Prof. Dr. phil. Karin Schittenhelm
57068 Siegen
Higher Education
| 2005 | Habilitation, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Venia legendi: Sociology. |
| 1994 | Doctoral degree, Freie Universität Berlin. |
| 1981-1987 | Diplom in Sociology, Freie Universität Berlin, Sociology |
Professional Experience
Since 2024 2002-2024 | Senior Researcher Professor of Sociology, University of Siegen, Germany |
Since 2021 Since 2011 | Spokesperson for the DFG Research Unit 'Transborder Mobility and Institutional Dynamics' Member of the DFG Research Unit ‘Horizontal Europeanization’ |
| 2007-2010 | Strategic Knowledge Cluster ‘Canada-Europe Transatlantic Dialogue’ (European Collaborator) |
| 2005-2009 | International Study Group ‘Cultural Capital in Migration’ (VW Foundation) |
Grants and Visiting Positions
| 2018 | Visiting scholar, CRESPPA (Centre de Recherches Sociologiques et Politiques de Paris) CNRS, Programme “Changing Societies” |
| 2010 and 2017 | Visiting scholar, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen, Germany (6-7/2010 and 3/2017) |
| 2015-2016 | Chaire Alfred Grosser, Sciences Po/Institut d'Études Politiques, courses/lectures at the European Campus Nancy, France |
| 2009 and 2010 | Visiting scholar, University of British Columbia (UBC), Institute for European Studies, Vancouver, Canada (9-10/2010 and 9-11/ 2009) |
| 1998 and 1999 | Visiting scholar, Institut de Recherche sur les Sociétés Contemporaines (IRESCO-CNRS), Paris, France (11/1998-3/1999) |
Current Research and Areas of Expertise
Karin Schittenhelm is a Professor of Sociology and a Senior Researcher at the University of Siegen. Her research interests include migration and asylum studies, gender and life course research, European studies, as well as qualitative research methods. She is currently the spokesperson for the DFG-Research Unit 'Transborder Mobility and Institutional Dynamics' and head of the project 'Asylum Regimes and Transnational Refugee Families in Germany and France.' She was co-leader of the research project entitled ‘Europeanization of Asylum Administrative Practice?’, which was part of the ‘Horizontal Europeanization’ DFG-Research Unit. She has also focused on the transnational trajectories and multidimensional status passages of academics and highly skilled migrants. Her research has examined the mobile careers and life conducts of international doctoral candidates from Germany who pursued their careers abroad ('Mobile Transitions, Mobile Life Styles?'). She was also a member of the international study group 'Cultural Capital During Migration', which focused on highly skilled migrants at the threshold of the labour market in Canada and European countries.
Selected Research Projects
| 2021-2025 | Transborder Mobility and Institutional Dynamics, DFG Research Unit Transborder Mobility and Institutional Dynamics (FOR 5183), Sub-Project: Asylum Regimes and Transnational Refugee Families in Germany and France |
2016-2019 | ‘Mobile Übergänge, mobile Lebensformen?’ (Transitions and ways of living of university graduates from Germany following scientific careers in France and the Netherlands), DFG |
| 2012-2018 | ‘Auf dem Weg zu einem europäischen Asylfeld? Towards a European Field of Asylum Administration’, DFG-Research-Unit: Horizontal Europeanisation (1st and 2nd phase) (co-leader with Christian Lahusen) |
| 2005-2010 | ‘Cultural capital during migration. Towards the relevance of education titles and residence permits for the status passage into the labour market’, funded by the ‘Migration and Integration’ programme of the Volkswagen Foundation (cooperative leadership with Arnd-Michael Nohl, Oliver Schmidtke, Anja Weiß) |
| 2000-2001 | ‘Les Jeunes et l'Europe. Aptitude à l'égard de l'Europe et de l'identité européenne’ Freie Universität Berlin, Cooperation with ‘Institut de Recherche sur les sociétés contemporaines’, CNRS, Paris/France, funded by the European Commission, DG XXII (cooperative partner) |
| 1998-2002 | ‘Lebensstile und Orientierungen junger Frauen zwischen Schule und Beruf in interkulturell vergleichender Perspektive, A cross-cultural approach to the school-to-work transition of young women, DFG (principal investigator) |
Publications
Selected publications
- Schittenhelm, Karin; Ndahayo, Emmanuel (2025). State Interventions into Refugees' Family Life: (Un-)Intended Consequences of Family Reunification Policies in Germany. Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 1-15. Doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2025.2514165
- Schäfer, Gregor; Schittenhelm, Karin; El Dali Yasmin (2023). Places and Mechanism of Belonging and Exclusion. Intra-EU Academic Migration in a Comparative Perspective. Population, Space and Place. 29(8). Doi.org/10.1022/psp.2699
- Schittenhelm, Karin (2022). Negotiating Unequal Mobility Opportunities.Young Academic's Mobility in the EU and their Partner-Related Living Conditions. Geoforum 133, 117-127. Doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.03.020
- Lahusen, Christian; Schittenhelm, Karin & Schneider, Stephanie (2022). Europäische Asylpolitik und lokales Verwaltungshandeln. Zur Behördenpraxis in Deutschland und Schweden. Bielefeld: transcript.
- Schittenhelm, Karin (2021). Theoretisches und praktiziertes Sampling.Zwischen Felderkundung, Theoriebildung und Gütesicherung. ZQF/Zeitschrift für Qualitative Forschung 22(2), 283-298.
- Schittenhelm, Karin (2019). Implementing and Rethinking the European Union's Asylum Legislation: The Asylum Procedures Directive. International Migration 57(1), 229-244. Doi: 10.1111/imig.12533
- Schittenhelm, Karin (2018). Geschlechterbezogene Verfolgung und ihre Beurteilung in Asylverfahren: Die Umsetzung von UNHCR- und EU-Richtlinien am Beispiel von Schweden. GENDER 10(2), 32-46.
- Schittenhelm, Karin; Stephanie Schneider (2017). Official Standards and Local Knowledge in Asylum Procedures: Decision-Making in Germany’s Asylum System. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 43(10), 1696-1713.
- Schittenhelm, Karin (2017). Mehrsprachigkeit als Herausforderung in transnationalen Forschungskontexten. Zeitschrift für Qualitative Forschung, 18(1), 105-115.
- Schittenhelm, Karin (2015). Asylsuchende im Blickpunkt der Behörde. Explizites und implizites Wissen in der Herstellung von Asylbescheiden in Deutschland. Soziale Probleme, 26(2), 137-150.
- Nohl, Arnd-Michael; Karin Schittenhelm; Oliver Schmidtke & Anja Weiß (2014). Work in Transition. Cultural Capital and Highly Skilled Migrants‘ Passages into the Labour Market. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- Schittenhelm, Karin; Schmidtke, Oliver (2011). Integrating Highly Skilled Migrants into the Economy: Transatlantic Perspectives. International Journal, 66(1), 127-143.
- Schittenhelm, Karin (2009). Social Risks in Successful Educational careers of Young Female Immigrants in the German Education System: Coping Strategies, Self-Help and Support Services. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, 5(3), 3-16.
- Nohl, Arnd-Michael; Schittenhelm, Karin; Schmidtke, Oliver; Weiß, Anja (2006). Cultural Capital During Migration – A Multi-Layer Approach to the Labour Market Integration amongst Highly Skilled Immigrants. FQS. Forum Qualitative Research, 7(3), Art.14.
- Schittenhelm, Karin (2005). Primäre und sekundäre Effekte kultureller Praktiken. Der Ausbildungseinstieg junger Migrantinnen im interkulturellen Vergleich. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 57(4), 691-713.
- Schittenhelm, Karin (2005). Soziale Lagen im Übergang. Junge Migrantinnen und Einheimische zwischen Schule und Berufsausbildung, Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.