Dr. Mai Beilmann
Visiting Research Fellow
Mai Beilmann is a visiting research fellow in the Institute for Social Pedagogy and Adult Education, Department of Educational Sciences at Goethe University Frankfurt.
Mai has completed her BA, MA (summa cum laude), and PhD studies in sociology at the University of Tartu, Estonia. Her PhD project, supervised by Prof. Dr. Anu Realo (University of Warwick/University of Tartu), focused on social capital and individualism-collectivism at the individual level. During her PhD studies, Mai spent a year as a visiting scholar in the research group of Prof. Dr. Gisela Trommsdorff at the University of Konstanz, where she studied adolescents’ social capital under the supervision of Dr. Boris Mayer. Parallel to her PhD studies, Mai worked in the Estonian team of the European Social Survey. She has been involved in several national and international research projects (funded by the European Commission – Horizon 2020, Estonian Research Council, etc.) and tens of applied research projects (commissioned by Chancellery of Estonian Parliament, Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, Estonian Ministry of the Interiors, Estonian Ministry of Justice, Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs, Estonian State Chancellery, etc.). In her various studies, Mai focuses mainly on children and youth studies, particularly child/adolescent vulnerability in the education system, youth civic and political participation, values, and social capital. Building on her experience with varied research projects, she has also published several textbook chapters on survey research methods and questionnaire design and teaches social research methods and methodology courses at the University of Tartu. Since 2018, she has served as the President of the Estonian Association of Sociologists. In the framework of her DAAD research grant for Former Scholarship Holders at Goethe University, conducted under the direction of Prof. Sabine Andresen, Mai is preparing a grant proposal to investigate Estonian and German children’s perceptions and fears concerning the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Publications (selection)
Allaste, A., Beilmann, M., Pirk, R. (2022). Non-formal and informal learning as citizenship education: the views of young people and youth policymakers. Journal of Applied Youth Studies, 5/1), 19–35. DOI: 10.1007/s43151-021-00059-z.
Beilmann, M. (2017). Dropping out because of the others: Bullying among the students of Estonian vocational schools. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 38(8). 1139−1151.10.1080/01425692.2016.1251302.
Beilmann, M. (2020). The cost of intensive civic participation: Young activists on the edge of burnout. S. Banaji & S. Mejias, (Eds.), Youth active citizenship in Europe, (pp. 189−219). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. (Ethnographies of Participation). DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-35794-8_7.
Beilmann, M., Espenberg, K. (2016). The reasons for the interruption of vocational training in Estonian vocational schools. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 68(1), 87−101. 10.1080/13636820.2015.1117520.
Beilmann, M., Kalmus, V., Macek, J., Macková, A., Šerek, J. (2018). Youth in the kaleidoscope: Civic participation types in Estonia and the Czech Republic. Sociální studia / Social Studies, 15(2), 11–33.
Beilmann, M., Kööts-Ausmees, L., Realo, A. (2018). The relationship between social capital and individualism–collectivism in Europe. Social Indicators Research, 137(2), 641–664. s11205-017-1614-4.
Beilmann, M., Lilleoja, L. (2017). Explaining the relationship between social trust and value similarity: the case of Estonia. Juridica International, 25, 14−21. 10.12697/JI.2017.25.02.
Beilmann, M., Lilleoja, L. (2015). Social trust and value similarity: the relationship between social trust and human values in Europe. Studies of Transition States and Societies, 7(2), 19−30.
Beilmann, M., Lilleoja, L., Realo, A. (2021). Learning to trust: Trends in generalized social trust in the three Baltic countries from 1990 to 2018. A. Almakaeva, A. Moreno, R. Wilkes (Eds.), Social capital and subjective well-being. Insights from cross-cultural studies, (pp. 19−43). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-75813-4_2.
Beilmann, M., Mayer, B., Kasearu, K., Realo, A. (2014). The relationship between adolescents' social capital and individualism-collectivism in Estonia, Germany, and Russia. Child Indicators Research, 7(3), 589−611. 10.1007/s12187-014-9232-z.
Beilmann, M., Opermann, S., Kalmus, V., Vissenberg, J., Pedaste, M. (2023). The Role of School-Home Communication in Supporting the Development of Children’s and Adolescents’ Digital Skills, and the Changes Brought by Covid-19. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 15(1). 10.23860/JMLE-2023-15-1-1.
Beilmann, M., Otstavel, S., Kõiv, K., Paabort, H. (2022). NEET-staatuses noored teenuste ja programmide võrgusilmas: kuidas paremini toetada mitteõppivaid ja -töötavaid noori? [NEET-youth in a mesh of network of services and programs: how to ensure better support to young people who are not in education or employment?]. Sotsiaaltöö [Journal of Social Work], https://tai.ee/et/sotsiaaltoo/neet-staatuses-noored-teenuste-ja-programmide-vorgusilmas-kuidas-paremini-toetada.
Beilmann, M., Realo, A. (2018). Õppides usaldama: Üldine usaldus Eestis aastatel 1990–2016. [Learning to trust: General social trust in Estonia in 1990–2016]. Akadeemia, 30(6), 979−1009.
Beilmann, M., Realo, A. (2012). Individualism-collectivism and social capital at the individual level. Trames: Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 16(3), 205−217. 10.3176/tr.2012.3.01.
Beilmann, M., Soo, K., Kutsar, D. (2022). Jagatud mure on pool muret: rahulolu kaasõpilaste ja koolieluga koolikiusamist kogenud õpilaste seas. [A problem shared is a problem halved: satisfaction with classmates and life as a student among the children who have experienced bullying at school]. Eesti Haridusteaduste Ajakiri = Estonian Journal of Education, 10(1), 61−89. 10.12697/eha.2022.10.1.04.
Dahl, V., Amnå, E., Banaji, S., Landberg, M., Šerek, J., Ribeiro, N., Beilmann, M., Pavlopoulus, V., Zani, B. (2018). Apathy or alienation? Political passivity among youths across eight European Union countries. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 15(3), 284–301. 10.1080/17405629.2017.1404985.
Enchikova, E., Neves, T., Beilmann, M., Banaji, S., Pavlopoulos, V., Ferreira, P. D. (2021). Active citizenship: Participatory patterns of European Youth. Journal of Social Science Education, 20(1), 4−29. DOI: 10.4119/jsse-3146.
Kalmus, V., Kõuts-Klemm, R., Beilmann, M., Rämmer, A., Opermann, S. (2018). Long-lasting shadows of (post)communism? Generational and ethnic divides in political and civic participation in Estonia. C. Wallner, J. Wimmer, R. Winter, K. Oelsner (Eds.), (Mis-)understanding political participation. Digital practices, new forms of participation and the renewal of democracy, (pp. 35–56). New York; Abingdon: Routledge Taylor & Francis Ltd. (Routledge Studies in European Communication Research and Education; 13).
Kõuts-Klemm, R., Kalmus, V., Kutsar, D., Ainsaar, M., Beilmann, M., Kasearu, K., Soo, K. (2019). Noored ja ühiskond: osalus, rahulolu ja toimevõime. [Youth and society: participation, satisfaction, and agency]. Riigikogu Toimetised [Proceedings of the Estonian Parliament], 40, 113−123.
Paabort, H., Beilmann, M. (2021). State level agreed-upon factors contributing more effective policymaking for public sector services for effective local-level work with NEETs. Revista Calitatea Vieții, 32(4).
Paabort, H., Flynn, P., Beilmann, M., Petrescu, C. (2023). Policy Responses to Real World Challenges Associated with NEET Youth: A Scoping Review. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 5. DOI: 10.3389/frsc.2023.1154464.
