Sociology of education and occupation

Sociology experienced a major boom in Switzerland in the 1960s. This period saw the founding of the Institute of Sociology and Socio-Economic Development at the University of Bern (5.84). One project was the management of the “Eidgenössische Kommission für Nachwuchsfragen im Gebiet der Geisteswissenschaften, der medizinischen Berufe sowie des Lehrerberufes auf der Mittelstufe” [Federal commission for the recruitment of young scholars in the humanities, medicine and education], which made my employment at the institute possible. Subsequently, I wrote my PhD dissertation on “Der Beruf des Gymnasiallehrers” [The “gymnasium” teacher as a profession] (cf.1.2). The central thesis was that this profession was a role that vacillated between scientific aspirations (which at the time often led to a university career) and commitments to education. Concurrently, I conducted surveys of the study and career choices of “gymnasium “- graduates (4.1) and surveys on the emerging field of educational research in Switzerland (5.1). Conceptually, this work was extended in the thesis of habilitation "Der Prozess der beruflichen Sozialisation” [The process of occupational socialization] (cf. 1.3).