Analysis of Social Stratification: Systems and Inequalities
SW1050 - Introduction to Social Work
University of Cincinnati
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
Social stratification can be a very controversial topic, as it is defined as “a system of inequality
that takes into account the differences among individual members of a society and ranks them
by their wealth, power, prestige, and ascribed status, thus creating a social hierarchy” (Larkin,
2015). There are several different stratification systems that contain these defining
characteristics. Each system has similarities and differences that help to distinguish one from
the other. As shown throughout the history of societies, “the four main systems of stratification
have been slavery, caste, estate, and class” (Larkin, 2015). These main systems of stratification
can be compared and contrasted to show how individuals are sorted within, as well as their
social mobility within each system.
Three somewhat common examples of stratification systems would be slavery, class, and caste.
Although slavery is no longer legal in the United States, it is still allowed in many countries.
This extreme form of stratification system allows very little freedom. In fact, an “enslaved
person is the property of other people… [meaning] that the owner has the right to treat the
enslaved individual in any manner the owner desires” (Larkin, 2015). There are two kinds of
individuals that are sorted in this kind of system. It is quite simply broken up between the slave
owner and the slave. This means that nearly 100%, complete power goes to the slave owner
and 0% of the power goes to the slave. While slavery was much more common in past centuries,
there are still forms of slavery that exist today, legal and illegal. This modern-day slavery
“encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or
obtaining —involved when a person uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion,
abuse of the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel someone to work”
(U.S. Department of State, 2020). The social mobility, or, “the degree to which a person can
move from his or her social position established at birth to another position within the
stratification hierarchy,” is nearly nonexistent in the case of slavery (Larkin, 2015). So, keeping
someone enslaved is, unfortunately, often successful. It is not difficult to understand how this
social stratification system “affords the least amount of social mobility to the slave,” as it is
extremely hard to achieve freedom and escape the bonds of slavery (Larkin, 2015).
A slightly more lenient social stratification system is the caste system. The placement within
this system is determined by the family a person is born into, “based on hereditary placement”
(Larkin, 2015). A popular country and culture that uses this system is India, where it is
exercised primarily through the Hindu religion. Individuals are sorted into this system via
different castes, which they are born into. The caste system in India is broken down into “four
castes: priests—Brahman, warriors—Kshatriya, merchants—Vaishya, and artisans/farmers—
Shudra… [and] a final category, the untouchables—Dalit” (Larkin, 2015). Compared to the
system of slavery, which has only two defined roles, the caste system has a total of five levels
where individuals are sorted based on their family’s placement when they are born. The highest,
most successful caste of Brahman is composed of priests, “and those lucky enough to be well
educated” (Wright, 2017). From there, in descending order, are the warriors, merchants, and
farmers. The untouchables are not even considered worthy of being included in the caste
system, according to the Hindu religion. They “are forced to perform the worst jobs, including
cleaning public toilets, raising so-called unclean animals like pigs, curing hides, and sweeping
streets”
(Wright, 2017). These castes are maintained in a very strict manner, which allows more social
mobility than slavery, but it keeps the caste system still extremely limited. This is shown as
“members are expected to marry within their caste, work at jobs considered appropriate for
those in their caste, and avoid mixing socially with members of other castes” (Larkin, 2015).
These restrictions make it very difficult to move up in the social caste system.
Even more fluid and socially mobile than the caste system is the class system. This system
stratification includes ranking based on a person’s economic status or economic position,
which, in turn, is “based on socioeconomic variables -- mainly income, wealth, education and
occupation” (Bird & Newport, 2021). Within this class system, it is much more possible to
move up in class, compared to slavery and the caste system. This is because “in the caste system
still practiced in India, an individual’s ascribed status… rigidly dictated one’s social position;
however, in the class system, an individual’s achieved status and characteristics allow for
mobility because the boundaries are less defined” (Larkin, 2015). It is very possible for a person
to work hard to achieve high status. There are many fewer boundaries within this system
compared to slavery which is nearly completely boundaries, and the caste system which mostly
consists of boundaries. Some of these boundaries include “unequal access to goods, services,
and life options for its members” (Larkin, 2015). This class system is defined by five categories,
just like the caste system. However, while a person may be born into a category, they are not
necessarily stuck there. Still, there are many factors that can make it more difficult for a person
to move up, such as “race, gender, and personal achievement” (Larkin, 2015). The five-class
system categories include the upper class, the upper-middle class, the lower middle class, the
working class, and finally, the poor. These show that a person is fit into one of these categories
solely based on their wealth, which explains how an individual is sorted into the class system.
So, if a person categorized as poor is able to find a way to make more wealth, they would be
able to slowly work their way up the social class system. This kind of ability to “move from
his or her social position established at birth to another position within the stratification
hierarchy” makes the class system much more socially mobile than slavery or the caste system
(Larkin, 2015).
Overall, there are clear similarities and differences between the social stratification systems of
slavery, caste, and class. With slavery the least socially mobile and containing the least amount
of roles, it is also the most extreme system. From there, the caste system is only slightly more
lenient and socially mobile, with five ways of sorting individuals. The class system also has
five categories in which it sorts individuals, based on economic status, and it is the most socially
mobile class out of the three.
Not only can social stratification itself be a controversial topic, but more so is the debate
between gender and racial inequality. There has long been the claim that males are given more
opportunities and power compared to females. Looking at education, the data shows almost the
opposite. In the 2018 United States Census, data was collected that shows about 1.5 million
men between the ages of 18 and 24 who got bachelor degrees or higher (United States Census
Bureau, 2018). While this number is incredibly high, it is actually lower than the data shown
under women. For women between the ages of 18 and 24 who earned a bachelor’s degree or
higher, there is a total of 2,045,833 women (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This is nearly
half a million more women who earned bachelor’s degrees or higher compared to men. The
data shows that this age group of women is overall more generally educated, from a post-
secondary education standpoint, in comparison to men. In fact, in nearly every age category,
women outnumber men in terms of earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. So, now the wage
gap comes into question. If more women have degrees in comparison to men, why did full-
time, year-round employed women make “82.3 cents for every dollar men made in 2019” ()?
This finding further supports the argument that women should be making the same amount in
wages as men. It is very clear in regards to the stratification between the two genders that
women are at a disadvantage for whatever reason.
Now, looking at gender, race, and education, there is even more evidence of stratification or
racial stratification. White men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were made up of 27,181,510
individuals (United States Census Bureau, 2018). However, black men with a bachelor’s degree
or higher were made up of only 2,369,452 (United States Census Bureau, 2018). Between white
and black men, there is a difference of more than 25 million. This shows that for every 11 white
men that earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, only one black man does. This data proves the
racial stratification in the United States, and how it impacts the ability for people to receive a
college education based on their skin color. For white women and black women, the ratio is
similar to that of the males. 29,341,187 white women have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas only 3,540,334 black women did the same (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
fact that there are several million more white individuals who are earning bachelor’s degrees
than black individuals is cause for concern about just how drastic racial stratification is in the
United States.
Lastly, the degree that a person earned typically determines their class. This is shown in the
census data, as the more people earned higher degrees, the more likely they were to fall in the
median earnings category. Of those who earned less than high school graduates, only 24,530
made median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The next level, being a high
school graduate, had 31,269 make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). The
more advanced the degree or education is, the more of those individuals fall into the median
earnings category. With some college or associate's degree equating to 36,854, and those with
bachelor’s degrees having 54,628 individuals making median earnings, there is a pattern that
the higher the education, the more likely a person is to make median earnings (United States
Census Bureau, 2018). 72,492 individuals earned a graduate or professional degree and now
make median earnings (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that in order to make
a decent living of median earnings, a person must have a decent education. The higher a
person’s education, the more earnings they will have.
Now, despite more women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher than men, men tend to have
slightly higher employment than women. This goes to show that even though there are more
options as far as educated women seeking employment, employers would rather choose from
a slightly smaller selection of educated men.
Because of this data and evidence, it is not hard to see which gender and race category has the
most power. The male gender has more power, as they are more likely to get employed, despite
fewer men having an advanced education. In the same sense, men are more likely to make it
into the median earnings category than women, despite more women having a bachelor’s
degree or higher. Despite more than half a million women earning a bachelor’s degree or higher
than men, there are still 10,000 more men than women in the median earnings category for
bachelor degrees (United States Census Bureau, 2018). This shows that men are able to still
dominate careers and employment, despite having more generally educated women for
competition. As far as race is concerned, white individuals tend to have the advantage as well.
With extreme statistics showcasing the drastic gap between white individuals in college versus
black individuals, it is not hard to see how white individuals dominate not only post-secondary
education but also employment afterward. Overall, the male gender category and white race
category have the most power as they are given the most opportunities for success, seemingly
based on gender and race.
References
Bird, R., & Newport, F. (2021, March 01). What determines How Americans Perceive Their
Social Class? Retrieved March 29, 2021, from
https://news.gallup.com/opinion/pollingmatters/204497/determines-americans-perceive-
social-class.aspx
Larkin, T. M. (2015). Social Stratification. Retrieved March 29, 2021, from
https://lc.gcumedia.com/soc102/our-social-world-an-introduction-to-sociology/v1.1/#/
chapter/7
Sheth, S., & Hoff, M. (2021, March 24). These 8 charts show the glaring gap between men's
and
women's salaries in the US. Retrieved March 29, 2021, from
https://www.businessinsider.com/gender-wage-pay-gap-charts-2017-3
United States Census Bureau. (2018). EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT. Retrieved March 29,
2021, from https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?
q=educational+attainment&t=Educational+Attainment&tid=ACSST1Y2018.S1501&hide
Preview=false
U.S. Department of State. (2020, December 01). What is Modern Slavery? Retrieved March
29,
2021, from https://www.state.gov/what-is-modern-slavery/
Wright, M. (2017, June 14). The Indian Caste System Explained. Retrieved March 29, 2021,
from https://www.thenotsoinnocentsabroad.com/blog/the-indian-caste-system-explained
