Abstract: In life-course scholarship, there is a long-standing discussion on the relative importance of institutional structures and human agency for educational trajectories. Social stratification research often highlights the power of institutional structures whereas psychological research tends to focus on the role of human agency. Using data from a longitudinal cohort study and adopting a life course perspective, I will provide empirical evidence indicating that the relative power of structure and agency varies across an educational career and that individual educational trajectories are best understood as the result of an interplay between structure and agency. I will discuss how institutional structures channel educational trajectories into distinct educational pathways, creating path dependencies, while also allowing for mobility between these pathways. Moreover, I will consider how human agency contributes to this mobility.
Link to study: https://mcusercontent.com/bde7eee400fbb9c8f98a3afd6/files/59c2ffae-0a85-7367-aa69-5b6000e15260/Burger_2021.pdf
Event
SEMILUX – Understanding educational trajectories: A life course perspective
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Speaker Kaspar Burger, Associate professor in Early Childhood Education and Care and Childhood Studies
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Location
MSH 1st floor LISER seminar room
Porte des Sciences
4366, Esch/Alzette, Luxembourg
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Topic(s)
Social Sciences -
Type(s)
Lectures and seminars