300555 Social Inequalities and the Digital Transformation of Work (MA Sozialstruktur und soziale Ungleichheit) (S) (SoSe 2026)

The starting point of the seminar is the question whether the digital transformation of work is changing social inequalities, in particular occupational, gender and parenthood specific inequalities in the labour market. It pays attention to both changing resources such as pay as well as changing demands at work highlighted by the conceptualization of technostress. Theoretical perspectives such as the skill-, task-, and

class-biased technological change perspectives are revisited for past trends of computerization and internet use and applied to more recent socio-technological trends of hybrid team work and AI use. Moreover, the course provides insights and applications of the theoretical concept of technostress and digital presence at work and the implications for the

ideal worker norm of high work devotion. National and organizational comparative perspectives are also a central focus of the seminar. Here, the question is explored to what extent national institutions and organizational inequality regimes filter digital work and the associated changes in resources and demands for different groups of employees.

Finally, not only theoretical perspectives and the state of the art but also methodological approaches and challenges to research social inequalities and the digital transformation of work are discussed.