Sociology › Section I · Social stratification › Topic I.1
What is social stratification?
Every society sorts its members into higher and lower positions, and those positions shape who gets the best schools, jobs and health care. Social stratification is the sociological name for that layered system, and societies differ enormously in how rigid their layers are.
In this topic
- Society in layers
- Four features of every system
- Ascribed and achieved status
- Closed systems: slavery and estates
- Caste: the case of India
- Class systems
- Meritocracy: an ideal
- Status consistency
- Worked example: measuring status consistency
- Worked example: open or closed?
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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