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11 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is social stratification? |
Term used by sociologists to describe structured patterns of inequality in many societies including UK. Society is organised into groups of people known as social strata (hierarchy). Socially constructed ie created by members of society, not a natural occurrence. Persistent across generations. In UK, occurs through class, race & ethnicity, gender, age & disability. |
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What are life chances? |
The opportunities we have in life & how we access them eg eduction, housing, health, employment. The higher up a person is within the stratification system, the better their life chances. |
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What is the sociological significance of social stratification? |
Seen to exist in most societies therefore appears to be a central factor in most societies. Understanding stratification is fundamental to explaining society. Shows where inequalities exist & which groups are affected. |
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What is gender? |
Sex & gender are two different things. Sex relates to biological factors: physical differences between men & women. Gender refers to what society deems masculine & feminine eg the behaviours/characteristics we expect from men & women. |
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Why do sociologists see gender as a form of stratification? |
Males are more likely to have greater access to life chances than females. Feminists see societies as patriarchal. Men tend to be more powerful in the workplace & in the family, leading to inequality for women. |
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What are gender roles? |
The specific ways men & women are expected to behave in society, learnt through socialisation. Gender roles are culturally based - people from different cultures are often taught different gender roles. |
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What are the effects of gender stratification? |
Social inequality in: Education The workplace The home/family |
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How is education affected by gender stratification? |
Girls are doing better than boys in the UK atm & there are more women than men going on to higher education. However, many women are still doing subjects that are stereotyped as "girls work", such as childcare courses. Success in education is still not leading to promotion & jobs at higher managerial levels. |
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How is the workplace affected by gender stratification? |
The Equality Act makes it illegal for employers to discriminate based on gender & also makes it illegal for an employer to pay a man & woman a different salary for the same job. Despite the law, British women earn almost a fifth less than British men. Men tend to work in professional occupations associated with higher levels of pay than women. Childcare responsibilities/career breaks to have a family can also effect women's chances of promotion. |
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How is the home/family affected by gender stratification? |
The bulk of work/responsibility for the home/family is still carried out by women. Women are expected to be the ones to take a career break (or sacrifice career altogether) in order to care for children. Women statistically more likely to experience domestic abuse. |
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What is the sociological significance of gender? |
Key concept in understanding how societies operate. Can be argued that all societies are patriarchal. Gender inequality exists in many aspects of life such as education, workplace & the home. Central to the concept of socialisation; illustrates how males & females learn what careers/goals are acceptable to society. Has become more important to sociologists since Feminist theory began to increase in '60s. |
