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The university choice of highly skilled applicants is influenced by university rankings as well as by the German quality label "University of Excellence". However, compared to other criteria, excellence and rankings play a rather minor role. The university's proximity to the parents' place of residence is still the most important factor concerning the decision for a university. This is shown by a current study of the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. read more
The publication of the government's Report on Poverty and Wealth has sparked a discussion how poverty in Germany can be fought. One central element of the discussion is the demand for improvements in education for children who left school with very bad results or do not have a school certificate at all due to an unfavourable family environment or disadvantageous material conditions. Analyses conducted by the education economist Dr. Friedhelm Pfeiffer at the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim, show that this approach does not reach far enough. read more
Non-cognitive skills such as persistence when solving a problem, discipline, concentration or the capacity for motivation are relevant to success or failure at school, the vocational training or the job. The first years of life are crucial for conveying these skills. "In German society, there are numerous children who do not have the chance to fully develop their non-cognitive skills due to unfavourable family circumstances and are thus likely to encounter problems at school and, later on, at the job market. Educational expenditure needs to be re-directed in favour of higher investment in early childhood education to counteract this shortcoming, for which, otherwise, the German economy will have to pay dearly," explained Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Franz, economic expert and president of the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), in today’s opening speech at the first conference of the research network "Non-Cognitive Skills - Acquisition and Economic Consequences", which is funded by the Leibniz Association. read more