Current research projects

Austrian Science Fund, 10.55776/P36789

Affluence and the Gender Gap in STEM Study Choices

Principal investigator

Prof. Wilfred Uunk

Role

Major contributor

Duration

10/2023-09/2026

This project examines whether and how household affluence, economic security, and macro-level institutions shape gender gaps in STEM preferences and study choices. It addresses the gender-equality paradox by moving beyond country-level associations and testing individual and household-level mechanisms.

The project combines cross-national comparative analyses with longitudinal evidence from Germany. It asks how household resources influence gendered STEM preferences, whether affluence helps account for cross-national patterns, and how welfare provision, economic development, and inequality moderate these processes.

FWF project page

EPoS Young Scholar Research Funding 2026, University of Innsbruck

Gendered Platform Work in China: Stigma, Algorithms, and Household Inequality

Principal investigator

Mingming Li

Award year

2026

Focus

Occupational stigma, algorithmic governance, and household inequality

This second-wave qualitative study examines how women in platform and low-protection employment understand occupational stigma, respond to gendered expectations, navigate platform rules and customer interaction, and connect paid work to care responsibilities and future employment plans.

The fieldwork includes approximately 30 semi-structured interviews, primarily follow-up interviews with participants or contacts from the first phase. The analysis compares workers across family situations, work histories, and degrees of attachment to platform work.

EPoS page

EPoS Young Scholar Research Funding 2024, University of Innsbruck

The Role of the Gig Economy in Gender Wage Gaps in China

Principal investigator

Mingming Li

Award year

2024

Focus

Platform work, algorithmic management, and gender wage inequality

This mixed-method project examines how digitalization, wage position, and occupational structure shape gender wage inequality in China's gig economy. It studies digitalization and selection into gig work, wage gaps across the earnings distribution, and gender segregation across occupations requiring different skills.

The project combines the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey and China Health and Nutrition Survey with interviews conducted in Hangzhou. Quantitative analyses use selection, decomposition, and distributional methods, while the interviews investigate digital literacy, working conditions, family responsibilities, and perceptions of gendered occupational sorting.

EPoS page

Dissertation

Economic Resources and the Gender Gap in STEM Preferences and Choices

Supervisor

Prof. Wilfred Uunk

Institution

University of Innsbruck

Start

09/2023

My dissertation investigates how economic resources, expected returns, labor market signals, and institutional contexts shape gendered STEM aspirations, study choices, transitions, and exits. It connects debates in social stratification, education, gender, and labor market sociology.