Laufende Projekte

Title: Mente Amiga
Aim: The project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating the impact of Mente Amiga ("Kind Mind"), a school-based mental health programme implemented by Fundacion Consciente in Eastern El Salvador. Mente Amiga targets primary school students aged 9 to 12 and is delivered in public schools across the departments of La Unión, Morazán, San Miguel, and Usulután. The programme is tested in two delivery formats: one led by trained school psychologists and one led by trained classroom teachers. The primary objective of the evaluation is to assess whether, and to what extent, the Mente Amiga programme improves students' emotional and behavioral regulation, academic outcomes, and the broader classroom environment. The secondary objective is to compare the cost-effectiveness of the two delivery models, with a view to identifying scalable and financially sustainable approaches for the Salvadoran education system.
Methods: Randomized controlled trial (RCT)
Team: Dr. Martina Jakob (Uni Bern, Uni Zurich), Dr. Fanny Valli-Puljic (Uni Konstanz), PhD Miriam Prater (Uni Bern)
Duration: January 2027-October 2028 (this is the intervention period; the preparation is already ongoing, and data analysis after the intervention will go into 2029)
Funders & Amount: Funds for Innovation in Development (~ 800'000 EUR) + Medicor (~ 80'000 EUR)
Publications: TBA

Full title: Preferences or institutional constraints? Explanations for the persisting impact of gender and social background on field of study choice.
Aim: The project investigates the extent to which field of study choice arise from differences in students’ preferences, perceived opportunities, and anticipated returns, or from institutional constraints affecting the options available to them.
Methods: Multi-method approach that combines data from a nationally representative high school and university student survey in Switzerland with choice experiments, and qualitative interviews.
Team: Benita Combet, Jule Hauf, Jacqueline Kroh, Lea Jordan, Cecilia Daniar Pè, Noël Werthmüller, Rhea Svenja Gastring, Kaja Anna Kaessner, Klara Kruse Rosset, Fiona Kunz, Vicky Pfeuffer, Sophie Brunhilde Pommer, Arian Studer, Sam Wagenbach
Duration:
Funder: SNSF Ambizione Grant
Amount: CHF 830'861
Publications:
- Scherwin M Bajka, Benita Combet, Patrick Emmenegger, Sabine Seufert, Skill requirements versus workplace characteristics: exploring the drivers of occupational gender segregation, Socio-Economic Review, Volume 23, Issue 4, October 2025, Pages 2065–2086, https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwaf034
- Benita Combet, Women’s aversion to majors that (seemingly) require systemizing skills causes gendered field of study choice, European Sociological Review, Volume 40, Issue 2, April 2024, Pages 242–257, https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcad021

Full title: GoGymi Impact Study
Aim: A study into the effectiveness of the AI-supported learning platform GoGymi for students’ motivation, learning progress and performance, as well as in reducing teachers’ workload in relation to the high school entrance exam in the Canton of Zurich.
Methods: Randomized controlled trial
Team: Benita Combet, Rhea Svenja Gastring, Felix Buchmüller, Sophie Brunhilde Pommer, Sam Wagenbach
Duration: 2024–2026
Funder: Innosuisse and Beisheim Stiftung
Amount: CHF15’000 and CHF105’000
Publications: None so far

Title: Moving up or stepping down? The influence of social closure mechanisms on workplace career development in the intersection between gender, migration and social background
Aim: To examine whether career development varies across individuals with different ascriptive characteristics (gender, ethnic/migrant and social background) and to investigate the role of intraorganizational processes (particularly self-selection and social closure mechanisms) in the emergence of these differences.
Methods: Multi-method approach that combines data from a nationally representative longitudinally linked employer-employee survey in Switzerland with automated text analysis, choice experiments, and qualitative interviews.
Team: Benita Combet, Barbara Körner, Christian Arciniegas, Lisa Götschi, Karin Roth, Felix Buchmüller, Angiolina Mischler, Arian Studer, Sam Wagenbach
Duration: 2025 - 2030
Funders & Amount: SNSF Starting Grant (CHF 1’798’228)
Publications: TBA

Full title: Work-related gender norms in the Netherlands. Measuring the normative underpinnings of female labor force participation, in particular parttime work.
Aim: To investigate the potential impact of work-related gender norms on female labor force participation in the Netherlands, in particular parttime work.
Methods: Representative surveys, survey experiments, analysis of Dutch register data.
Team: A. Brüning, W. Przepiorka (Co-PI), T. Spiegel, T. van der Lippe
Duration: 2023 - 2027
Funder: Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Amount: ~ EUR 250,000. [Note: this project is financed through the Stevin prize awarded to T. van der Lippe]
Publications: TBA

Full title: Efficient refugee integration through data analytics.
Aim: To evaluate the viability of conversational AI in helping refugees in Switzerland finding their way through daily life, in particular regarding legal questions. Methods: Online surveys, text analysis.
Team: R. Farys, I. Gartman, A. Kuznetsova, W. Przepiorka (Co-PI), V. Yefimov
Duration: 2026 - 2027
Funder: Innosuisse (Swiss Innovation Agency). Amount: CHF 15,000.
Publications: TBA

Titel: Transitionen von der Erstausbildung ins Erwerbsleben (TREE)
Zweck: TREE ist eine gesamtschweizerische, längsschnittlich angelegte Befragung zum Übergang Jugendlicher von der Schule ins Erwachsenenleben (Transition).
Methoden: prospektive Längsschnittbefragung auf der Basis von Zufallsstichproben, Kombination von Telefon-Interviews (CATI) und schriftlichen Befragungsinstrumenten (CASI, Paper & Pencil)
Team: Claudia Finger (Ko-Leitung), Sandra Hupka-Brunner (Ko-Leitung), Marc Dojtschinov, Andrés Gomensoro, Cédric Grützner, Stefan Ilic, Ben Jann, Maarten Koomen, Barbara Müller, Nathina Rajendran, Kathrin Thomas
Dauer: ab 2000
Förderer: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
Link: https://www.tree.unibe.ch/

Institut für Soziologie