Bastian Betthäuser

Bastian Betthäuser is an Assistant Professor at the Observatoire Sociologique du Changement (OSC), Sciences Po. He is an Associate Member of the Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford.

Bastian’s research examines education and labour market policy and its implications for social inequality from a life-course and intergenerational perspective. His work focuses on the relationship between equality of opportunity and equality of condition in society using quasi-experimental research designs. Bastian is particularly interested in the effects of institutional and structural changes on the social mobility chances of disadvantaged youth. His research also examines the micro-level mechanisms underlying the intergenerational transmission of inequality, focussing on the role of individual-level characteristics such as cognitive and non-cognitive attributes.

Bastian’s work has been published in leading journals in sociology and public policy, including the European Sociological Review, Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Advances in Life Course Research and the European Journal of Social Security. His research has been funded by grants from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Nuffield Foundation and the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme.

Bastian co-convenes the Social Inequality Research Group at DSPI. He has taught the module on Education Policy for the MSc in Comparative Social Policy at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention (DSPI), the module on Social Policy in the 21st Century for the MPP programme in Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government (BSG), and quantitative research methods at DSPI. He has also developed an online course on Social Policy and Welfare States in the Twenty-first Century for the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education (OUDCE).

Teaching

• 2022, Sociology of Education. Course for the Bachelor of Arts at the Sciences Po Undergraduate College.
• 2022, Sociology of Social Inequality. Course for the Bachelor of Arts at the Sciences Po Undergraduate College.
• 2017-2021, Comparative Education Policy. Course for the M.Sc. in Comparative Social Policy Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford (Developed and taught course for three consecutive years).
• 2020, Introduction to Social Policy. Course for the B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), B.A. in History and Politics, and the B.A. in Human Sciences, University of Oxford (Designed and delivered lectures).
• 2019, Master Class in Sociology. Workshop for PhD Candidates in Sociology. Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS) Radboud University Nijmegen (Developed and taught jointly with Prof. Janne Jonsson).
• 2017, Quantitative Research Methods. Course for the M.Sc. in Comparative Social Policy Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford (Taught jointly with Prof. Erzsébet Bukodi).
• 2015-2017, Social Policy in the 21st Century. Course for the Master of Public Policy (MPP) Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford (Developed and taught for three consecutive years, jointly with Prof. Martin Seeleib-Kaiser).
• 2014, Evidence & Evaluation. Seminar for the Master of Public Policy (MPP) Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford (Developed and taught seminars).
• 2013, Social Policy and Welfare States in the 21st Century. International Online Course Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford (Designed online course).