Institute of Sociology

The Institute of Sociology (IfS) was founded in 1960, making it the first institute of sociology in German-speaking Switzerland. Today, the IfS consists of four professorships, a Professorship for Sustainable Society (Prof. Dr. Wojtek Przepiorka), a Professorship for Social Structure Analysis (Prof. Dr. Ben Jann), a Professorship for Methods of Empirical Social Research (Prof. Dr. Axel Franzen) and an Assistant Professorship for Social Change and Inequality (Prof. Dr. Benita Combet). Around 50 academic staff work in research and teaching at the IfS.

The focus areas of the IfS include political sociology, economic sociology, cultural sociology, environmental sociology, sociological theory building, network and social capital research, education, labor market and inequality research as well as methods of empirical social research.

News

Mo Fr

September 15, 2025

until September 19, 2025

09:15 − 17:00

University of Bern

Seminar

Registration opens August 15

Diego Gambetta, Professor of Social and Political Theory at the Collegio Carlo Alberto in Turin, is a distinguished British-Italian Sociologists, who has dedicated parts of his academic life to the study of trust. In this master-level seminar, students will engage with his and like-minded scholars’ writings to apprehend a seemingly ungraspable concept.

Institute of Sociology

Publication

Skill Requirements Versus Workplace Characteristics: Exploring the Drivers of Occupational Gender Segregation

This study shows that gender differences in career choice can be explained primarily by young women's preferences for professional skills (e.g. technical requirements) - not by preferences for job characteristics (e.g. salary or meaningfulness of the job).

Institute of Sociology

Publication

Protecting Public Goods or Helping Free Riders? A Real-Life Moral Dilemma in Interethnic and Intraethnic Encounters

In this field experiment, train passengers are confronted with a moral dilemma: Help a person who asks them for help, or refuse help to protect a public good. How would you decide?

Institute of Sociology

Publication

Applications of Signaling Theory in Sociological Scholarship

This article, published in the Annual Review of Sociology, reviews applications and developments of signaling theory in sociology.

Institute of Sociology

We Th

June 4, 2025

until June 5, 2025

09:30 − 17:30

Universität Lausanne (Géopolis)

Conference

25 years of longitudinal surveys in Switzerland. Joint conference of TREE and SHP.

Join us as we celebrate a milestone in social science research—25 years of longitudinal surveys in Switzerland! The Swiss Household Panel (SHP) and Transitions from Education to Employment (TREE), two of the longest-running longitudinal studies, are proud to jointly host this conference in Lausanne.

TREE

News from teaching

New & unique - starting in fall semester 2025, the first Bachelor's program in Political and Administrative Sciences in Switzerland

The Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Law have some exciting news to announce: The new BA in Political and Administrative Science will offer a cross-departmental and cross-faculty focus, adding a further emphasis in the areas of law and administrative science alongside the traditional subjects of business, economics and social cciences. This exciting program, which has not previously been offered at the bachelor's level within the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, is sure to inspire students! The University of Bern is the only location in Switzerland to offer this innovative course.

Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät

Colloquium

Research colloquium spring semester 2025

Research colloquium spring semester 2025 programme

Institute of Sociology

Contact

University of Bern
Institute of Sociology

Fabrikstrasse 8
3012 Bern

Phone: +41 31 684 48 11