Doctoral Researcher specialized in (equality-enhancing) policies at
the Emmy Noether Research Group "Varieties of Egalitarianism:
Mapping the Politics of Inequality" (f/m/d)
(partime 65 %, Salary Scale E 13 TV-L, 4 years)
Reference Number 2021/079. Starting date between 1 September 2021 and 1 November 2021.
The University of Konstanz is one of eleven Universities of Excellence in Germany. Since 2007 it has been successful in the German Excellence
Initiative and its follow-up programme, the Excellence Strategy.
Are you interested in studying the links between parties, policies, and inequalities?
We are searching for a highly motivated doctoral student with a keen interest in studying (allegedly) equality-enhancing and equality-reducing
policies. The successful candidate will be responsible for compiling a new dataset on equality-enhancing and equality-reducing policies for 12 OECD
democracies and will analyze these data in joint work with the members of the research group. The candidate is expected to write a dissertation on a
topic related to the project.
The prospective dissertation topic depends on your specific interests, but could be linked to policy choices regarding redistribution, predistribution/
regulation, or social investment. Examples for topic areas involve 1) trade-offs between policies and policy fields (broadly or narrowly
defined), 2) pledge fulfillment with regard to equality-enhancing or equality reducing policies, or 3) party effects on specific policy portfolios, 4) the
question if/how policies affect inequalities (what works?). While pursuing your own (project related) doctoral research, you will collaborate with the
senior researchers in the group, Alexander Horn (PI) and Martin Haselmayer (as well as Jonathan Klüser as affiliated member) and to further our
understanding of the linkages between party ideology, policies, and inequalities.
We are currently collecting data on parties’ equality concepts and how these concepts have evolved since 1980. On this basis, we will be able to map
how parties conceive of equality across countries and how dominant ideas of equality have changed within countries and parties over time. Finally, to
understand how these changes have affected policy profiles and (in)equality outcomes, we need to conceptualize, compile, and analyze data on
supposedly (in)equality-enhancing policies. You can learn more about the project, the equality concepts, and the policies we have in mind in the
original
project proposal and on our project page.
Our overall aim is to decipher different
pathways to (in)equality. The position comes without teaching obligation (but the possibility to teach) and will
leave room for independent research to pursue your PhD. As for the broader intellectual eco-system, you can join the Graduate School (GSDS) and
the Cluster of Excellence “The Politics of Inequality”, which hosts our research group, as well as various working groups. Generous funding for the
research group from the German Research Foundation (DFG) is available for international conferences and state of the art methods training (in
addition to the Ph.D.-training on offer in Konstanz).
Selection criteria are (i.a.) real interest in policies and the politics of inequality, experience with data collection, and the motivation to master
quantitative analyses.
Your responsibilities
- Develop a database on relevant policies
- Map how equality policies have changed
- Study determinants of policies and/or
distributions and trajectories of policies
and/or effects of policies on inequalities
- Publish with other VoE group members
Your Competencies
- MA, e.g., in politics, economics, sociology
- Experience with large-N data collection
- Solid skills in quantitative methods
- Familiarity with stats software (Stata, R)
- Strong interest in policies and inequality
- Fluency in English, ideally some German
- Ability and willingness to work in a team
We Offer
- Vibrant research environment and team
- Funding for advanced methods training
- Very generous funding for conferences
- RA/Student assistant hours via project
- Research focus, no teaching obligation
Affiliation with GSDS Graduate School and
the Excellence Cluster “The Politics of Inequality”
Questions can be directed to
alexander.horn@uni-konstanz.de.
We look forward to receiving your CV (ideally, including contact details of one potential referee), a letter of motivation, and 1-2 pages on your
dissertation ideas until
10 May 2021 via our
Online Application Portal.
The University of Konstanz is committed to ensuring an environment that provides equal opportunities and promotes diversity as well as a good
balance between university and family life. As an equal opportunity employer, we strive to increase the number of women in our staff. We also
support working couples through our dual career programme (
https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/equalopportunities/family/dual-career/).
Persons with disabilities are explicitly encouraged to apply. They will be given preference if appropriately qualified (contact + 49 7531 88– 4016).