Wolfgang Lauterbach

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lauterbach holds an Adjunct Professorship in Social Science Educational Research at the University of Potsdam. His work focuses on educational trajectories, social inequality, and family dynamics. He leads the LifE study examining life course development and is involved in research on shadow education systems and wealth disparities.

Research interests include educational inequality, private tutoring effects in stratified systems, intergenerational mobility, and cross-national comparisons of labor market participation. He has conducted extensive studies on Germany's highly structured education system and its impact on socio-economic outcomes.

Notable projects include the LifE study tracking life course transitions and the HViD project analyzing high-wealth populations. His publications emphasize policy-relevant findings on educational expansion, family influence on academic success, and global shadow education trends.

• Research areas: Educational sociology, social stratification, family studies
• Key projects: LifE study, HViD study, Berlin school choice analysis
• Teaching focus: Soziologische Bildungsforschung in teacher training programs

Advising and grants: Active in mentoring PhD projects on education-work transitions and promotes quantitative methodologies in educational research. Coordinated UP's teacher training initiatives under the Quality Offensive program.

Labs/teams: Part of the Social Science Educational Research team with 6 staff members including assistants and doctoral researchers.