Social MobilitySocial mobility is the movement of an individual or group from one social position to another over time. Show
Learning Objectives Assess how different factors facilitate social mobility Key TakeawaysKey Points
Key Terms
Social mobility refers to the movement of individuals or groups in social positions over time. Most commonly, social mobility refers to the change in wealth and social status of individuals or families. However, it may also refer to changes in health status, literacy rate, education, or other variables among groups, such as classes, ethnic groups, or countries. Intergenerational Mobility in a Sample of Developed Countries: This graph shows the results of a study on how much intergenerational social mobility there is in a sample of developed countries. Countries with higher intergenerational income elasticity have lower social mobility -- in countries on the left of the graph, children are likely to attain the same social status as their parents. Growing Gap Between Rich and PoorEconomic inequality (also known as the gap between rich and poor) consists of disparities in the distribution of wealth and income. Learning Objectives Discuss the causes of economic inequality Key TakeawaysKey Points
Key Terms
Economic inequality (also known as the gap between rich and poor, income inequality, wealth disparity, or wealth and income differences) consists of disparities in the distribution of wealth (accumulated assets) and income. The term typically refers to inequality among individuals and groups within a society, but can also refer to inequality among countries. The issue of economic inequality is related to the ideas of equity: equality of outcome and equality of opportunity. There are various numerical indices for measuring economic inequality, but the most commonly used measure for the purposes of comparison is the Gini coefficient (also known as the Gini index or Gini ratio for Italian statistician and sociologist Corrado Gini). The Gini coefficient is a statistical measure of the dispersal of wealth or income. A Gini coefficient of zero indicates that there is perfect equality—assets are equally divided between all people in the group. A Gini coefficient of one indicates that all of a group's wealth is held by one individual. Most countries fall toward the middle of this range. Map of Global Gini Coefficients: Using Gini coefficients, this map illustrates the extent to which each country in the world has internal inequality, or a gap between its richest and poorest citizens. There are many reasons for economic inequality within societies, and they are often interrelated. Acknowledged factors that impact economic inequality include, but are not limited to:
A major cause of economic inequality within modern economies is the determination of wages by the capitalist market. In the capitalist market, the wages for jobs are set by supply and demand. If there are many workers willing to do a job for a great amount of time, there is a high supply of labor for that job. If few people need that job done, there is low demand for that type of labor. When there is high supply and low
demand for a job, it results in a low wage. Conversely, if there is low supply and high demand (as with particular highly skilled jobs), it will result in a high wage. The gap in wages produces inequality between different types of workers.
Open vs. Closed Stratification SystemsIn an open class system, people are ranked by achieved status, whereas in a closed class system, people are ranked by ascribed status. Learning Objectives Differentiate between open and closed stratification systems Key TakeawaysKey Points
Key Terms
Social stratification describes the socioeconomic levels of a society as "layers," with the wealthiest and most powerful
citizens being at the top. Typically, the top layer of society tends to have lots of property, as well as prestige and social influence. Steve Jobs' Childhood Home: The United States exhibits an open stratification system, where individuals can move between social statuses based on achievement. Pictured is the middle class home of Steve Jobs' parents, where he founded the technology company that eventually made him one of the world's wealthiest people. Compared with industrialized open systems, pre-industrial societies have mostly been found to be closed class systems where there is low social mobility. People in such societies may be confined to their ancestral
occupations, and their social status is largely prescribed by status at birth. A society in which traditional or religious caste systems dominate, opportunity for social mobility is unlikely. The French Estates: This fifteenth-century woodcutting illustrates the closed stratification system of the three estates of the French Ancien Régime. People were divided into clergy, nobility, and commoners. These categories were discrete, and there was little interaction or mobility between them. Types of Social MobilitySocial mobility can be vertical and horizontal, absolute and relative, and between generations. Learning Objectives Describe several types of social mobility Key TakeawaysKey Points
Key Terms
Social mobility refers to the movement of individuals or groups in social position over time. Most commonly, social mobility refers to the change in wealth and social status of individuals or families. However, it may also
refer to changes in health status, literacy rate, education, or other variables among groups such as classes, ethnic groups, or countries. Social Mobility in the U.S.Strong social and economic mobility is considered part of American Dream, though there is relatively low social mobility in the U.S. Learning Objectives Explain how the "glass ceiling" and other factors lower social mobility in the United States Key TakeawaysKey Points
Key Terms
Socioeconomic mobility in the United States refers to the movement of Americans from one social class or economic level to another, often by changing jobs or marrying. This "vertical"
mobility can be the change in socioeconomic status between parents and children ("inter-generational"), or over the course of a lifetime ("intra-generational"). It typically refers to "relative mobility"—the chance that an American's income or status will rise or fall compared to others in another income or status group; however, mobility can also be "absolute"— whether (and by how much) living standards in America have increased. The belief that there is significant social mobility in America,
or in other words, that Americans can and do rise from humble origins to riches, is called the American Dream.
Despite the increased presence of African Americans and women in the work force over
the years, women and non-whites hold jobs with less rank, authority, opportunity for advancement, and pay than men and whites. The limit to women's and minorities' upward mobility is called the glass ceiling. The glass ceiling is thought to prevent women and minorities from occupying more than a very small percentage of top managerial positions. One reason for the persistence of the glass ceiling, even as explicitly discriminatory policies are eliminated, is the small proportion of high status
individuals in the social networks of women and ethnic minorities. The more managers there are in an employee's immediate work environment, the higher the employee's chances of interacting and spending time with high status and high income employees. Consequently, the more likely these employees are to be drawn on for promotion. US Gender Pay Gap, by Race/Ethnicity: In the United States, white males have greater social mobility than women and racial/ethnic minorities, whose mobility is limited by the glass ceiling. Licenses and AttributionsCC licensed content, Shared previously
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What concept refers to a social position that is received at birth or involuntarily assumed later in life?Ascribed status is a term used in sociology that refers to the social status of a person that is assigned at birth or assumed involuntarily later in life. The status is a position that is neither earned by the person nor chosen for them.
Which concept refers to a social position that is assumed?Ascribed status. Which concept refers to a social position that is assumed voluntarily and that reflects a significant measure of personal ability and effort.
Which concept refers to a status that has special importance for social identity?The term master status is defined as "a status that has exceptional importance for social identity, often shaping a person's entire life." Master status can be ascribed or achieved. Ascribed statuses are statuses born with—e.g., race, sex, etc.
Which concept refers to the tension among roles connected to a single status quizlet?Role Strain. Tension among the roles connected to a single status.
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