Lebenslauf und Generationen

On Monday, Maila Mertens successfully defended her Doctoral Thesis, which explores research questions on Medically Assisted Reproduction (MAR) with a gender perspective. Congratulations, Maila!

The 13th volume of Social Inclusion features contributions from SUZ researchers. Jörg Rössel co-authored the editorial on current developments in medically assisted reproduction (MAR), exploring how social inequality and social norms shape access, attitudes, and experiences. Maila Martens, Nadja Colombini, and Jörg Rössel examine motivations behind social egg freezing, while Julia Schroedter analyzes the influence of religion on attitudes toward MAR. Julia Böcker and Nina Jakoby aim to understand subjects' experience and emotional managment of (failed) fertility treatments.

🔍 New Study on Women’s Labor Supply During Divorce
❓How do women adjust their work lives when navigating divorce—and how does motherhood shape that response? 👉🏻 Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), this study by Matthias Klingler finds that women increase their labor supply in anticipation of separation and sustain higher levels after divorce, with this pattern more pronounced among mothers than childless women.

Im Gespräch mit Katja Rost, Gideon Sartorius und Barbara Künzle diskutiert NZZ-Kolumnistin Nicole Althaus über neue Lebensentwürfe, gesellschaftliche Erwartungen und die Folgen des Geburtenrückgangs. Welche Rolle spielt die Politik und andere Rahmenbedingungen und welche Verantwortung tragen wir selbst?

Wieso sinken in Europa - selbst in Ländern mit bis anhin bewährter Familienpolitik -  die Geburtenzahlen? Katja Rost bietet Einsicht in die aktuelle Forschung bei der Ausgabe des wöchentlichenn ARTE-Format zum aktuellen Trend in der Bevölkerungsentwicklung in Europa. 

🔬 What drives young women to consider social egg freezing? This new article from Maila Mertens et al. reveals how career goals, gender norms, and reproductive autonomy shape this decision—while high costs remain a major barrier. 

Published 2025 in «Social Inclusion».

#reprotech #socialinclusion #humanreproduction #fertility

Two projects involving our researchers at the Department of Sociology studying generational family diversity and birth rate changes respectively have been granted research funding by the SNF and the PRC. Bravo! 

A recent study by Per Block and Jan O Jonsson suggests that social networks and job ladders within and between organisations provide the opportunities needed for job mobility – and that these are more powerful than classical explanations, such as social class or skills.

Published in «Research in Social Stratification and Mobility» on March 1, 2025.

The URPP Human Reproduction Reloaded is inviting to the brown bag lunch talk «Queerying Doing Family? Gay and Trans Parents in Switzerland» by Carole Ammann. 

Last Tuesday, Kevin Schönholzer defended his dissertation, which examines how differences in policy, like paid parental leave and educational expansion, shape education. He researched equalizing factors using cross-national multi-cohort data.