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Katharina Sass

Position

Head of Department, Associate Professor

Affiliation

Department of Sociology

E-mail: katharina.sass@uib.no
Phone number: +47 55589681
Visitor address: Sosiologisk institutt, Rosenbergsgaten 39
5015 Bergen; Room: 312
Postal address: P.O. Box 7802

NO-5020 Bergen

Norway

Katharina Sass

Position

Head of Department, Associate Professor

Affiliation

Department of Sociology

Short info

Katharina Sass is Head of Department of the Department of Sociology at the University of Bergen and Associate Professor of Sociology. She currently conducts research on education policy and the debate surrounding the salmon ground rent tax.

Research

Research field

My research interests are within comparative-historical sociology and comparative political economy. I have done comparative-historical research on education politics and reforms, prostitution politics and on labor unions, with a focus on Scandinavia.

I currently lead a NFR-financed research project on "The Salmon Elite - its politics, self-understanding, networks and wealth" (start date April 2025). Despite the industry's significant economic role, there is little research on those who hold elite positions in the salmon industry. There are several reasons why the salmon farming industry is particularly interesting to study; it is characterized by particularly large private fortunes, a high degree of family ownership, the companies are locally based but have global reach, and the industry is subject to intense political debate, not least visible through the recent debate on resource rent tax. This project connects the academic fields of aquaculture, elites and power. It consists of three work packages, concerned with 1) tax policy, 2) the salmon elites self-understanding and legitimization of influence and 3) economic power, social networks, and family connections.

I have also been involved in the NFR-funded research project "Admission Impossible? School Choice in European Cities" (October 2021-December 2025). Within this project, I am responsible for project 2, which investigates different models of school choice in Norway, making use of a combination of survey data, qualitative interviews and focus groups with parents and students of different socio-economic backgrounds to gain an insight into their experiences and preferences regarding school choice.

I have published the book "The Politics of Comprehensive School Reforms - Cleavages and Coalitions" (2022, Cambridge University Press, open access) [published in German by Beltz Juventa in 2024]. In the book, I compare reforms in secondary education in Norway and Germany in the 1960s and 1970s and analyze debates and power struggles surrounding the reforms, focusing on collective actors such as political parties and teachers' organizations, their power resources, ideology, coalitions, and conflicts.

Short biography

Studied at the University of Cologne and graduated with a diploma degree in economics and sociology in 2012. PhD-Candidate at the Department of Sociology at the University of Bergen, 2013-2018. Associate professor (40%) at the University of Stavanger and researcher in the WAGEREG project (PI: Georg Picot) (30%) 2018-2019; postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Sociology, University of Bergen, 2019-2021, Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology since 2021. Two children.

Research stays abroad

2023: NFR-funded research stay: Visiting researcher in Prof. Gudrun Hentges' education policy group, University of Cologne/Germany, fieldwork for the Admission Impossible project, interviews with education policy actors in Cologne and Munich (4 months)
2017: Meltzer Scholarship: Visiting researcher in the comparative political economy group of Prof. Marius Busemeyer, University of Konstanz/Germany (4 months)
2015: Meltzer Scholarship: Visiting researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne/Germany (3 months)

Outreach

Sosiopodden - Episode 8, Stein Rokkan: konfliktlinjer i dag og historisk | Podcast UiB

Skolene i Bergen blir mer segregerte: – Ryktet sier at det er mye knarkere på skolen

Kom ikke inn på nærskolen: — Det er urettferdig

Teaching

I have previously taught the BA module SOS100 (Invitation to Sociology), the MA module SOS322 (Work, Class and Education) and the BA module SOS108 (Education and Society).

Publications

Academic article

Conference lecture

Lecture

Research report

Book anthology

Katharina Sass (2017). Mythos "Sexarbeit". Argumente gegen Prostitution und Sexkauf.. (external link)

Academic book chapter

Academic monograph