Introduction to Sociology

LICENSES AND ATTRIBUTIONS
CC LICENSED CONTENT, SHARED PREVIOUSLY

• 
  Objectives and Activities. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution
  
• 
  Revision, Modification, and Original Content. Authored by: Sarah Hoiland and Lumen Learning. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
  
• 
  Social Stratification in the United States. Authored by: OpenStax CNX. Located at: https://cnx.org/contents/AgQDEnLI@10.1:bi_khgk9@4/Introduction-to-Social-Stratification-in-the-United-States. License: CC BY: Attribution. License Terms: Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d@3.49
  

PUBLIC DOMAIN CONTENT

• 
  Demonstration of Protest and Mourning for Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of March 25, 1911. Provided by: The U.S. National Archives. Located at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/11192161883. License: Public Domain: No Known Copyright
  

Your assigned reading continues on the next page

Social Stratification, Social Inequality, and Global Stratification

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• 
  Describe social stratification and social inequality
  
• 
  Explain global stratification
  

Social Stratification

Figure 1. Strata in rock illustrate social stratification. People are sorted, or layered, into social categories. Many factors determine a person’s social standing, such as income, education, occupation, geography, as well as age, race, gender, and even physical abilities. (Photo courtesy of Just a Prairie Boy/flickr)


Social stratification is a system of ranking individuals and groups within societies. It refers to a society’s ranking of its people into socioeconomic tiers based on factors like wealth, income, race, education, and power. You may remember the word “stratification” from geology class. The distinct horizontal layers found in rock, called “strata,” are an illustrative way to visualize social structure. Society’s layers are made of people, and society’s resources are distributed unevenly throughout the layers. Social stratification has been a part of all societies dating from the agricultural revolution, which took place in various parts of the world between 7,000-10,000 BCE. Unlike relatively even strata in rock, though, there are not equal numbers of people in each layer of society. There are typically very few at the top and a great many at the bottom, with some variously populated layers in the middle.