Term Paper on

‘Social Stratification and Educational

Inequalities’

Submitted to:

MD. MAHBUB QUAISAR

Assistant Professor, Dept. of sociology
University of Dhaka.

Submitted by:
MD. ANISUL ISLAM
Roll: 153
2nd Semester
Dept. of sociology, University of Dhaka.

Course No: 154

 Social Stratification and Educational
Inequalities

Stratification: a definition
Socioeconomic stratification is the categorization of people into strata,
based on their occupation, income, wealth and social status. As such,
stratification is the relative position of persons within a group,
category, geographic region, and social unit.
• The word comes from the Latin ‘Stratum’ meaning layer.
• Stratification exists in every society.
• Stratification is reproduced from one generation to another.
• Stratification does not only involve quantitative differences (income,
wealth, etc.) but also in qualitative ones (attitudes and beliefs).
• Stratification implies unequal access to valued goods:
Education, employment, housing, consumption, etc.
• The level of stratification depends on each society’s history and
institutions.
• Stratification is determined by 3 factors:
- Social institutions which define certain goods as valuable.
- The rules of allocation of these goods (e.g. welfare systems).
- Social mobility and the ability to move between strata. Open
stratification systems are the one that allow mobility (opposed to
closed stratification systems, like in caste based societies).
Stratification Theory: An Overview

• Karl Marx:
The relations of production which are at the base of stratification.
- The employee-employer relations.
- The division of labor.
- Property relations.
These factors determine political and non-political institutions and even
the prevalent ideologies in a society. Of course, power relations are
different from one society to another and they have changed over time.
In Marxist theory, the modern mode of production consists of two main
economic parts: the base and the superstructure. The base encompasses
the relations of production: employer–employee work conditions, the
technical division of labor, and property relations. Social class, according
to Marx, is determined by one's relationship to the means of production.
There exist at least two classes in any class-based society: the owners of
the means of production and those who sell their labor to the owners of
the means of production. At times, Marx almost hints that the ruling
classes seem to own the working class itself as they only have their own
labor power ('wage labor') to offer the more powerful in order to survive.
These relations fundamentally determine the ideas and philosophies of
a society and additional classes may form as part of the superstructure.
Through the ideology of the ruling class—throughout much of history,
the land-owning aristocracy—false consciousness is promoted both
through political and non-political institutions but also through the arts
and other elements of culture. When the aristocracy falls, the
bourgeoisie become the owners of the means of production in the
capitalist system. Marx predicted the capitalist mode would eventually
give way, through its own internal conflict, to revolutionary
consciousness and the development of more egalitarian, more
communist societies.
Marx also described two other classes, the petite bourgeoisie and the
lumpenproletariat. The petite bourgeoisie is like a small business class
that never really accumulates enough profit to become part of the
bourgeoisie, or even challenge their status. The lumpenproletariat is the
underclass, those with little to no social status. This includes prostitutes,
beggars and the homeless or other untouchables in a given society.
Neither of these subclasses has much influence in Marx's two major
classes, but it is helpful to know that Marx did recognize differences
within the classes.
• Max Weber:
Three component theory of stratification. This differs from Marxian
theory in a number of ways.
- Class: Economic position in society. (Corporate executives: they have
economic power without owning their companies).
- Prestige: the respect with which a person is regarded by others. Writers,
poets and musicians can social power without owning much capital.
- Power: the ability of people or groups to achieve their goals despite
opposition from others. Legislators (e.g. MPs) have political power
without necessarily having capital.
Max Weber was strongly influenced by Marx's ideas but rejected the
possibility of effective communism, arguing that it would require an even
greater level of detrimental social control and bureaucratization than
capitalist society. Moreover, Weber criticized the dialectical
presumption of a proletariat revolt, maintaining it to be unlikely. Instead,
he develops a three-component theory of stratification and the concept
of life chances. Weber held there are more class divisions than Marx
suggested, taking different concepts from both functionalist and Marxist
theories to create his own system. He emphasizes the difference
between class, status and power, and treats these as separate but
related sources of power, each with different effects on social action.
Working half a century later than Marx, Weber claims there to be four
main social classes: the upper class, the white collar workers, the petite
bourgeoisie, and the manual working class. Weber's theory more-closely
resembles contemporary Western class structures, although economic
status does not currently seem to depend strictly on earnings in the way
Weber envisioned.
• Functionalist perspective (Davis and Moore 1945):
Stratification serves an important function in society. In any society, a
number of tasks must be accomplished. Some tasks, are relatively simple
while others are complicated.
Those who perform the difficult tasks are therefore entitled to more
power, prestige, and money.
Argument heavily criticized: inequality and stratification are a cause of
individual success or failure, rather than a consequence of it.

Social stratification can be characterized by a number of dimensions:

• Economic: income, wealth.
• Social: occupation, education, gender, ethnic group, race, and
nationality.
In this paper we are interested in educational stratification.

Stratification and Education

Stratification in the education system:
Access to education and to educational attainments is a function of social
class, economic status, gender, disability, personal preferences,
education ‘quality’, teachers, pedagogy, peer relations, etc.
Here are the mechanisms behind educational stratification:
• Residential stratification: people live in neighborhoods they can afford
=> Schools reflecting the wealth of the neighborhood.
• Children go to schools with similar peers (similar background).
• If funding is decentralized => school resources will reflect the wealth of
their geographical location.
• If teacher hiring is decentralized => better schools will attract wealthier
students and better teachers.
• Personal preferences => private, religious, single-sex schools, schools
with particular pedagogy, etc. Preferences are also related to social class.
The more the educational system is stratified the more likely it will have
larger inequalities.
Education Implication of Social Stratification

In analyzing educational issues, it must be borne in mind that there exist

class and group structure, where vital facts emerge regarding such
concepts as power, status, prestige, life chances, life styles, pattern of
consumption, leisure activities and occupations.

There are also closely related issues of human development such as

culture, education and socialization which have implication for
stratification. In all the ramifications of the literature on class as social
groupings, it is not easy for anyone, whether pundit or dilettante, to
obtain any final and clear cut view on social stratification.

However, the fact remains that people can be classified according to

occupational prestige, income, education or other closely associated
indicators of social status and that such classification are not merely
statistical categories but reflect differences in values, goals, attitudes
and behaviors within the educational realm.

The children are not open to equal educational opportunity even with
the compulsory and free education provided for them. Some children
from low socio-economic class with natural endowment do not have
equal access to qualitative education but rural and ill equipped schools.
The public schools which are free are not properly funded to reflect the
right standard to deliver the right tutelage to the students. Many of the
students from this low social economic class are undermined with poor
health and malformed physique due to poor feeding, ignorance and
carelessness which may invariably give rise to poor performance
academically.

There are wide differences in performance between children. Some

dropouts before completing primary school, others have to repeat
classes, majority of candidates fail the secondary entrance examination.

In the conduct of internal and commercial examination, children are not

expected to perform equally due to differences in intelligence quotient
(I.Q), parents’ social status, infrastructural facilities in schools, teachers’
attitude towards work, pupils’ attitude towards study and so forth.

All these demonstrate educational implications for stratification. Within

the education system, there are different streams which can be followed
leading to a variety of qualifications and possible occupations. These
streams may be officially equal but are generally considered to be
unequal.

For example, in Africa, technical education is generally considered to be

inferior to academic education. The teachers in the universities feel
better laced than lecturers in Colleges of education and Polytechnics
with the same qualifications from the same universities, the pupils and
students who attend private schools like Nursery/Primary schools,
secondary and universities think they went through better school than
those who attend public schools of the same category.

There are also differences between the students who attend Unity
schools and those who attend local or state owned secondary schools.
There is also a gifted secondary school established by the Federal
Government to cater for the needs of talented students which equally
emphasizes imbalance in the educational system.

Schools and colleges are theoretically equal following the same syllabus
and leading to the same qualifications. There is a very wide assumption
in status, quality and the market value of the qualification obtained. Thus
private schools may be of a higher or lower quality than government
schools, places in high statues schools will be more difficult to obtain
than places in lower statues schools, colleges and universities may be
more marketable than the same qualifications earned elsewhere.

In most advertisements, it is always stated that qualifications should be

from a recognized university. This is because some schools, colleges and
universities are not duly registered with the appropriate authorities as a
result they are recognized as low status schools, colleges and
universities.

There are a lot of those colleges and universities across the soil of Nigeria
where people have obtained qualifications and they are disregarded in
Nigeria. In the same vein, many Satellite Campuses and study centers are
regarded as auctioning center where certificates are been sold without
adherence to laid down procedures and rules for the award of such
certificates, as such they are regarded as low status schools.

Conclusion
It is clear from the above that the relationship between educations and
social stratification is complex than what it appears to be. It is true that
education has enough potentiality for change the system of
stratification. But this potentiality itself seems to be governed by the
existing item of stratification.

In conclusion, it can be said that from the point of view of an educational

system those who are already at the upper strata of the society are likely
to gain more. They have higher achievement motivation and their
environment helps them. If we wish to provide equality of educational
opportunists we will have to keep this aspect in mind.