Presenting original contributions from the key experts in the field, the Research Handbook on the Sociology of Education explores the major theoretical, methodological, empirical and political challenges and pressing social questions facing education in current times.

Contents: Part I Introduction 1. Key Challenges for the Sociology of Education – Theoretical, Methodological, and Empirical Issues Rolf Becker Part II Theoretical Foundations 2. A Sociological Perspective on Education as a Lifelong Process Gwendolin Josephine Blossfeld, Pia Nicoletta Blossfeld and Hans-Peter Blossfeld 3. How does Education depend on Social Origin? Robert Erikson 4. The Rational Choice Paradigm in Sociology of Education Volker Stocké 5. Multiple Social Contexts of Education: Systematic Commonalities, Differences and Interrelations Steffen Hillmert 6. The Problem of Meritocracy: The Belief in Achievement, Credentials, and Justice David B. Bills 7. Measurement of Skills and Achievement – A Critical Assessment of Theoretical and Methodological Concepts Sabine Weinert and Cordula Artelt Part III Methodological Problems 8. Longitudinal Data Analysis in the Sociology of Education – Key Concepts and Challenges Thorsten Schneider 9. Experiments in the Sociology of Education: Causal Inference and Estimating Causal Effects in Sociological Research on Education Christoph Zangger and Rolf Becker Part IV Modernisation and Educational Expansion 10. Educational Expansion and Inequalities: How did Inequalities by Social Origin and Gender decrease in Modern Industrial Societies? Andreas Hadjar 11. Gender Segregation in Education Irene Kriesi and Christian Imdorf Part V Organization of Education and Outcomes 12. How do Educational Systems affect Social Inequality of Educational Opportunities? The Role of Tracking in Comparative Perspective Jan Skopek, Moris Triventi and Sandra Buchholz 13. Early Educational Inequality – Growing up in different Learning Environments Birgit Becker 14. The Equalising Effect of Schools and its Limits Anne Christine Holtmann and Fabrizio Bernardi 15. Educational Institutions and Inequalities in Educational Opportunities Jörg Dollmann 16. Vocational Education and Training in Comparative Perspective Corinna Kleinert and Marita Jacob 17. Vertical and Horizontal Stratification in Higher Education David Reimer and Jens Peter Thomsen 18. Still a Safety Net? Revisiting the Role of Vocational Education and Training in School-to-Work Transitions in Europe Irena Kogan 19. The Social Structure of Schools and Classrooms Dominik Becker 20. Teachers – Their Characteristics and their Role in the Education System Martin Neugebauer 21. Disability and Inequality in Educational Opportunities in Life Course Perspective Justin J.W. Powell and Lisa Pfahl Part VI Benefits of education and returns to education 22. Returns to Adult Education and Inequality – A Life Course Perspective Felix Weiss 23. Socioemotional Skills in Education and Beyond: Recent Evidence and Future Research Avenues Clemens M. Lechner, Silke Anger and Beatrice Rammstedt 24. Returns to Education in the Life Course Michael Gebel and Guido Heineck 25. Knowledge Capital and Economic Growth Eric A. Hanushek and Ludger Woessmann Part VII Migration, education, and social integration 26. Ethnic Inequality in Educational Attainment Bernhard Nauck 27. Language Assimilation and the Education of Immigrant Students Cornelia Kristen Part VIII Policy Implications of Research in Sociology of Education 28. Large-scale Assessments of Educational Systems Manfred Prenzel and Christine Sälzer 29. Simulation of Outcomes of Educational Policies and Programmes Volker Müller-Benedict 30. Beyond Schools – The Social Embeddedness of Educational Inequality Camilla Borgna, Christian Brzinsky-Fay, Martina Dieckhoff, Anne Christine Holtmann and Heike Solga Index

'With bridges to psychology and economics, this Research Handbook presents a rich collection of outstanding studies on the present state of knowledge in core areas of the sociology of education. Leading experts discuss theoretical and methodological advances and challenges and integrate a wealth of research results especially on the generation and consequences of educational inequality.' --Walter Müller, University of Mannheim, Germany'This Research Handbook provides a comprehensive state of the art on the contemporary challenges addressed by sociology of education, based on up-to-date empirical findings as well as diverse theoretical and methodological approaches. The internationally renowned contributors analyse the key interactions between educational processes and social inequalities, and particularly within the life course.' --Jake Murdoch, Université de Bourgogne, France'In this Research Handbook top authors deliver cutting-edge contributions on both the state of the art and open issues in theory, measurement, methods and empirical findings in the sociology of education. It is an invaluable resource for researchers planning new projects, instructors interested in the cumulative state of knowledge and students who want the very best introduction to key problems.' --Karl Ulrich Mayer, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany