Research areas at the Chair of Sociology/Social Inequality and Gender include the following:

• Transformations of Knowledge in Modernity: One focus consists of analysing the connection between scientific and social developments in modernity. Emphases lie on the critique of academic theories and methodological studies about social science theories and methodologies including the (categorical) impact of gender and intersectionality.
   
• Gender Relations and Social Change in the Welfare State: Another aspect of research includes theoretical perspectives on inequalities and modernisation in the light of social change, for instance demographic, epistemological and technological change. This implies theory-driven analyses of processes of restructuration and policies in the welfare state, e.g. gender policies, family policies and educational policies.
   
• Institutionalised Inequalities in the Education System and in Labour: The research at the Chair also investigates how education and labour (re-)produce and institutionalise inequalities. One current focus consists of theoretical and empirical research on careers in education and academia with a comparison between the disciplines and gender.
   
• Gender-Sensitive Organisational Development in the Public-Profit-Sector: The Chair also concentrates on questions of organisational sociology, especially regarding the task of (gender) equality in organisations, above all in the educational system and in public administration. In the process, experiences from organisational development and consulting are analysed and the application of inequality and gender-related knowledge in organisations is reflected from a standpoint of the sociology of knowledge.

The Chair of Sociology/Social Inequality and Gender offers courses in the Bachelor’s Programme, e.g. courses on social structure and social change, as well as courses for the Master’s Programme.There at the Faculty of Social Science are  also courses for the Master of Education, the Master of Gender Studies and the International Master of European Culture and Economy (ECUE).

Achieving an internationalisation of teaching and studying is central, e.g. through corresponding course offerings and the promotion of studies and research abroad.

There are both German and English course offerings which include overview lectures and advanced lectures and seminars.

The academic focus of the courses corresponds to the fields of research at the Chair. Main areas include social inequality and gender research from an international perspective, including socioanalytical questions, internationally comparative research on welfare states and social structure and selected special sociologies, e.g. the sociology of education, science and academia, organisation, labour, family, population and politics.

The next generation of academics is supported through a focus on internationalisation (e.g. through international conferences and co-operations). In addition, for doctoral candidates, there is integrated consulting throughout the entire process of obtaining a doctorate. This includes consultations about a research topic and the ability to network beyond the academic scope, as well as support with planning a varied and individual career path.

The doctoral students and postdocs researching and teaching at the Chair are connected through a research colloquium, and the ongoing doctoral support is added the support from the RUB Research School.