From September 22 to 26, 2025, Duisburg will host the 42nd Congress of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie (DGS), the most important congress for sociological research in Germany. This year's theme is „Transitionen“ (Transitions). Jan Schaller and Mara Börjesson from the TRAWOS team of the ELITENMONITOR research project will be represented in the ad hoc group „Quo vadis Ostdeutschland(forschung)? Perspektiven auf Persistenz und Dynamiken im Umgang mit dem sozialen Wandel Ost“ (Quo vadis East Germany (research)? Perspectives on persistence and dynamics in dealing with social change in the East) with a contribution. Under the title „Strukturen statt Stigma? Eine kritische Perspektive auf die Erforschung der Unterrepräsentation Ostdeutscher in Elitepositionen“ (Structures instead of stigma? A critical perspective on research into the underrepresentation of East Germans in elite positions) they critically examine the research into the causes of the underrepresentation of East Germans (but also other underrepresented groups) and the recommendations for action aimed at the subject, and advocate a multifactorial and structure-oriented approach.

The article advocates a reflexive shift in research on social inequality that focuses not on the behavior of marginalized groups, but on the social mechanisms of their exclusion. Using the case of East Germany as an example, it discusses how research perspectives can be shifted toward a structurally sensitive analysis that also offers connectivity for other social groups (e.g., people with a migration background, children of workers).

The empirical basis for this article is provided by the findings of the Elitenmonitor research project conducted by the University of Leipzig, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, and Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, which examines the underrepresentation of East Germans in elite positions in Germany on a broad quantitative and qualitative basis.