Yale Sociology » Karl Ulrich Mayer

Karl Ulrich Mayer

Office Location : 140 Prospect Street

Phone : 203-432-6332

Email : karl.mayer

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Chair, and Professor of Sociology
Co-Director, Center for Research on Inequalities and the Life Course (CIQLE)

Karl Ulrich Mayer is Professor at Yale University, Chair of its Department of Sociology and Co-Director of the Center for Research on Inequalities and the Life Course (CIQLE). Before coming to Yale, he spent more than twenty years as Director at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, Head of the Center for Sociology and the Study of the Life Course and Co-Director of the Berlin Aging Study. He received his training in Sociology, Philosophy and German Literature at the University of Tübingen, Gonzaga University (BA, 1966), Fordham University (M.A., 1967), the University of Konstanz (Dr., 1973), and the University of Mannheim (Habilitation, 1977). He held positions at the Universities of Frankfurt/Main and Mannheim and as Director of the German National Survey Research Center (ZUMA). From 1993 to 1999 he served as member and Vice-Chair of the German National Science Council. Dr. Mayer is a member of the European Academy of Sciences, the German Academy of Natural Sciences (Leopoldina) and of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy, a Founding Member of the European Academy of Sociology, a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of the Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Sociological Association Section on Aging and the Life Course in 1999. In 2004 he was awarded the Fellowsip of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Dr. Mayer’s research is in the areas of social stratification and mobility, the sociology of aging and the life course, social demography, occupational structures and labor market processes, and methods of survey research.

Recent Publications

(For full list of publications, see CV.)

Books

Mayer, K. U., & Solka, H. (eds.). (2008). Skill Formation: Interdisciplinary and Cross-National Perspectives. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Diewald, M., Goedicke, A. & Mayer, K. U. (eds.). (2006). After the Fall of the Wall: Life Courses in the Transformation of East Germany. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
Hillmert, S. & Mayer, K. U. (eds.). (2004). Geboren 1964 und 1971: Neuere Untersuchungen zu Ausbildungs- und Berufschancen in Westdeutschland. Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Cortina, K. S., Baumert, J.; Leschinsky, A.; Mayer, K. U., & Trommer, L. (eds.). (2003). Das Bildungswesen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Strukturen und Entwicklungen im Überblick. Reinbek: Rowohlt.
Glatzer, W.; Habich, R. & Mayer, K. U. (eds.). (2002). Sozialer Wandel und gesellschaftliche Dauerbeobachtung. Opladen: Leske & Budrich.
Mayer, K. U. (ed.). (2001). Die Beste aller Welten? Marktliberalismus versus Wohlfahrtsstaat. Eine Kontroverse. Frankfurt am Main/New York: Campus Verlag.
Mayer, K .U. (section ed.). (2001). International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Biographies Section. (International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, eds.-in-chief: Neil J. Smelser and Paul B. Baltes). Oxford: Elsevier Science.
Baltes, P. B. & Mayer, K. U. (eds.). (2001). The Berlin Aging Study: Aging from 70 to 100. Paperback. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.

Book Chapters and Journal Articles

Mayer, K.U. (forthcoming). “Retrospective Longitudinal Research: The German Life History Study,” In S. Menard (ed.), Handbook of Longitudinal Research: Design, Measurement and Analysis. San Diego: Elsevier.
Mayer, K.U. (forthcoming). “Das Hochschulwesen.” In K. Cortina et al. (Eds), Das Bildungswesen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Hamburg: Rowohl Verlag (Revised 2nd edition).
Mayer, K. U., Müller, W. & Aisenbrey, S. (2007). “Variations on a theme: trends in social mobility in (West) Germany for cohorts born between 1919 and 1971.” In M. Gangl, R. Pollak, G. Otte, & S. Scherer (Eds.), From Origin to Destination: Trends and Mechanisms in Social Stratification Research.. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag.
Mayer, K. U. & Diewald, M. (2007). “Die Institutionalisierung von Lebensläufen,” In J. Brandtstädter & U. Lindenberger (eds.), Entwicklungspsychologie der Lebensspanne. Ein Lehrbuch, (pp. 510-539). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
Mayer, K.U. (2007). “Verhängnisvolle Pfadabhängigkeit? Probleme des Deutschen Wissenschaftssystems.” In I. Genov and R. Kreckel (Eds.), Soziologische Zeitgeschichte: Helmut Steiner zum 70. Geburtstag (pp.233-253). Berlin: Sigma.
Mayer, K.U., Müller, W., & Pollak, R. (2007). “Institutional Change and Inequalities of Access in German Higher Education.” In Y. Shavit, R. Arum, A. Gamoran, & G. Menahem (Eds.), Expansion, Differentiation and Stratification in Higher Education: A Comparative Study. Stanford University Press.
Mayer, K. U. (2006). “All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Men Couldn’t Put Humpty Dumpty Together Again.” Review of Mortimer, Jeylan T., and Michael J. Shanahan (eds.) Handbook of the Life Course, New York (2003). In Social Forces 84, 4 (June) 2363-2365.
Mayer, K.U. (2006). “Abschied von den Eliten.” In Herwig Münkler (Ed.). Eliten im Wandel. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Mayer, K.U. (2006). “After the Fall of the Wall, Living Through the Post-Socialist Transformation.” Ch.1. In: M. Diewald, A. Goedicke and K.U. Mayer (Eds.) After the Fall of the Wall. Life Courses in the Transformation of East Germany. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
Mayer, K. U. (2006). “Society of Departure: The German Democratic Republic.” Ch. 2. In: M. Diewald, A. Goedicke and K.U. Mayer (Eds.) After the Fall of the Wall. Life Courses in the Transformation of East Germany. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
Mayer, K. U. (2006). Appendix: The East German Life History Study. In M. Diewald, Anne Goedicke and Karl Ulrich Mayer (Eds.). After the Fall of the Wall. Life Courses in the Transformation of East Germany. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
Mayer, K.U., M. Diewald and A. Goedicke (2006). “Unexpected Turbulences – Unexpected Continuities, Transformation Life Courses in Retrospective.” Ch. 12. In M. Diewald, A. Goedicke and K.U. Mayer (Eds.) After the Fall of the Wall. Life Courses in the Transformation of East Germany. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
Mayer, K. U. (2006). “Abschied von den Eliten.” In: Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Abhandlungen. Berlin: Akademie Velag.
Mayer, K. U. (2006). “Abschied von den Eliten.” In Herfried Münkler, Grit Straβenberger, and Mathias Bohlender (Hg). Deutschlands Eliten im Wandel. Frankfurt/New York: Campus Verlag.
Mayer, K. U. (2006). “Sinn und Wirklichkeit – Beobachtungen zur Entwicklungen sozialer Ungleichheiten in (West-)Deutschland nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg,” In K.-S. Rehberg (ed.), Soziale Ungleichheit, Kulturelle Unterschiede. Verhandlungen des 32. Kongresses der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie in München 2004, Teil 2 Frankfurt am Main: Campus Verlag, 1329-1355.
Brückner, H. & Mayer, K. U. (2005). “De-Standardization of the Life Course: What It Might Mean? And If It Means Anything, Whether it Actually Took Place.” In R. Macmillan (Ed.), The Structure of the Life Course: Standardized? Individualized? Differentiated? (Vol. 9, pp. 27-54). Amsterdam et al.: JAI Elsevier.
Mayer, K. U. (2005). Yale, Harvard & Co: Mythos oder Modell für Deutschland? In Hermann Strasser and Gerd Nollmann (Eds.) Endstation Amerika? Sozialwissenschaftliche Innen-und Auβenansichten. Vs Verlag für sozialwissenschaften (pp. 202-215).
Mayer, K. U. (2005). “Life Courses and Life Chances in a Comparative Perspective.” In S. Svallfors (Ed.), Analyzing Inequality: Life Chances and Social Mobility in Comparative Perspective (pp. 17-55). Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
Uunk, W., Mach, B. W. & Mayer, K. U.(2005). “Job Mobility in Former East and West Germany: The Effects of State-Socialism and Labor Market Composition.” European Sociological Review 21 (4) (pp. 393-408).
Hillmert, S. & Mayer, K. U. (2004). Die Geburtsjahrgänge 1964 und 1971: Ein Überblick. In S. Hillmert & K. U. Mayer (Eds.), Geboren 1964 und 1971. Neuere Untersuchungen zu Ausbildungs-und Berufschancen in Westdeutschland (pp. 17-22). Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Mayer, K. U. (2004). Unordnung und frühes Leid? Bildungs- und Berufsverläufe in den 1980er und 1990er Jahren. In S. Hillmert & K. U. Mayer (Eds.), Geboren 1964 und 1971. Neuere Untersuchungen zu Ausbildungs- und Berufschancen in Westdeutschland (pp. 201-214). Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Mayer, K. U. (2004). “Yale, Harvard & Co: Mythos oder Modell für Deutschland? ” In D. Hochschulverband (Ed.), Glanzlichter der Wissenschaft - Ein Almanach (pp. 71-82). Stuttgart: Lucius & Lucius.
Mayer, K. U. & Hillmert, S. (2004). “Neue Flexibilitäten oder blockierte Gesellschaft? Sozialstruktur und Lebensverläufe in Deutschland 1960-2000.” In R. Kecskes, M. Wagner, & C. Wolf (Eds.), Angewandte Soziologie (pp. 129-158). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften/GWV Fachverlage GmbH.
Mayer, K. U. & Hillmert, S. (2004).“ New Ways of Life or Old Rigidities? Changes in Social Structures and Life Courses and their Political Impact.” In H. Kitschelt & W. Streeck (Eds.), Germany: Beyond the Stable State (pp. 79-100). London/Portland, OR: Frank Cass.
Mayer, K. U. (2004). “Whose Lives? How History, Societies and Institutions Define and Shape Life Courses,” Research in Human Development, 1 (3): 161-187.
Pollmann-Schult, M. & Mayer, K. U. (2004). “Returns to Skills: Vocational Training in Germany 1935-2000,” Yale Journal of Sociology, 4 (Fall 2004): 73-98.
Mayer, K. U. (2003). Das Hochschulwesen. In K. S. Cortina, J. Baumert, A. Leschinsky, K. U. Mayer, & L. Trommer (Eds.), Das Bildungswesen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Strukturen und Entwicklungen im Überblick (pp. 581-624). Reinbek: Rowohlt.
Mayer, K. U. (2003). “The Sociology of the Life Course and Lifespan Psychology: Diverging or Converging Pathways?” In U. M. Staudinger & U. Lindenberger (Eds.), Understanding Human Development: Dialogues with Lifespan Psychology (pp. 463 - 481). Boston, Dordrecht, New York, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers
Mayer, K. U. & Hillmert, S. (2003). “New Ways of Life or Old Rigidities? Changes in Social Structures and Life Courses and their Political Impact,” In H. Kitschelt & W. Streeck (eds.), West European Politics, 26, 4 (October): 79-100. London/Portland, OR: Frank Cass.
Mayer, K. U. (2002). Wissenschaft als Beruf oder Karriere? In W. Glatzer, R. Habich, & K. U. Mayer (Eds.), Sozialer Wandel und gesellschaftliche Dauerbeobachtung (pp. 421-438). Opladen: Leske + Budrich.
Mayer, K. U. (2002). Zur Biografie der Lebensverlaufsforschung: ein Rückblick auf die letzten zwei Jahrzehnte. In G. Burkhart & J. Wolf (Eds.), Lebenszeiten. Erkundungen zur Soziologie der Generationen (pp. 41-61). Opladen: Leske + Budrich.
Smith, J.; Maas, I.; Mayer, K. U.; Helmchen, H; Steinhagen-Thiessen, E. & Baltes, P. B. (2002). “Two-Wave Longitudinal Findings from the Berlin Aging Study: Introduction to a collection of Papers,” Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 57B (6): 471-473.
Mayer, K. U. (2000). “Promises fulfilled? A review of 20 years of life course research,” Archives Européennes de Sociologie, XL1, 2: 259-282.

Courses and Seminars

Undergraduate

SOCY115, Contemporary American Society.
EPE335/SOCY314, Social Inequality.

Graduate

SOCY526, Social Stratification in Advanced Societies.
SOCY560, Comparative Research Workshop.
SOCY631, Sociology of Work.
SOCY585, Life Course Research: Theoretical Foundations and Empirical Approaches.

Department of Sociology

Karl Ulrich Mayer

Contact Information

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