The research group focuses on raising awareness of socio-economic and educational-cultural factors for all those involved with the university, particularly lecturers and information centers. These include:
- Unequal (general) requirements for entering higher education
- The fact that some students need to earn a living and finance their degree by taking on casual or part-time work;
- A lack of contact with people from an academic background either within the immediate family or in their friendship group who they could go to with issues related to university.
Factors such as these and a feeling of social shame related to their socio-cultural background can prove to be considerable obstacles for some university students.
Concepts and projects
In order to enable it to work effectively in this field, the research group is currently developing concepts and projects that take the subject of diversity into account. These will support students, both at the beginning of their studies and later, to recognize any deficits and to deal with these in a practical way, e.g. by attending relevant crash-courses, peer-to-peer offers, or receiving support with planning their study program. Measures such as these help to reduce high drop-out rates, but also to encourage talents that may otherwise have remained undiscovered. Other subjects will also benefit from the specific socio-cultural experiences of these students.
The research group meets twice or three times each semester. Everyone is welcome, just send us an Email.
- Cooperation project „POWERst – emPOWERing first generation STudents“
- “Rookie meets Pro”. : Erstsemester-Patenschaft in den Geisteswissenschaften
- Toolbox für wissenschaftliches Arbeiten, bestehend aus Minikursen der Schreibwerkstatt und Geisteswissenschaftlichen Crashkursen
- Lehrprojekt “Kulturelle Bildung und soziale Ungleichheit”
- Participating in Diversity Day at the University of Stuttgart
- Participating in the Diversity Round Table at the University of Stuttgart
- ArbeiterKind.de [de]
- Commissioner for students with disabilities or chronic illnesses
- Fachgruppen [de]
- Geisteswissenschaftliches Propädeutikum (GWP) [de]
- Professional School of Education Stuttgart-Ludwigsburg, AK Inklusive Bildung und Heterogenität
- Writing Center
- Student support advisers
- Student Counseling Center (ZSB)
- BAföG
- Scholarships and foundations
- Stellenwerk – Jobportal der Universität Stuttgart
- Sozialberatung beim Studierendenwerk
Please remember that if you work whilst studying, you don’t necessarily have to adhere to the regular period of study – it is possible to move some modules to a later date. The regular period of study is intended for students who can dedicate themselves to their studies full time – i.e. 40 hours a week. If you have any questions about planning your individual study program or which modules it would make sense to postpone, please contact your academic advisor.
Contact to the Research Group for Education and Social Inequality

Fabian Dirscherl
Program management; Research and Teaching Associate

Yvonne Zimmermann
Akademische Mitarbeiterin und Studiengangsmanagerin
