Marcel Erlinghagen

Marcel Erlinghagen is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Duisburg-Essen, holding a W3 professorship since 2011. He is affiliated with the Faculty of Social Sciences and specializes in Empirical Social Structure Analysis. Additionally, he serves as a Fellow of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin.

His research focuses on migration and integration, labor market mobility, job security, and volunteering. He has been instrumental in securing funding for the Research Training Group 'Cross-Border Labor Markets: Transnational 'Market Makers', Infrastructures, Institutions,' which has been conducted jointly with Bielefeld University since 2024 and is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Erlinghagen's scholarly work examines how social commitment functions within aging societies, with particular attention to the motivations and societal implications of voluntary work among older adults. His research demonstrates that social commitment among seniors is not a new phenomenon but rather a continuation of lifelong civic engagement patterns.

• Fellow of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin

He leads a research team including Scientific Associates Antonia Görtz and Dr. Lisa Mansfeld, with administrative support from Silke Demmler. His work bridges theoretical sociology with practical implications for social policy, particularly regarding the role of voluntary work in an aging society and cross-border labor market dynamics. Erlinghagen actively contributes to academic discourse through his involvement in research groups and his teaching of social inequality topics in BA and MA programs.