Melanie Fleisch, BA BA MA

Project Assistant +43 512 2070 - 7422 melanie.fleisch@mci.edu

Melanie Fleisch completed her Bachelor's degree in Sociology in 2019 and worked as a student assistant during that time. In 2022, she additionally earned her Bachelor's degree in Philosophy at the University of Innsbruck and completed her Master's degree in Gender, Culture, and Social Change with a thesis on gender knowledge within the Bundeswehr.

Currently, Melanie works as a project collaborator at the 'Center for Social and Health Innovation,' is a member of the Social Theory Research Center, an external lecturer, and a Ph.D. candidate in the Sociology department at the University of Innsbruck. Her research interests focus on power and inequality dynamics as well as agency concepts, with a concentration on intersectional discrimination dynamics in institutions.

In her dissertation project, she explores the construction of the 'other' and the agency of individual actors in the context of Austrian labor migration.

Professional work experience

01/2023 - present
External Lecturer - University of Innsbruck
Design and Implementation of the seminar "Introduction to Empirical Social Research"
01/2022 - present
Project Assistance - Center for Social and Health Innovation - MCI - The Entrepreneurial School
Project Assistant involved in research activities, administrative tasks, communication with external partners, contribution to the creation of project reports and publications, and data management
01/2020 - 12/2020
Student Assistant - University of Innsbruck
In the context of the lecture "Lebenswelten" - Tutor, Administrative tasks, Exam preparation.
01/2018 - 12/2020
Employee - IMAD Marktforschung
Data collection through interviews
01/2013 - 12/2014
Employee - Lebenshilfe Vorarlberg - Organization advocating for the interests of individuals with intellectual disabilities or learning difficulties and working towards their equal representation in the political and social sphere by addressing disadvantages.
Supportive Work

Education

01/2022 - present
PhD - University of Innsbruck
Sociology
01/2019 - 12/2022
Bachelor of Arts - University of Innsbruck
Philosophy
01/2019 - 12/2022
Master of Arts - University of Innsbruck
Gender, Cultur and Social Change
01/2014 - 12/2017
Bachelor of Arts - University of Innsbruck
Sociology

Teaching (faculty internships etc.)

01/2022 - 12/2022
University of Innsbruck
Presentation for the informational event "Sociology as a Profession"

Other

01/2017 - 12/2018
Research stay in Tonga (South Pacific)

Peer reviewed journal article

Fleisch, M. & Kerschbaumer, L. (2025). Categorization and Differentiation as "Useful Others": An Intersectional Perspective on the European Labor Market. Zeitschrift für Politik(Special Issue 12), 219-243. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748949398-219

Presentation of a paper at a conference, workshop or seminar

Fleisch, M. & Kerschbaumer, L. (2025). Agency and Epistemic Inequality: Young Mobile Individuals as 'Useful Others' in the Austrian Labor Market. Vortrag auf der 7. Forschungskonferenz Sozialpolitik ESPAnet Austria, 24.-25. April 2025, Innsbruck, Österreich.