Prof. Pia S. Schober, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology, with focus on microsociology.
Office
Department of Sociology
Wilhelmstraße 36 (1st upper floor, room 108)
72074 Tübingen
+49 7071 29 73462
pia.schober @uni-tuebingen.de
Secretary: Svitlana Benz
Office hours
Tuesday 4-5 pm, by appointment with Svitlana Benz
Academic career
since 2016
Chair of Microsociology
at the Department of Sociology of the University of Tübingen
2012-2016
Senior Research Associate at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin)
at the Department of Education and Family. She remains associated with the DIW Berlin as a Research Fellow.
2009-2012
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, UK
PiaSchober held two post-doctoral research fellowships, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and by the British Academy and was based at the Department of Sociology in Cambridge.
2009
Ph.D. in Social Policy at the London school of Economics
Thesis: "From Partners to Parents: The gender division of domestic work, parenthood, and relationship quality of British couples".
Research interests
- Social and gender inequalities in child care, education and child development
- Gender, division of labour and work-family balance
- Demographic processes of family formation and dissolution
- Family policy and early childhood education and care policy
- Quantitative methods
Current research projects
Previous research projects
- Early childhood education and care quality in the Socio-Economic Panel (K2iD-SOEP)
- Early childhood education and care quality and child development: an extension study of twins (K2iD-Twins)
- Sex hormones, childhood socialisation and gendered development of abilities and personality (Intramural Research Grant of the LEAD Graduate School)
- GENSEG - Understanding the impact of parental gender differences in field of study choice in Germany (Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellowship, Europian Commision)
Current PhD students
- Karoline Mikus (LEAD Graduate School, Universität Tübingen)
- Isabelle Fischer (LEAD Graduate School, Universität Tübingen)
- Luisa Streckenbach (Deutsches Jugendinstitut, München)
- Silke Büchau (DFG, Universität Tübingen)
- Marie-Fleur Philipp (DFG, Universität Tübingen)
Previous PhD students
- Juliane Stahl (DIW Berlin und International Max Planck Research School on the Life Course)
- Gundula Zoch (Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences, Universität Bamberg)
Teaching
Teaching topics
- Sozialstrukturanalyse
- Familiensoziologie
- Bildungssoziologie
- Gender, Demographie und Wohlfahrtsstaat
- Quantitative Längschnittsdatenanalyse
- Quantitative Methoden der Politik- und Programmevaluation
Courses in the winter semester 2022/23:
- Mikrosoziologie: Soziale Ungleichheit in Kinderbetreuung und Erziehung (BA)
- Methods for policy evaluation: (quasi) experiments and panel data analysis (MA)
- Social inequalities in comparative perspective (MA)
- LfP I: Soziales Geschlecht und Genderdiversität in der quantitativen Sozialforschung (MA)
- Theses colloquium (BA/MA)
Thesis Supervision
To discuss possible supervision of Master and Bachelor theses in Sociology, students should come to the first session of the colloquium in the respective semester or make an office hour appointment with Svitlana Benz (svitlana.benz). A list of rough suggestions for thesis topics which currently are of particular interest to team members of the chair of microsociology can be found @uni-tuebingen.dein the right column as well as an overview of formal requirements for registration, submission and format of theses. Students are required to download and include with their thesis a signed declaration of originality (Eigenständigkeitserklärung) in either English or German.
Publications
Peer-reviewed journal articles
- Philipp, M.F., Büchau, S., Schober, P.S. & Spiess, C.K. (forthcoming) Parental leave policies, take-up consequences and changing normative beliefs: evidence from a survey experiment, Gender & Society
- Philipp, M.-F., Gambaro, L. and Schober, P.S. (2022) Breaking with traditions? How parental separation affects adolescents’ gender ideologies in the UK, Journal of Family Studies, First Published online: December 9, 2022
- Büchau, S., Schober, P.S. and Becker, D. (forthcoming) Couples’ communication behaviour and the gender division of family work across the transition to parenthood, Journal of Family Issues
- Goldacker, K., Wilhelm, J., Wirag, S., Dahl, P., Riotte, T. and Schober, P.S. (forthcoming) Shared leave, happier parent couples? Parental leave and relationship satisfaction in Germany, Journal of European Social Policy
- Fischer, I., Schober, P.S., and Nagengast, B. (forthcoming) Parental relationship quality and children’s behavioural problems: childcare quality as a protective factor?, Journal of Family Research
- Sanchez Guerrero, L. and Schober, P.S. (2020) Socialisation Influences on Gender Ideologies of Immigrant and Native Youth in Germany, England, Sweden and the Netherlands, Sex Roles, published online 06/12/2020
- Streckenbach, L.A., Castiglioni, L. and Schober, P.S. (in press) Paid Parental Leave and Fathers’ Involvement: Capturing Fathers’ Gender Beliefs and Fathering Perceptions, Families, Relationships and Societies
- Stahl, J. F. & Schober, P. S. (2020) Early education and care quality: does it matter for maternal working hours?, Social Science Research, Social Science Research, 86, 102378
- Mikus, K., Tieben, N., and Schober, P.S. (2020), Concerted Cultivation in Early Childhood and Social Inequalities in Cognitive Skills: Evidence from a German Panel Study, Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, published online 1 September 2020
- Mikus, K., Tieben, N., and Schober, P.S. (2020), Children's conversion of cultural capital into educational success: the symbolic and skill-generating function of cultural capital, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 41, 2, 197-217
- Twamley, K. and Schober, P. S. (2019) Shared parental leave: exploring variations in attitudes, eligibility, knowledge and take-up intentions of expectant mothers in London, Journal of Social Policy, 48, 2, 387-407
- Schober, P. S. and Zoch, G. (2019) Change in the gender division of domestic work after mothers or fathers took leave: Exploring alternative explanations, European Societies, 21,1,158-180
- Zoch, G. and Schober, P. S. (2018) Public Childcare Expansion and Changing Gender Ideologies of Parents in Germany, Journal of Marriage and Family, 80, 4, 1020-1039
- Camehl, G. F., Schober, P. S. and Spieß, C. K. (2018) Information Asymmetries Between Parents and Educators in German Childcare Institutions, Education Economics, 26, 6, 624-646
- Spiess, C.K., Schober, P.S. and Stahl, J.F. (2018) Early Childhood Education and Care Quality in the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) –the K2ID-SOEP Study, Journal of Economics and Statistics, published online 30 January 2018
- Stahl, J. F., Schober, P. S. and Spieß, C. K. (2017) Parental socio-economic status and childcare quality: Early inequalities in educational opportunity?, Early Childhood Education Quarterly, published online 20 November 2017
- Becker, B. and Schober, P. S. (2017)
Not Just Any Child Care Center? Social and Ethnic Disparities in the Use of Early Education Institutions with a Beneficial Learning Environment - Early Education and Development, Early Education and Development, 28, 8, 1011-1034 .
- Stahl, J. F. and Schober, P. S. (2017) Convergence or divergence? Educational discrepancies in work-care arrangements of mothers with young children in Germany, Work, Employment & Society, published online April 7, 2017.
- Schober, P. S. and Schmitt, C. (2017) Day-care availability, maternal employment, and satisfaction of parents: Evidence from cultural and policy variations in Germany, Journal of European Social Policy, published online February 1, 2017.
- Schober, P. S. and Stahl, J. F. (2016) Availability of full-day early education and care and subjective well-being of parents: Interdependencies with culture and resources, European Sociological Review, 32 (5), 593-606.
- Peter, F. H., Schober, P. S. and Spieß, C. K. (2016) Early birds in day care: The Social Gradient in Starting Day Care and Children’s Non-cognitive Skills, CESifo Economic Studies, 62 (4), 725-751.
- Schober, P. S. and Spieß, C. K. (2015) Local day-care quality and maternal employment: Evidence from East and West Germany, Journal of Marriage and Family, 77, 3 (June 2015), 712–729
- Schober, P. S. (2013) Parental leave, maternal and paternal domestic work: A longitudinal study of two reforms in West Germany, Journal of Social Policy, 43 (April 2014), 351-372
- Schober, P. S. and Spieß, C. K. (2013) Early childhood education activities and care arrangements of disadvantaged children in Germany, Child Indicators Research, 6, 4 (November 2013), 709-735
- Schober, P. S. (2013) Maternal labor market return and domestic work after childbirth in Britain and Germany, Community, Work & Family, 16, 3 (July 2013)
- Kanji, S. and Schober, P. S. (2014) Are couples with young children more likely to split up when the mother is the main or an equal earner?, Sociology, 48 (February 2014), 38-58
- Schober, P. S. (2013) The parenthood effect on gender inequality: Explaining the change in paid and domestic work when British couples become parents, European Sociological Review, 29 (February 2013): 74-85
- Schober, P. S. (2013) Gender Equality and Outsourcing of Domestic Work, Childbearing, and Relationship Stability among British Couples, Journal of Family Issues, 34, 1 (January 2013): 25-52
- Schober, P. S. and Scott, J. (2012) Maternal employment and gender role attitudes: Dissonance among British men and women in the transition to parenthood, Work, Employment & Society, 26 (June 2012): 514-530
- Schober, P. S. (2012) Paternal childcare and relationship quality: A longitudinal analysis of reciprocal associations, Journal of Marriage and Family, 74 (April 2012): 1 – 16
Book chapters
- Schober, P.S. and Büchau, S. (2022) How parenting leaves impact parental employment, family work, and gender norms: a literature review, in: Dobrotić, I., Blum, S. and A. Koslowski (Eds.) Research Handbook on Leave Policy: Parenting and Social Inequalities in a Global Perspective, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp.141-154, https://www.elgaronline.com/downloadpdf/book/9781800372214/book-part-9781800372214-21.pdf
- Schober, P.S. (2020) Going regional: Local childcare provision and parental work-care choices in Germany, in: Nieuwenhuis, R. and Van Lancker, W. (ed.): Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy, London: Palgrave, pp. 485-509, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-54618-2
- Camehl, G. F., Schober, P. S. and Spieß, C. K. (2014) A SOEP-Related Study: Early Childhood Education and Care Quality in the Socio-Economic Panel (K2ID-SOEP), in: Gerstorf, Sandra and Jürgen Schupp (ed.): SOEP Wave Report 2014, Berlin, pp.31-33
- Schober, P. S. (2014) Day-care trends for children under three years in Germany, in Leon, M. The Transformation of Care in European Societies, London: Palgrave, 208-232
- Schober, P. S. (2014) Family Policies from Gender Equality Perspectives. A European Comparison, in Jin, Y. and Schlaeger, C. (Eds.) Family Changes in China and Study on Family Policies, Nanjing Normal University
- Schober, P. S. (2014) Female-male earnings ratio among skilled workers, in: Michalos, A. C. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-being Research, Dordrecht: Springer, 2238-2240
- Schober, P. S. (2012) Stratification, work and early parenthood, in: Blackburn, B., Connelly, R., Gayle, V. und Lambert, P. (eds.) Social Stratification: Trends and Processes, Ashgate
- Schober, P. S. (2005) Karriere- und Familienplanung tschechischer und österreichischer Frauen im Vergleich (Career- and family planning of Czech and Austrian women in comparative perspective), in: Reif, E. und Schwarz, I. (eds) Zwischen Konflikt und Annäherung, Südwind Niederösterreich Verlag
Policy reports
- Wilhelm, J. and Schober, P.S. (2022) Shared leave, happier parent couples? Parental leave and relationship satisfaction in Germany, JESP European Social Policy Blog, 15 March 2022, https://jesp.eu/2022/03/15/shared-leave-happier-parent-couples-parental-leave-and-relationship-satisfaction-in-germany/
- Twamley, K. & Schober, P. S. (2019) Shared Parental Leave: Take-Up Barriers and Inequality Risks, The Social Policy Blog, posted on January 15, 2019, https://socialpolicyblog.com/2019/01/15/shared-parental-leave-take-up-barriers-and-inequality-risks/
- Camehl, G. F., Schober, P. S. and Spieß, C. K. (2017) Information Asymmetries Between Parents and Educators in German Childcare Institutions, DIW Discussion Papers 1693. Berlin: DIW Berlin. https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.567332.de/dp1693.pdf
- Pia S. Schober, C. Katharina Spieß, Juliane F. Stahl, Gundula Zoch and Georg F. Camehl (2017) "The Early Childhood Education and Care Quality in the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP-ECEC Quality) Study - K²ID-SOEP Data", Data Documentation 91, Berlin: DIW Berlin, https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.561222.de/diw_datadoc_2017-091.pdf
- Schober, P. S. and Zoch, G. (2015) Kürzere Elternzeit von Müttern - gleichmäßigere Aufteilung der Familienarbeit?, DIW Wochenbericht 50.2015, http://www.diw.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=diw_01.c.522139.de
- Schober, P. S. (2015) Increasing Father Involvement in Child Care: What Do We Know about Effects on Child Development? DIW Roundup, Nr. 79. 2015, http://www.diw.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=diw_01.c.514686.de
- Schober, P. S. (2015) ‘Daddy leave’: a route to greater gender equality in housework and childcare?, Policy Network Newsletter, April 2015, http://www.policy-network.net
- Camehl, G. F., Stahl, J. F., Schober, P. S. and Spieß, K. (2015) Does Better, Cheaper Day Care Make for More Satisfied Parents?, DIW Economic Bulletin, 45/46/2015: 604-611, http://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.519304.de/diw_econ_bull_2015-45-3.pdf
- Camehl, G. F., Stahl, J. F., Schober, P. S. and Spieß, K. (2015) Höhere Qualität und geringere Kosten von Kindertageseinrichtungen – zufriedenere Eltern?, DIW Wochenbericht, Nr.46.2015, http://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.518981.de/15-46.pdf
- Schober, P. S. (2014) Daddy Leave: Does It Change the Gender Division of Domestic Work?, DIW Roundup Nr. 46. 2014, http://www.diw.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=diw_01.c.489441.de
- Schober, P. S. and Stahl, J. F. (2014) Childcare Trends in Germany: Increasing Socio-Economic Disparities in East and West, DIW Economic Bulletin, 11.2014, https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.491964.de/diw_econ_bull_2014-11-7.pdf
- Schober, P. S. and Stahl, J. F. (2014) Trends in der Kinderbetreuung seit dem Mauerfall –sozioökonomische Unterschiede verstärken sich in Ost und West, DIW Wochenbericht, Nr.40.2014
- Schober, P. S. and Spieß, C. K. (2014) Kita-Qualität für Erwerbsverhalten von Müttern mit Kleinkindern relevant – Zusammenhang eindeutiger in Ostdeutschland, DIW Wochenbericht, Nr.21.2014
- Schober, P. S., Spieß, C. K. and Anders, Y. (2014) Early childhood education and care quality: Investigating socio-economic selection, child development and information asymmetries, in: Jacobs Foundation (2014), Annual Report 2013
- Schober, P. S. and Schmitt, C. (2014) Ausbau der Kinderbetreuung – Entlastung der Eltern erhöht Lebenszufriedenheit, DIW Wochenbericht, Nr.50.2013
- Schober, P. S. and Spieß, C. K. (2012) Frühe Förderung und Betreuung von Kindern: Bedeutende Unterschiede bei der Inanspruchnahme besonders in den ersten Lebensjahren, DIW Wochenbericht, Nr.43.2012, 17-28
- Plagnol, A. C., Schott, J. and Schober, P. S. (2010) Gender equality in paid and unpaid work: Priorities for UK policy intervention, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 29 (2010), 7: 711 – 715
Book reviews
- Schober, P. S. (2014) Review of ‘Persistence, privilege, and parenting: The comparative study of intergenerational mobility’ by T. M. Smeeding, R. Erikson, and M. Jäntti (eds.), (Russel Sage, 2011), and ‘From parents to children: The intergenerational transmission of advantage’ by J. Ermisch, M. Jäntti, and T. Smeeding (eds) (Russel Sage, 2012), Journal of European Social Policy, 24 (2014), 4, 400-402
- Schober, P. S. (2012) Review of ‘Social Policies, Labour Markets and Motherhood’ by Del Boca, D. and Wetzels, C. (eds) (Cambridge University Press, 2007), Economica, 79 (2012), 314-316
- Schober, P. S. (2010) Review of ‘Contemporary Fathering: Theory, Policy and Practice’ by Featherstone, B. (Bristol: Policy Press, 2009), Journal of Social Policy, 39 (2010): 494-496
Working papers
- Schober, P. S. and Zoch, G. (2015) Change in the gender division of domestic work after mummy or daddy took leave: An examination of alternative explanations, SOEP Papers 803
- Peter, F. H., Schober, P. S. and Spieß, C. K. (2014) Early Birds in Day Care: The Social Gradient in Starting Day Care and Children's Non-cognitive Skills, DIW Discussion Paper 1438
- Schober, P. S. and Spieß, C. K. (2014) Local Day-Care Quality and Maternal Employment: Evidence from East and West Germany, SOEP Papers 649
- Schober, P. S. and Schmitt, C. (2013) Day-care expansion and parental subjective wellbeing: evidence from Germany, SOEP Papers No.602
- Schober, P. S. (2012) Parental Leave Policies and Child Care Time in Couples after Childbirth, SOEP Papers 434
- Schober, P. S. (2011) Maternal Labor Market Return, Parental Leave Policies, and Gender Inequality in Housework, SOEP papers 422
- Schober, P. S. (2010) The parenthood effect on gender inequality: Explaining the change in paid and domestic work when British couples become parents, GeNet Working Paper No. 42
- Schober, P. S. (2010) Gender equality and outsourcing of domestic work, childbearing, and relationship stability among British couples, GENet Working Paper No. 41