Faculty of Educational Science
Profile
Prof. Dr. Frederick de Moll
Professorship of Educational Science specialising in childhood and youth research
- Telephone
- +49 521 106-86996
- Room
- Gebäude Z Z1-300
Prof. Dr. Frederick de Moll
Frederick de Moll is a Professor in Childhood and Youth Studies at the Faculty of Educational Science at Bielefeld University in Germany. He is also a board member of the Bielefeld Centre for Childhood and Youth Research and a principal investigator of the Shell Youth Study in 2024. His research focuses on social and educational inequalities in (early) childhood and youth, family life and parenting practices in relation to organizational expectations. Recent work addresses children’s views on inequalities and their beliefs regarding educational opportunities as well as parenting practices vis-à-vis children’s access to higher education. Frederick has published book chapters and articles on topics such as societal notions of ‘good’ parenting, children’s agency in processes of sociocultural reproduction, social class differences in childcare arrangements and teenagers’ alienation from school. He has done several research stays and held fellowships abroad to give lectures and collaborate in research, visiting the United States, Canada, France and Japan.
Curriculum vitae
- Education
2016 Fakultät für Erziehungswissenschaft, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt Dr. phil., Promotion in Erziehungswissenschaft ("summa cum laude"). Titel der Dissertation: „Familiale Bildungspraxis und Schülerhabitus“ 2005‑2008 Fakultät für Humanwissenschaften, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg Diplom in Erziehungswissenschaft (mit Auszeichnung), Nebenfach: Soziologie, 2008. Vordiplom in Erziehungswissenschaft, Nebenfach: Psychologie, 2005. - Scientific career
2022‑heute Fakultät für Erziehungswissenschaft, Universität Bielefeld Professor für Erziehungswissenschaft mit dem Schwerpunkt Kindheits- und Jugendforschung 2019‑2022 Fakultät für Geisteswissenschaften, Erziehungswissenschaften und Sozialwissenschaften, Université du Luxembourg Postdoktorand (Assistant Postdoctorant) 2017‑2019 Fachbereich Erziehungswissenschaften, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (Postdoc) 2011‑2015 Fachbereich Erziehungswissenschaften, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter 2008‑2011 Fakultät für Humanwissenschaften, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter - Memberships
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Erziehungswissenschaft (DGfE)
- Sektion "Soziale Ungleichheit und Sozialstrukturanalyse" der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie (DGS)
- Sektion "Soziologie der Kindheit" der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie (DGS)
- Luxembourg Educational Research Association (LuxERA)
- American Educational Research Association (AERA), Co-Chair der SIG "Bourdieu in Educational Research"
Teaching
Firstly, my teaching relates to childhood and youth under the auspices of social inequalities and power relations. Accordingly, questions about the reproduction mechanisms of educational inequality and social class relations are particularly focussed on when it comes to the living conditions of young people and their perspectives on peers, institutions of education, care and upbringing, educational staff and social conditions. In my events, I address social mobility as well as the mobilisation of various forms of capital by privileged groups in the education system, for example in the context of parental education strategies. In addition, I establish links to other axes of inequality such as gender, ethnicity and immigration, which is why my courses are not only aimed at students of Educational Science and teacher training programmes, but are also regularly open to students of Gender Studies.
Secondly, I offer courses across the entire spectrum of general Educational Science, i.e. on theories of education and upbringing, historical-systematic pedagogy and educational history, whereby a social-theoretical and empirical connection to Educational Science theory formation is characteristic of my courses.
A third focus of my teaching is on research methods and methodological questions of qualitative and quantitative empirical social research, whereby these are usually discussed in the context of practical research application.
In my courses, it is important to me to work on the topics and content together, whereby different methods and working techniques can be used and alternate between lectures, work in small groups over several sessions and discussions in plenary sessions. In my arguments, I emphasise the importance of combining theoretical perspectives with empirical findings. I am delighted when we succeed in working together on a topic in seminars, learning with and from each other, challenging entrenched normative perspectives and developing new ones. In this respect, I am committed to research-based Lehren und Lernen [Centre for teaching and learning], but I also consider lectures to be a profitable way of acquiring new knowledge.
SoSe 2025
- 250302 Theoretische Perspektiven auf Bildung und soziale Ungleichheit (S)
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250303 Soziale Medien als Katalysator emanzipatorischer Bildungsprozesse im Jugendalter (S)
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250304 Pädagogik und Kindheit in Japan (S)
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250310 Intersecting Inequalities and the Myth of 'Acting White': American Lessons on Race and Education (S)
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250312 Modulbezogene Vertiefung "Bildung: Theorien und Institutionen" (I) (VK)
- WiSe 2024/2025
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250266 Einführung in Erziehungs- und Bildungstheorien (V)
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250278 Einführung in die quantitativen Forschungsmethoden (S)
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250279 Bildung = Sozialisation = Habitusgenese? (S)
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250282 Abschlusskolloquium Bachelor (III) (Ko)
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250283 Childhood Inequalities across Global Contexts (Ringvorlesung ZKJF) (V)
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250287 Soziale Ungleichheiten in Kindheit und Jugend im globalen Vergleich (S)
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- SoSe 2024
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250258 Bildungsforschung mit Bourdieu: Theoretische Grundlagen und empirische Befunde (S)
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250259 Jüdische Bildungsgeschichte zwischen Aufklärung und Tradition (S)
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250261 Modulbezogene Vertiefung "Bildung: Theorien und Institutionen" (II) (VK)
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250262 Elitenbildung in Kindheit und Jugend (BS)
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250264 Methoden und Befunde der quantitativen Kindheits- und Jugendforschung (S)
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Projects
National Stratification Systems of Higher Education, Parenting Logics, and Social Reproduction: The Case of the United States, Canada, and Germany (NatStrat)
- EQUITY – Exploring the Quintessence of University belonging: Inequalities in Today’s Youth
Social Inequalities in the Context of Higher Education: An Explorative Study on the Sense of Belonging of Young People
Duration: 03/2024 - 08/2024
Funded by: Research Fund Educational Science, Commission for Research and Young Researchers (Foko) of the Faculty of Educational Science, Bielefeld University
Project management: Dr Sercan Erer, Prof Dr Frederick de Moll
Research assistant: Jessika Dirks, M.A.
In Germany, the proportion of young people under the age of 30 who attend university is particularly low compared to most other OECD member states at around 35% (OECD, 2023). Children from working-class families in particular are still significantly less likely to study than children from academic families. In recent debates about study rates and dropping out, questions about the sense of belonging and well-being of young people have become increasingly important (Suhlmann et al., 2018).
The aim of our research project is to first systematically review the current state of research based on different definitions of sense of belonging in the university context. The focus here is on the use of questionnaire instruments and the correlations of Sense of Belonging with social background, gender and migration-related differences as well as the type of university attended. A qualitative interview study with students from different universities in the region is then planned in order to develop a better understanding of the concept of university affiliation and suitable measurement instruments.
The results will be used to prepare a quantitative study in which a longitudinal analysis will be conducted to determine how the sense of belonging to a university develops among students of different origins over the course of their studies in Germany and which factors contribute to its increase or decrease. In the course of this, measuring instruments adapted to the German university context will be developed. Our research project aims to contribute to researching and ultimately improving the chances of education, placement and success, particularly for groups that are disadvantaged in the higher education system.