Current PhD Theses
Francesca Baker, M. A.
The Adult Education Center of Greater Berlin
A Program and Document Analysis of Adult Education under National Socialism
Founded in 1920 on democratic principles, the Adult Education Center of Greater Berlin (Volkshochschule Groß-Berlin – VHGB) grew to become one of the leading adult education centers in Germany, remaining in operation until the end of World War II. As a result of the National Socialist takeover in 1933, the center’s leadership as well as Jewish and openly democratically oriented teachers were dismissed. Whereas most of the adult education centers founded during Germany’s Weimar Republic were either shut down or absorbed into Nazi organizations, the ‘cleansed’ VHGB was allowed to continue operations. While there are some studies on the work of the organization during the Weimar Republic, little is known about its development under the Nazi regime. Given its special position in the adult education movment, studying the VHGB has the potential to provide new insights into National Socialist era adult education, an area which has hardly been researched.
The historiographic dissertation project aims to answer the following questions: How did the adult education work of the VHGB develop during the transition from the Weimarer Republic to National Socialism? To what extent die the VHGB adapt institutionally and programmatically to the National Socialist regime between 1933 and 1945 and what elements of continuity from the Weimar era persisted? Furthermore, what can the history of this flagship organization reveal about the historical development of German adult education during the National Socialist period?
The project is based on extensive source material from the VHGB, including yearly course programs, newsletters, internal correspondence and over 300 personnel questionnaires used to register the center’s instructors between 1939 and 1944. Using quantitative and qualitative methods of content analysis, the program and document analysis aims to trace the historical development of the VHGB between 1933 and 1945 with respect to its structural organization, course offerings, personnel, and political positioning, particularly against the background of changes brought on by the regime change and the outbreak of WWII.
The dissertation project is supervised by Prof. Dr. Matthias Alke.
Nora Leben, M. A.
Segmented Markets and Strategic Marketing in University Continuing Education in the Context of Digital Transformation
(working title)
Against the backdrop of broad societal transformation, university continuing education as a core mission of higher education institutions is gaining importance as a means of transferring academic knowledge into social and professional fields of action outside of the university context. Despite the importance, university continuing education occupies a marginal position both within higher education and the broader continuing education sector. Due to its hybrid nature - situated at the intersection of academia, industry, and society - it is characterized by diverse interpretations of its functions, roles, and objectives.
In addition, the landscape of continuing academic education is shaped by heterogeneous or-ganizational forms within higher education institutions and highly segmented market structures. Providers face heightened competitive pressure due to specific structural conditions, such as the requirement for full cost recovery and the absence of institutional baseline funding, and must respond flexibly to demand and needs. Current trends such as the expansion of digital offerings, platform-based business models originating from the digital economy, and marketing/ booking platforms driven by educational policy further intensify these dynamics.
Although these developments increasingly influence the organization and competitive condi-tions of university continuing education, there are still only a few empirical studies on provider and competition structures. This cumulative dissertation project addresses this gap and aims to generate empirical insights into the markets of continuing academic education, as well as to analyze provider strategies and positioning within regional and sector-specific market struc-tures. In this context, current innovations and development trends (e.g., micro-credentials), digital platforms and business models, as well as approaches to digital education marketing are also examined.
Theoretically, the project draws on approaches from sociological and business administration-oriented research on markets, organizations, and platforms, and combines these with perspec-tives from educational research on continuing education. The core question asks how markets for university continuing education are structured, and which competitive mechanisms and provider strategies can be identified. To capture the multifaceted phenomena across different levels of analysis, the empirical study follows a mixed-methods design, employing qualitative and quantitative content analysis as well as complementary statistical analyses. It is structured into three parts:
- The examination of market, supply, and competition structures in continuing academic education based on program and website analyses;
- The analysis of platform-based business models and digital platforms in the field of continuing academic education through a scoping review, semi-structured interviews, and document analyses;
- The investigation of approaches to strategic education marketing through semi-structured interviews, document analyses, and standardized surveys.
The study aims to provide new empirical insights into market dynamics as well as organiza-tional development in continuing academic education, and to contribute to the professionalization of strategic education marketing.
The dissertation project is embedded in the research projects GOMA@BW and SüdMaP, fund-ed by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts Baden-Württemberg, and is supervised by Prof. Dr. Matthias Alke.
Julia Plechatsch, M.A.
Participant recruitment in adult and continuing education – inter- and intraorganisational actor relationships in the field of literacy and basic education
Participation in continuing education is a complex phenomenon influenced by various factors. Programme planning at the organisational level is a key factor influencing participation in continuing education. The challenge lies in keeping pace with societal changes and to address current educational interests. Programme planning therefore has the task of mediating between social needs, target groups and the educational mandate.
In the field of literacy and basic education, studies show that the diagnosed need for literacy and basic education programmes far exceeds actual participation rates. The recruitment of participants in this programme area therefore plays a particular role in the discussion about selective participation in continuing education.
The specific characteristics of the target groups pose a challenge for this programme area, requiring the development of tailored outreach strategies beyond written announcements to attract participants. Networking and cooperation with various stakeholders are essential for participant recruitment and are among the core responsibilities of programme planners.
This dissertation project focuses on how programme planners in practice develop learning opportunities in the field of literacy and basic education and how they recruit participants. From a network-analytical perspective, it examines the inter- and intra-organisational relationships of programme planners. Central questions include which actors are involved within and outside the institution and what types of relationships emerge in this context.
The cumulative dissertation project consists of three contributions. First, a scoping review systematically presents the international discussion and research status on participant recruitment in adult and continuing education. To examine the network relationships of programme planners in the field of literacy and basic education, a qualitative approach is employed, using semi-structured interviews supplemented by ego-centered network maps.
The dissertation project is part of the research group led by Dr. Ewelina Mania at the German Institute for Adult Education – Leibniz Centre for Lifelong Learning (DIE) and is supervised in the Department of Adult Education/Further Education by Prof. Dr. Matthias Alke.
Laura Uhl, M. A.
Formation and change of occupational profiles in public adult education. A historical analysis from a conventional theoretical perspective.
(Working title)
In comparison to other educational fields there are hardly any legal regulations in adult educa-tion regarding access to employment, qualifications, tasks, and competencies of pedagogical staff. Instead, recruitment and job profiling generally lie in the hands of the providers of adult education themselves. Despite this, attempts have been made since the era of educational reforms in the 1960s and 1970s by educational policy makers, associations, and academic actors to define and establish occupational profiles for adult education. So far, there has been no research on the influence these concepts have had on the collective professionalization of the occupational field. Using the example of adult education centers, this dissertation project examines the historical formation and change of occupational profiles in public adult education.
Methodologically, the study is based on a qualitative-quantitative content analysis of historical documents (ideal-typical occupational concepts, educational policy planning documents, legal texts, and association statistics) and job advertisements from adult education centers since the era of educational reforms to the present, which are analyzed in their relationship to one an-other. Document analysis is used to examine which actors were involved in the development and dissemination of ideal-typical occupational profiles and which tasks, qualifications and competencies they emphasized. Since it is assumed that ideal-typical occupational profiles are dependent on references within the individual organizations in order to establish themselves in the medium to long term, job advertisements from adult education centers across the entire Federal Republic of Germany are analyzed (1952-2022; n=4418). The job advertisements re-veal to what extent ideal-typical occupational profiles have been taken up by adult education centers and what job profiling they have carried out by themselves, for example, in light of new requirements, such as those related to digital transformation. Individual organizations thus con-tribute to the stabilization and change of established and recognized occupational profiles.
The theoretical and methodological framework of the research project is based on the sociolo-gy of conventions. By understanding occupational profiles as form investments, the study also analyzes which quality conventions they are based on and how this may have changed over time.
The project contributes to the history of the professionalization of adult education and to dis-cussions on the change and hybridization of full-time professional work, for example, in the context of the neoliberal reforms or current digitalization.
The dissertation project is part of the DFG project “StellA” and is supervised by Prof. Dr. Matthias Alke.
Anika Klein, M. A.
The importance of appropriation processes in the course of biography for dietary habits