Same degree, same chances? Sociologist Fabian Kratz is investigating when educational climbers are just as successful in their jobs as children from privileged homes – but why they are still not necessarily as happy.
Interviewed by
Bernd Kramer
Can the son of a Hartz IV recipient make it to the top on his own and end up being just as successful as the banker’s daughter? Or will the banker’s daughter have an advantage throughout her professional career? For how long in life does coincidence shape us, into which family we were born – and when does our own commitment count? The sociologist Fabian Kratz from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich researches these questions, among other things with data from the Socio-Economic Panel, a large repeat survey that regularly provides detailed insights into the lives of thousands of people in Germany. They don’t just show how surprisingly long the social background the professional biographies influenced – but also how much it shapes the chances of being happy.