Maria Theißen

Maria Theißen has been a research assistant at the International Center for Higher Education Research (INCHER) and the Department of Economic Policy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Kassel since June 2019.

Maria completed her Master's degree in 'Economic Behavior and Governance' at the University of Kassel.

As part of her doctorate, she is interested in the influence of various family policy measures on the career paths of academics, particularly doctoral graduates.

Since April 2024, Maria Theißen has been assisting Prof. Dr. Guido Bünstorf with his work for the Expert Commission on Research and Innovation (EFI). Since August 2026, she has also been working as a research associate at the EFI secretariat.

Publications (in chronological order) 

Buechele, Stefan; Buenstorf, Guido; Huegel, Matthias; Koenig, Johannes; Theissen, Maria (2026): Is the dominance of graduates from top-tier universities among tenured faculty driven by prestige or output? Evidence from 50 years of university appointments in Germany. Research Policy 55 (3), Article 105411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2026.105411 .

Buechele, Stefan; Buenstorf, Guido; Huegel, Matthias; Koenig, Johannes; Theissen, Maria (2025): Is the dominance of graduates from top-tier universities among tenured faculty driven by prestige or output? Evidence from 50 years of university appointments in Germany. Marburg (Joint Discussion Paper Series in Economics, 16-2025). Online https://www.uni-marburg.de/en/fb02/research-groups/economics/macroeconomics/research/magks-joint-discussion-papers-in-economics/papers/2025-papers/16-2025.pdf, checked on 6/8/2026.

Bartsch, Simone; Buenstorf, Guido; Theissen, Maria (2024): Are employment trajectories of STEM doctoral degree holders gender specific? Evidence from a large German technical university. In: Christiane Gross, Steffen Jaksztat (Eds.): Career paths inside and outside academia. Soziale Welt (Sonderheft 26): Nomos, 89–129. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748925590-89 .

Theissen, Maria; Koenig, Johannes; Bode, Rasmus; Bünstorf, Guido (2023): Habilitiertenregister deutscher Universitäten 2000-2020. GESIS. Köln. https://doi.org/10.4232/1.14193 .