Technological change and the digital transformation have brought about significant implications for social inequality. This MA course aims to explore the multifaceted impact of these changes on various aspects of life and society. While previous research has particularly focused on labour market transformations and changes in skill requirements, the effects of digital transformation and technological change have the potential to reverberate throughout society, influencing inequalities across different domains of life, such as education, employment, health, social security, and political participation, among others. The course examines the determinants and consequences of technological change and the digital transformation across different life stages and institutional settings, with a focus on the ways in which various groups in society, including gender, age, ethnicity, and regional populations, are impacted.
Some of the example questions that will be explored in this course include: How do technological changes and digitalisation either exacerbate or alleviate social inequalities? What is the relationship between skill requirements in the workplace and the reproduction of social inequality? How do technological advancements benefit some groups, while leaving others behind? How do these changes impact political attitudes and participation? These and other pressing questions will be examined through a variety of theoretical frameworks and empirical studies, with the aim of providing a comprehensive understanding of the complex intersection between digital transformation, technological change, and social inequality.