I am a sociologist and Senior Researcher at the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW), where I lead the German Student Survey. My research examines how educational trajectories shape life chances across the life course, with particular attention to the development of educational inequalities and long-term returns to higher education.

I investigate pension provision, labor market returns, and the consequences of studying at older ages. I am the initiator of StAV (Student’s Attitudes and Knowledge Regarding Retirement Planning) and co-initiator of #IchBinHannelore, a project analyzing structural inequalities in academia.

My work has contributed to the literature on middle-class status insecurities, on labor market returns in general and specifically of graduates without formal entrance certificates, and has integrated of older students into higher education research.