The research interests of the research and teaching unit include social inequalities, employment and the labour market, life course research, family and social networks, as well as organisational sociology and empirical justice research.
Teaching in the research amd teaching unit 5 'Social Structure and Social Inequality' focuses on social inequality, education, the labour market and employment, life courses and individual development, as well as family and social networks. The teaching is theory-oriented on the one hand, because only theories provide the conceptual and analytical tools for a scientifically sound description and explanation of social phenomena. On the other hand, it is empirically oriented because any description and explanation of social phenomena must be based on a methodologically sound and exact observation of the social world.