinary dataset of scholarly publications listed in Scopus for the period 2009 to 2016.

  • No. 13: C. Schneijderberg & N. Götze (2020): Organisierte, metrifizierte und exzellente Wissenschaftler*innen

    The German sub-study of the international project "Academic Profession in Knowledge Society (APIKS)" aims at a broad international comparative study of working conditions in science, employment conditions and attitudes of scientists*. This report on selected results focuses on the German sub-study of the APIKS 2018 survey, which is compared with the results of the 1992 and 2007 surveys.

  • No. 12: O. Hüther, A. Kosmützky, I. Asanov, G. Bünstorf & G. Krücken (2020): Massive Open Online Courses after the Gold Rush

    "Massive Open Online Courses" (MOOCs) have played a central role in the international discussion on the digitalization of higher education in recent years. Although the hype has subsided significantly since 2015, the number of MOOCs and the number of participants in MOOCs worldwide is still increasing. Against this background, this report analyses the international developments of MOOCs between 2011 and 2017 relates them to the German higher education system to sketch out future lines of development.

  • No. 11: U. Teichler (2019): Steering in a Modern Higher Education System

    This working paper presents an overview of the core substantive issues, which are predominantly targeted by the steering system in higher education.

  • No. 10: U. Teichler (2018): Higher Education and Graduate Employment

    The Working Paper focuses on the most important aspects of this subject area: the quantitative, structural and organizational links between higher education and employment, and the relationships between courses of study, learning and acquired competencies on the one hand, and work tasks and actual work on the other.

  • No. 9: I. Stein­hardt, C. Schnei­j­der­berg, G. Krü­cken & J. Bau­mann (2018): Externe und interne Qualitätssicherung von Studium und Lehre

    The authors examine the quality assurance of teaching and learning at German universities through accreditation and evaluation procedures. In their research, they reconstruct the connections, effects and mechanisms between quality, internal and external quality assurance and governance of teaching and learning. For this reconstruction(s), procedures and processes of internal and external quality assurance are taken into account.

  • No. 8: S. Neumeyer & B. Alesi (2018): Soziale Ungleichheiten nach Studienabschluss?

    Social inequalities after graduation? How the educational background affects transitions to postgraduate studies and the successful career entry of higher education graduates.

    The study tries to clarify whether and why social origin influences the transition to Master’s studies, the transition to doctoral studies and the occupational success of higher education graduates. In addition to biographies and performance characteristics, social support through social networks as well as expected costs, benefits and likelihood of success are analysed as mechanisms for inequalities.

  • No. 7: O. Hüther & S. Kirchner (2017): Kritische Masse oder Wettbewerb?

    Using a specially compiled data set, the paper examines the development of the proportion of female professors at German state universities from 1992 to 2014. It examines whether the developments are consistent with the expectations of critical mass theory or competition theory.

  • No. 6: I. Pietrzyk & A. Graser (2017): Gütekriterien des Fragebogens des Kooperationsprojekts Absolventenstudien

    The graduate studies cooperation project (Kooperationsprojekt Absolventenstudien – KOAB), which has been conducted since 2008 in cooperation between the International Center for Higher Education Research Kassel (INCHER) and about 60 universities, uses standardized questionnaires to survey university graduates primarily about their study conditions and their professional situation. The test-retest reliability of this questionnaire is examined in the present quality criteria study.

  • No. 5: A. Wagner (2015): Fördert die Exzellenzinitiative soziale Ungleichheit bei der Hochschulwahl?

    This paper mainly uses data from the German Student Survey of the AG Hochschulforschung at the University of Konstanz to investigate a possible causal effect of the Excellence Initiative on the university choice of students with high socio-economic status (SÖS) in a quasi-experimental research design.

  • No. 4: C. Bonny & A. Kosmützky (2015): Internationale Mobilität von Nachwuchswissenschaftlerinnen und Nachwuchswissenschaftlern in Deutschland

    At the interface between the promotion of young researchers and international mobility, the authors of this study address the reporting and data situation on the international mobility of young researchers. The starting point for this is the observation that, when it comes to the international mobility of young researchers, a gap seems to be opening up between the desire for funding in higher education and science policy and the factual basis.

  • No. 3: A. Blümel & O. Hüther (2015): Verwaltungsleitung an deutschen Hochschulen

    The report summarizes the main results of the survey of chancellors at public, private and church universities in Germany conducted by the authors at INCHER in 2015. The background to the survey is the diverse changes in higher education governance in Germany, which have led to extensive restructuring of the chancellor's office.

  • No. 2: A. Hertwig (2014): Forschungsmethoden und Publikationsmuster der deutschsprachigen Hochschulforschung

    This paper contributes to the empirical-methodical measurement of the research field of higher education research. The data basis is formed by scientific publications that represent the context of German-language higher education research as comprehensively as possible. Within these documents, methods and instruments of empirical social research are identified for the period 1990 to 2010.

  • No. 1: D. Krollpfeiffer & A. Kosmützky (2012): International Branch Campus

    The study by Krollpfeiffer and Kosmützky documents existing research literature on the topic of "international branch campuses" and evaluates it in order to create a basis for further research. The authors have a dual focus: they provide an overview of the quantitative development and thematic focus of the research literature, thus describing the state of development of the research field, and on the other hand they present central aspects of the development of International Branch Campus itself.