Education and Social

Stratification (SS)
 Introduction
• Outline
• Meaning of SS

• Theories of SS

• R/ship btwn Ednal Achievement and SS

 Meaning of SS

• SS is the ranking of individuals or

categories of people based on the
unequal access to scarce resources
and social rewards (Thomas, 1995)
• SS is the systematic process of categorising
and ranking people on a scale of social
worth such that one’s ranking affects life
chances in unequal ways (Ferrante, 2011:
222).

• Life chances is the probability that a

person’s life will follow a certain path and
turn out a certain way.
Society is divided into layers

1940s
stratification was
borrowed from
geology
Each layer has its own
composition
One layer=stratum
Many layers=strata
Factors that Determine SS/Basis
of SS
• Power
• Prestige
• Wealth
• Occupation
• Education
 4 Basic principles of SS

1. SS is a characteristic /trait of society

and not simply a reflection of
individual differences.

2. SS is universal but variable

3. SS involves not just inequality
but beliefs as well

4. SS persists over generations.

 Systems/forms of SS
Closed Open
system system
Doesn’t allow Allows movement
movement and
interaction between
and interaction
layers between layers

Based on birth and

Based on birth
individual
(ascribed)
achievement
Forms of closed systems of SS
 1. Caste system
• Stratification is based on birth (ascribed
status)
• Birth determines occupation, marriage and
interactions between people.
• Promotes beliefs in fate, destiny and the
will of the higher power rather than
promoting individual freedom.
 3. Slavery

• Earliest form of SS

• Individuals are owned by others as

property
3. Estate
• Also known as feudalism

• Existed between 7th and 16th Century

• Social positions were ranked according

to their functions:
• the nobility,
• the church (religion)
• the peasants
• the estate system permitted quite a bit
more mobility among social strata than
did the caste system.
 Class System (open)
• Based on both birth and individual
achievements (achieved status)

• SS Based on personal merit

• People are stratified based on wealth,

power, prestige, education and occupation
• Occupation and marriage is not fixed
at birth

• Interaction and marriage between

classes is allowed (exogamous
marriages)

• Social mobility is possible

 Social Mobility
• Social Mobility is the movement over
time from one social class to another

• Horizontal mobility is a change in one’s

social situation that does not involve a
change in a social status
• Vertical mobility refers to a change
in a person’s social situation that
involves a gain or loss in social status

• Upward Vertical mobility: a gain in

social status

• Downward vertical mobility: a loss

in social status
• Intra-generational Mobility : A loss
or gain of social status over the
course of a person’s lifetime

• Inter-generational mobility: a loss

or gain of social status relative to a
previous generation.
 Max Weber’s Dimensions of SS
1. Class-person’s economic position in society
based on birth and individual achievement.

2. Status-a persons’ prestige, social honour or

popularity in society

3. Power-a person’s ability to have their way

despite the resistance of others.
Why does social stratification exist,
and why are some countries more
stratified than others?
THEORIES OF SOCIAL
STRATIFICATION
 Functionalist View
• have a positive view of SS

• argue that SS plays a vital role in

the smooth operation of a
society.
 Kingsley Davis & Wilbert Moore
(1945)
• Stated that stratification in society is
inevitable because:
• Felt that Some positions are more
important than others

• Society must make certain that its

positions are filled
• The more important positions must
be filled by the more qualified
people.

• To motivate the more qualified

people to fill these positions, society
must offer them greater rewards
 Conflict View
• disagree that SS is functional for a
society

• argue that SS benefits some groups

in Society at the expense of others.

• It is neither necessary nor inevitable.

• Elites shape societal beliefs and laws
to make their unequal privilege seem
legitimate and fair

• There is blocked social mobility in

the system because the working class
and poor are denied the same
opportunities as others.
• The most vital jobs in society–those
that sustain life and the quality of
life–are often the least rewarded.

• The main theory used by Sociologist

The r/ship between Education and SS
• There is a reciprocal r/ship between
Ed. and SS
• It is stratification that affects
education primarily.
• Effects of stratification on Ed. is
greater than the effect of Ed. on
stratification.
 Effect of SS on Ed.
• SS affects educational attainment of an
individual
– Individuals from higher social classes are
more likely to have the means to attend
more prestigious schools
– Members of higher social classes are more
able to provide educational advantages to
their children
 Effects of Ed. On SS

• Ed. is described as a sorting machine-

Students are sorted into stratified levels
of educational attainment certified by
socially recognised credentials
• Recruitment to various occupations is
determined by the ed. Levels

• Schools teach the hidden curriculum (a

set of values and beliefs that support the
status quo) eg. existing social hierarchy