sow943 - Society and Organisations (Complete module description)

Upon completing this module, students will have a thorough understanding of the central concepts and theories related to labour market and social inequality research. More specifically, the students will be able

• to distinguish different dimensions and determinants of labour market and social inequalities and to explain and evaluate the respective links and mechanisms in between;
• to formulate research questions and derive theory-based hypotheses to examine these questions;
• to understand the data and methods used for the empirical analysis in labour market and inequality research;
• to understand, compare and evaluate the empirical results from scientific publications and to apply these methods and analyse data themselves;
• to develop their own research question and answer it through the application of theoretical concepts and data analysis in a written seminar paper.

The two seminars of this module focus on the social opportunities and risks determined by organisations. This is not only about earnings and income opportunities and risks, but also about participation in social life, since gainful employment is still a central site of socialisation. These are the classical topics of labour market research (first seminar of the module) and the sociology of social inequalities (second seminar).

In the seminar “Social Inequality”, students will gain an understanding of the reproduction of social inequality within organisations such as the labour market, educational system, and welfare state. The seminar will explore how inequalities based on factors such as social background, education, gender, age, and migration background are perpetuated within these systems. First, central concepts, causes, and mechanisms of social inequality will be discussed and deepened, with a focus on the formation processes that operate within and across generations. Thereby, we will examine selected social characteristics and groups, such as gender, age, social origin, and ethnicity, which can determine advantages or disadvantages in social interactions and life circumstances. These inequalities may be perpetuated through the life-course structuring in organisations such as educational institutions, companies, associations, or political parties, as well as within institutional and social contexts such as systems of social security and labour market policy. In addition to this, students will gain knowledge of the most important data sources and methods used in empirical, theory-based research to understand and test relationships related to social inequality. Support will also be provided for students who wish to improve their skills in academic writing in English.

European Commission (2021). Employment and social developments in Europe 2021: reducing disparities and addressing distributional impacts. Brussels.

Falkingham J. Evandrou M. & Vlachantoni A. (2020). Handbook on demographic change and the lifecourse. Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Grusky, D. B. (2014). Social stratification: class, race, and gender in sociological perspective. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.

Heidenreich, M. (2022). Territorial and social inequalities in Europe: Challenges of European integration. Cham: Springer Nature.

Kalleberg, A. L. (2011). Good jobs, bad jobs: The rise of polarized and precarious employment systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Mayer, K. U. (2009). New Directions in Life Course Research. Annual Review of Sociology, 35, 413–433. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27800085

Nolan, B. (2018). Generating Prosperity for Working Families in Affluent Countries. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://academic.oup.com/book/7961

Portfolio comprising:
1 presentation in one seminar and
1 individual research paper (approximately 3500 words) in the other seminar of the module