Kathrin Leuze

Prof. Dr. Kathrin Leuze holds a W3 professorship for Methods of Empirical Social Research and Social Structure Analysis at Friedrich Schiller University Jena's Institute of Sociology since April 2017. Previously, she served as Professor of Sociology of Education at Leibniz University Hannover (2012-2017) and Junior Professor of Educational Sociology at Free University Berlin (2009-2012). She obtained her doctorate in Social Sciences from the University of Bremen in 2007 with a dissertation comparing graduate career trajectories in Germany and Britain.

Research Focus

Her research examines sociological inequalities through multiple lenses:

• Labor market dynamics and occupational structures
• Wealth distribution and property disparities
• Gender inequalities in education and employment
• International comparative studies of social systems
• Higher education outcomes and policy impacts

Academic Leadership

• Head of the 'Social Inequality and Social Structure Analysis' section at the German Sociological Association
• Former head of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) project group on Vocational Training (2008-2012)
• Principal investigator in multiple DFG-funded projects on education policy and labor markets

Publication Focus

Her recent publications predominantly analyze gender disparities in STEM fields, labor market segmentation, and educational pathways using quantitative methods. Key themes include occupational gender segregation, wage gap mechanisms, and cross-national comparisons of institutional impacts on inequality.