Module 10 Social Stratification and Gender Development

Learning Objectives: By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Define social stratification.

• Understand social inequality.
• Explain the determinants of social stratification
• Distinguish between caste and class systems
• Understand meritocracy as an ideal system of stratification.
• Differentiate gender stratification and social stratification

Learning Activities : 1. Read this module

2. Watch videos on social stratification and gender

stratification

3. Research on 3 countries with varied social system, caste,

class and meritocracy.

Sociologists use the term social stratification to describe the system of

social standing. Social stratification refers to a society’s categorization of its
people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on factors like wealth, income,
race, education, and power.
You may remember the word “stratification” from geology class. The
distinct vertical layers found in rock, called stratification, are a good way to
visualize social structure. Society’s layers are made of people, and society’s
resources are distributed unevenly throughout the layers. The people who have
more resources represent the top layer of the social structure of stratification.
Other groups of people, with progressively fewer and fewer resources, represent
the lower layers of our society.
•

• Strata in rock illustrate social stratification. People are sorted, or layered, into
social categories. Many factors determine a person’s social standing, such as
income, education, occupation, as well as age, race, gender, and even physical
abilities. (Photo courtesy of Just a Prairie Boy/flickr)
• In the United States, people like to believe everyone has an equal chance at
success. To a certain extent, sociologists illustrate the belief that hard work and
talent—not prejudicial treatment or societal values—determine social rank. This
emphasis on self-effort perpetuates the belief that people control their own social
standing.
• However, sociologists recognize that social stratification is a society-wide system
that makes inequalities apparent. While there are always inequalities between
individuals, sociologists are interested in larger social patterns. Stratification is not
about individual inequalities, but about systematic inequalities based on group
membership, classes, and the like. No individual, rich or poor, can be blamed for
social inequalities. The structure of society affects a person’s social standing.
Although individuals may support or fight inequalities, social stratification is
created and supported by society as a whole.

•
• The people who live in these houses most likely share similar levels of income
and education. Neighbourhoods often house people of the same social standing.
Wealthy families do not typically live next door to poorer families, though this
 varies depending on the particular city and country. (Photo courtesy of Orin
Zebest/flickr)
• Factors that define stratification vary in different societies. In most societies,
stratification is an economic system, based on wealth, the net value of money and
assets a person has, and income, a person’s wages or investment dividends. While
people are regularly categorized based on how rich or poor they are, other
important factors influence social standing. For example, in some cultures,
wisdom and charisma are valued, and people who have them are revered more
than those who don’t. In some cultures, the elderly are esteemed; in others, the
elderly are disparaged or overlooked. Societies’ cultural beliefs often reinforce the
inequalities of stratification.
• One key determinant of social stratification is the social standing of our parents.
Parents tend to pass their social position on to their children. People inherit not
only social standing but also the cultural norms that accompany a certain lifestyle.
They share these with a network of friends and family members. Social standing
becomes a comfort zone, a familiar lifestyle, and an identity. This is one of the
reasons first-generation college students do not fare as well as other students.
• Other determinants are found in a society’s occupational structure. Teachers, for
example, often have high levels of education but receive relatively low pay. Many
believe that teaching is a noble profession, so teachers should do their jobs for
love of their profession and the good of their students—not for money. Yet no
successful executive or entrepreneur would embrace that attitude in the business
world, where profits are valued as a driving force. Cultural attitudes and beliefs
like these support and perpetuate social inequalities.

Recent Economic Changes and U.S. Stratification

• As a result of the Great Recession that rocked our nation’s economy in the last
few years, many families and individuals found themselves struggling like never
before. The nation fell into a period of prolonged and exceptionally high
unemployment. While no one was completely insulated from the recession,
perhaps those in the lower classes felt the impact most profoundly. Before the
recession, many were living paycheck to paycheck or even had been living
comfortably. As the recession hit, they were often among the first to lose their
jobs. Unable to find replacement employment, they faced more than loss of
income. Their homes were foreclosed, their cars were repossessed, and their
ability to afford healthcare was taken away. This put many in the position of
deciding whether to put food on the table or fill a needed prescription.

• But the Great Recession, like the Great Depression, has changed social attitudes.
Where once it was important to demonstrate wealth by wearing expensive clothing
items like Calvin Klein shirts and Louis Vuitton shoes, now there’s a new, thriftier
way of thinking. In many circles, it has become hip to be frugal. It’s no longer
about how much we spend, but about how much we don’t spend. Think of shows
like Extreme Couponing on TLC and songs like Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop.”
 Systems of Stratification

Sociologists distinguish between two types of systems of stratification.

Closed systems accommodate little change in social position. They do not allow
people to shift levels and do not permit social relationships between levels. Open
systems, which are based on achievement, allow movement and interaction
between layers and classes. Different systems reflect, emphasize, and foster
certain cultural values and shape individual beliefs. Stratification systems include
class systems and caste systems, as well as meritocracy.

The Caste System

•
•
 India used to have a rigid caste system. The people in the lowest caste
suffered from extreme poverty and were shunned by society. Some aspects of
India’s defunct caste system remain socially relevant. In this photo, an Indian
woman of a specific Hindu caste works in construction, and she demolishes and
builds houses. (Photo courtesy of Elessar/flickr)
Caste systems are closed stratification systems in which people can do
little or nothing to change their social standing. A caste system is one in which
people are born into their social standing and will remain in it their whole lives.
People are assigned occupations regardless of their talents, interests, or potential.
There are virtually no opportunities to improve a person’s social position.

In the Hindu caste tradition, people were expected to work in the

occupation of their caste and to enter into marriage according to their caste.
Accepting this social standing was considered a moral duty. Cultural values
reinforced the system. Caste systems promote beliefs in fate, destiny, and the will
of a higher power, rather than promoting individual freedom as a value. A person
who lived in a caste society was socialized to accept his or her social standing.

Although the caste system in India has been officially dismantled, its
residual presence in Indian society is deeply embedded. In rural areas, aspects of
the tradition are more likely to remain, while urban centers show less evidence of
this past. In India’s larger cities, people now have more opportunities to choose
their own career paths and marriage partners. As a global center of employment,
corporations have introduced merit-based hiring and employment to the nation.

The Class System

A class system is based on both social factors and individual achievement.

A class consists of a set of people who share similar status with regard to factors
like wealth, income, education, and occupation. Unlike caste systems, class
systems are open. People are free to gain a different level of education or
employment than their parents. They can also socialize with and marry members
of other classes, which allow people to move from one class to another.

In a class system, occupation is not fixed at birth. Though family and other
societal models help guide a person toward a career, personal choice plays a role.

In class systems, people have the option to form exogamous marriages,

unions of spouses from different social categories. Marriage in these
circumstances is based on values such as love and compatibility rather than on
social standing or economics. Though social conformities still exist that encourage
people to choose partners within their own class, people are not as pressured to
choose marriage partners based solely on those elements. Marriage to a partner
from the same social background is an endogamous union.
Meritocracy

Meritocracy is an ideal system based on the belief that social stratification

is the result of personal effort—or merit—that determines social standing. High
levels of effort will lead to a high social position, and vice versa. The concept of
meritocracy is an ideal—because a society has never existed where social rank
was based purely on merit. Because of the complex structure of societies,
processes like socialization, and the realities of economic systems, social standing
is influenced by multiple factors—not merit alone. Inheritance and pressure to
conform to norms, for instance, disrupt the notion of a pure meritocracy. While a
meritocracy has never existed, sociologists see aspects of meritocracies in modern
societies when they study the role of academic and job performance and the
systems in place for evaluating and rewarding achievement in these areas.

Social stratification is described as the layers of the society as to the social

ranking of individuals. Scholars studied another inequality, the gender
stratification. It refers to the social ranking, where men typically inhabit higher
statuses than women. Often the terms gender inequality and gender stratification
are used interchangeably.

Gender stratification occurs when gender differences give men greater

privilege and power over women, transgender and gender-non-conforming people.
Feminism focuses on the theory of patriarchy as a system of power that organizes
society into a complex of relationships based on the assertion of male supremacy.

The term “gender stratification” is generally used to refer to the situation in

which men are seen as more important than women. In the United States, the main
consequence of gender stratification is economic and social inequality between
men and women.

A structural functionalist view of gender inequality applies the division

of labor to view predefined gender roles as complementary: women take care of
the home while men provide for the family. Thus gender, like other social
institutions, contributes to the stability of society as a whole.

The functional theory of stratification provided by Kingsley Davis and

Wilbert Moore suggests that social inequalities are functional for society because
they provide an incentive for the most talented individuals to occupy jobs that are
essential to the orderly maintenance of a society.
Glossary

caste system
a system in which people are born into a social standing that they will retain their
entire lives

class
a group who shares a common social status based on factors like wealth, income,
education, and occupation

class system
social standing based on social factors and individual accomplishments

endogamous marriages
unions of people within the same social category

exogamous unions
unions of spouses from different social categories

income
the money a person earns from work or investments

meritocracy
an ideal system in which personal effort—or merit—determines social standing

primogeniture
a law stating that all property passes to the firstborn son

social stratification
a socioeconomic system that divides society’s members into categories ranking
from high to low, based on things like wealth, power, and prestige

status consistency
the consistency, or lack thereof, of an individual’s rank across social categories
like income, education, and occupation

wealth
the value of money and assets a person has from, for example, inheritance
Self Assessment Question

1. What is social stratification?

2. Describe social inequality.
3. What are the determinants of social stratification?
4. Identify and describe the different social systems
5. Relate India’s caste system and US class system.
6. Why meritocracy is the best social system?
7. How social stratification and gender stratification varies?
8.
Answer to Self-Assessment Question

1. Social stratification refers to a society’s categorization of its people into

rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on factors like wealth, income, race,
education, and power.

2. Social Inequalities is described as systematic inequalities based on group

membership, classes, and the like.

3. Many factors determine a person’s social standing, such as income/wealth,

education, occupation, as well as age, race, gender, and even physical abilities

4. The three different social systems are the following:

Caste system in which people are born into a social standing that they will retain
their entire lives.

Class system is social standing based on social factors and individual

accomplishments. This is an open social system wherein a person can change
his/her social stratum based on his achievements.

Meritocracy an ideal system in which personal effort—or merit—determines

social standing

5. The difference between India’s caste system and US Class system is the
consistency of the system, the India cast system is more consistent while US class
system tends to be weak. India incorporates in its way of life their social ranking,
in the US class system it can be seen that discrimination still exist preventing the
complete social improvement of an individual in terms of rank.

6. Meritocracy can be seen as the best social system since it is open and based on
the achievements of an individual regardless of his/her inherited social system.
 7. Social stratification varies with gender stratification, the former is a larger form
of social inequality based on the person’s birth and social class. Gender inequality
is one kind of social stratification based on gender differences, like men getting
more opportunites that women specifically in home chores, school activitied, work
place and even in politics

Further Research

The New York Times investigated social stratification in their series of articles called
“Class Matters.” The online accompaniment to the series includes an interactive graphic
called “How Class Works,” which tallies four factors—occupation, education, income,
and wealth—and places an individual within a certain class and percentile. What class
describes you? Test your class rank on the interactive site:
http://openstaxcollege.org/l/NY_Times_how_class_works

References

Köhler, Nicholas. 2010. “An Uncommon Princess.” Maclean’s, November 22. Retrieved
January 9, 2012 (http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/11/22/an-uncommon-princess/).

McKee, Victoria. 1996. “Blue Blood and the Color of Money.” New York Times, June 9.

Marquand, Robert. 2011. “What Kate Middleton’s Wedding to Prince William Could Do
for Britain.” Christian Science Monitor, April 15. Retrieved January 9, 2012
(http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2011/0415/What-Kate-Middleton-s-wedding-
to-Prince-William-could-do-for-Britain).

Wong, Grace. 2011. “Kate Middleton: A Family Business That Built a Princess.” CNN
Money. Retrieved December 22, 2014

(http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/14/smallbusiness/kate-middleton-party-pieces/).

https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/sociology/sex-and-gender/social-stratification-
and-gender

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/doSearch?AllField=gender+stratification+theories