A comprehensive discussion about social stratification.

The Consequences of Inequality

Sociologists have observed that there are stark inequalities between groups of people, and that there are more serious social problems associated with people who are poorer. For example, among the poorest groups of people, both in the U.S. and globally, we see higher rates of disease, infant mortality, obesity, teenage pregnancy, and even higher rates of homicide. Those in the upper classes have longer life expectancies and better health.

While many of these social problems are correlated with class, we also see that women tend to be poorer than men and that minorities are poorer than whites. Consequently, inequality and its consequences are complicated; intersection theory describes how race and gender amplify inequalities that exist from class.

Consequences of Class

Socioeconomic class affects many aspects of life. People with higher incomes are more than twice as likely to describe themselves as healthy than are poor people. Mental health patterns also vary with social class. Poorer people are more exposed to stressful events leading to emotional distress.

Recently, with the Occupy Wall Street movement, there has been attention placed on the top 1% of Americans, who hold the vast majority of wealth.

The Consequences of Race

Race is socially constructed. In other words, race exists only because people in society have placed importance on particular biological traits, like skin color or eye shape. Unfortunately, race is a major stratifier in society. Looking at different racial and ethnic groups, we can see that most make less money, have less education, and have even shorter life spans than the white majority.

In recent years, we have seen major strides toward equality by many racial groups. For example, President Barack Obama is part African American. African Americans, in general, experienced many changes in the 20th century. Migration to northern cities brought greater work opportunities. A national civil rights movement won crucial battles that resulted in ending legal support for racially segregated schools. Civil rights acts improved the opportunities for African Americans in employment and use of public transportation. Problems persist, though, in the social standing of African Americans. The medium income of African Americans is significantly lower than whites. African Americans are more likely to be poor and continue to be over-represented in low-paying jobs. Unemployment rates have remained twice as high as for white Americans.

Currently, immigration remains a hot topic in America. There are many debates examining the pros and cons of immigration and monitoring legal and undocumented immigrants.

The Consequences of Gender

Although often used interchangeably, the terms sex and gender mean different things to social scientists. When a social scientist speaks of someone’s sex, they are referring to their innate biological characteristics, their DNA, and their physical attributes. When they speak of gender, they are referring to attitudes and behaviors learned through socialization. Our gender is based on social and cultural expectations of how men and women should behave rather than on biological characteristics. These expectations comprise our gender roles. Gender stereotypes are based on these expectations and paint masculinity and femininity with a broad brush. Our gender identity, how we see ourselves as men or women, is a very important part of identity.

There are many forms of discrimination. Sexism is a form of discrimination based on sex. Women are usually the victims of sexism, viewed as inferior to men. Sexism is often subtle but can be blatant. Blatant sexism, which is easy to document, is rare. Cyber-sexism is common and names that indicate that the person online is a woman are harassed 25 times more often than names indicating that the person is male. Cyber-sexism can range from irritating to deadly, involving both stalking and death threats. Sexism is endemic in society because of gender stratification. Throughout the world, women have less access to power, wealth, and prestige and are relegated to an inferior status. Work is often segregated according to gender and jobs held mostly by women receive less pay and prestige. In addition, women holding the same position as a man earn less money.

These two factors explain the gender pay gap, or wage gap. For every dollar a man makes, a woman only earns 77 cents. Many women hit a glass ceiling in work situations and many jobs typically held by women have little or no chance for advancement. In addition, while men with a family are viewed as more stable and committed, women are viewed as less stable and committed. Women with children often face discrimination because of this. Finally, sexual harassment is a problem in the workplace and women are more often victims of harassment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides interesting statistics about women at work.

Interestingly, higher education was traditionally the domain of males. However, this pattern has been changing in recent decades. Over one-half of all college students today are females, and females earn 52 percent of all M.A. degrees. Furthermore, females are pursuing programs traditionally dominated by males. However, significant differences still exist, particularly in the percentage of Ph.D.s granted and in the areas of law and medicine.

While the political power of women has increased dramatically during the last century, in the highest levels of government women’s roles are still minimal compared to men.

Looking globally, we see clear divisions between those who have access to resources and those who do not. For example, 80% of the world’s population lives on around $10 per day. We also see the richest 20% of the world’s population controls 75% of the wealth. Sadly, almost half of all children live in poverty.

To understand global inequality, sociologists have developed a variety of theories; four will be explored here: Modernization, Dependency, World Systems, and the New International Division of Labor.

Modernization Theory

In our world, we have industrialized, developing, and third-world countries. Modernization theory holds that before a society can develop and become more technologically advanced (become industrialized), it must first abandon its traditional culture.

As we saw in Week 4, society is constantly changing and progressing, often in response to deviant actions. As Heraclitus once said, “the only thing that is constant is change.” Society is changing with technology, the physical environment, population, and even our social institutions themselves. For example, consider how healthcare itself has changed rapidly, especially in the past couple of years with “Obamacare.”

According to Macionis (2012), there are four dimensions of social change:

Social change is happening all the time. For example, consider how taxation has changed, or healthcare, or education! Nothing stays the same in our society for long.
Most social change is unplanned. In other words, it’s hard to predict what changes happen next; consider how much we rely on smartphones and the Internet. No one could have predicted that a decade ago!
Social change is often controversial. For example, think about the movement for gay marriage; change is rarely without debate.
Some changes are more important than others. While some fads come and go, other changes, like computers and transportation, are here to stay.

What Causes Social Change?

Change often starts in one place and goes to another. It may stem from a discovery, such as a new invention, or it could come from deviance or a social movement, like the Civil Rights Movement. Also, changes can come from demographic changes. What changes do you think may come from the racial changes in the United States? Finally, disasters such as a hurricane or nuclear disaster can also cause social change.

Sociologists have identified four major stages of social movements:

Emergence—this occurs when people identify a problem and may come from dissatisfaction. For instance, the Civil Rights Movement stemmed from people being unhappy with the status quo.
Coalescence—this occurs when the movement goes public and becomes organized.
Bureaucratization—this occurs as it becomes more professional and less reliant on a few talented individuals.
Decline—this occurs as resources end and/or members lose interest or achieve their goals.

The Future of Society

While the past century has seen unprecedented changes, there are many social problems to be addressed. Hunger, poverty, equality, responsibility, and the environment top the list. Through social change, we can help work on these projects. What are some problems that interest you? What movements exist to address these problems?

Macionis, J. (2012) Society: The basics (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

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