Nadine Bernhard

Prof. Dr. Nadine Bernhard is a leading academic at the Technical University of Berlin, holding the Professorship for Higher Education in the Context of Digital Change and Diversity since May 2023. She is also an external Fellow at the Leibniz Research Centre for Science and Society since October 2020. Her academic journey includes positions at Humboldt University Berlin, WZB Berlin, and research visits to institutions in Paris and Strasbourg.

Research Interests:

• Comparative analysis of vocational and higher education systems
• Institutional permeability between educational sectors
• Digital transformation in higher education
• Equity and diversity in learning environments
• Europeanization and policy transfers
• Qualitative research methodologies

Publication Trends: Her work focuses on cross-national comparisons, particularly Germany-France-US, analyzing how educational policies, digitalization, and social inequality affect institutional permeability and student pathways. She has published extensively on Bologna-Copenhagen processes, work-based learning, and pandemic-era educational adaptations.

Scientific Awards:

• Friedrich-Edding Prize (2017) for vocational education research
• German Sociological Association's Young Researcher Award (2016)
• Best Research Article Award (2014) for European skill formation studies

Additional Contributions: Bernhard leads the collaborative AEDiL project on pandemic-era teaching and contributes to policy briefs with the Hertie School of Governance. She has co-edited special issues on evidence-based higher education teaching and conducted fieldwork on Cold War childhoods in Eastern Germany.