Unlike in the US and other western countries, the higher education market in Germany has been sheltered from competition. This changed recently, when a governmental "excellence initiative" began to allocate substantial supplementary funds dependent on higher education institutions' performance, in 2005. This study is aimed at assessing…

In education policy, as in many other policy fields, well-designed policy reforms may fail to get enacted because policymakers may suddenly become confronted with a public backlash against their reform agenda. Thus, understanding the dynamics of public opinion is important in order to be able to assess the chances of successful reform. There is a…

Math achievement, math self-concept, and vocational interests are critical predictors of STEM careers and are closely linked to high school coursework. Young women are less likely to choose advanced math courses in high school, and encouraging young women to enroll in advanced math courses may therefore bring more women into STEM careers. We…