Education and societal change in Germany, 1925–2008

Abstract

The aim of this study is to unravel the impact of societal change in terms of modernization, labor market fluctuation and historical conditions in Germany on educational trajectories and attainment as well as the on the degree of inequality of educational opportunity for cohorts born between 1919 and 1986. We want to analyze whether and how long term societal trends have modified educational trajectories of consecutive birth cohorts. This perspective provides an understanding of historical variations in educational attainment associated with societal processes such as modernization in social, political, economic, and cultural spheres on the one hand and by macroeconomic cycles on the other hand. The empirical basis of our investigation are clusters of time series for macro changes and retrospective data from 11 birth cohort studies from the German Life History Study and the National Educational Panel Study for educational outcomes. We apply piecewise exponential event history models to analyze the impact of societal change on educational trajectories.