Inequality is found in all societies irrespective of time or place.

All human societies from the simple to the most complex have
some form of social inequality.
In particular, power and prestige are unequally distributed
between individuals and groups. Societies may differ in the
degree of inequalities and nature of stratification.
In all societies people differ from each other on the basis of
their age, sex and personal characteristics. Human society is not
homogeneous but heterogeneous. Apart from the natural
differences, human beings are alsodifferentiated according to
socially approved criteria. Society is divided based on economic,
social, religious and other aspects. Heterogeneity in society is
called social stratification.
• Social stratification is an inherent
character of all societies. It is historical as
we find it in all societies, ancient and
modern; and it is universal as it exists in
simple or complex societies. The social
differentiation on the basis of high and low
is the historical heritage of all societies.
Meaning and Nature of Social Stratification
Sociologists use the term social stratification to describe the system
of social standing. There are various meanings of social
stratification and is defined as follows:

 It refers to what sociologists call it as “ institutionalized inequality”

of individual or “social injustice” due to social categories (Ariola,
2012).

 It is an institutionalized pattern of inequality in which social

categories are ranked on the basis of their access to scarce
resources Brinkerhoff & White, 1988).

 It is the way people are ranked and ordered in society (Cole,

2019).
 It is a system whereby people rank and evaluate each other as superior
or inferior and, on the basis of such evaluation, unequally reward one
another with wealth, authority, power, and prestige. One result of each
differentiation is the creation of a number of levels within the society.
(Hebding & Glick, 1992)

 It is the hierarchical arrangement and establishment of social

categories that evolve into a social group together with statuses and
their corresponding roles. (Panopio el al., 1994)

 It is the differentiation of a given population into hierarchically

superposed classes. It is manifested in the existence of upper and lower
social layers. Its basis and very essence consist in an unequal
distribution of rights and privileges, duties and responsibilities, social
values and privations, social power and influences among the members
of a society (Sorokin, 1927).
Social Stratification is Distinguished from Social Differentiation

Social differentiation refers to how people can be

distinguished from one another. People in a group may differ in
skin color, hair color, race, mental and physical ability, and the
like.
Social stratification refers to the ranking of people in a
society. In closed stratification, people cannot change their
ranks while those in open social stratification, people can
change their ranks.
In short social stratification is the separation of people into
social categories and these categories are ranked as higher or
lower.
 Indicators of Social Stratification
There are some people that are
treated in another way because of
the social status, power, income,
prestige and among others that they
hold in their society (Arcinas, 2016).
The individual’s position in the social structure is called
status. The higher or lower positions that come about through
social stratifications are called statuses.
Statuses are not the same. One may get different statuses in
different ways. They can be ascribed or achived. Ascribed
statuses are assigned or given by the society or group on the
basis of some fixed category, without regard to a person’s
abilities or performance. These include sex, family
background, race, and ethnic heritage. You did nothing to
earn these statuses; you have no control over these
characteristics and no opportunity or chance to choose your
family, your sex, and your race. In the Philippines, the children
of Ayala’s and the Zobel’s have ascribed statuses (Zulueta,
2006).
Whereas, achieved statuses are
earned by the individual because of his or
her talent, skills, occupation and
persevernace. These include, degree or
educational attainment, promotion,
position, earned wealth and the like. For
example, Nora Aunor has moved up in the
social ladder because of her beautiful
voice and singing talent.
Prestige refers to the evaluation of status.
You have prestige according to your status.
For example, being the president of the
Supreme Student Government of your
school, you have the prestige of a president
whether or not you perform and carry out
well the duties and responsibilities of SSG
president (Baleña et.al., 2016).
According to Max Weber, most societies would favor those
with power, prestige, status, wealth or class. According to
Weber’s Component Theory on Social Stratification, these
three would determine a person’s standindig in his/her
community:
1. Power refers to the ability to influence other people. It is
getting what they want despite the unwillingness of others to
give in to their desires.
2. Prestige refers to the person’s position in the society. This
refers to having a certain status that enables someone to
have resources or opportunities.
3. Wealth refers to the amount of resources that a person has
(Arcinas, 2016).
As mentioned by Ariola (2012) in his book, one may be
viewed as belonging to the upper social strata or lower
social strata depending on the following dimensions:
1. Sources of Income. There are different sources of
income. These are the inhereted wealth, earned wealth,
profits, professional fees, salaries, wages, private relief,
among others. Wealth is everything that is owned by a
person. Inherited wealth is acquired since birth and
without effort. Acquired wealth is achieved through ones
effort either by talent, income or by marriage. Income
refers to the amount of money a person receives.
2. Occupation. What people do for a living determines, to a
large extent, the social position of the person. Occupation
may be classified into professionals, non-professionals
(clerks, drivers, etc) proprietors of small business, skilled
workers, semi skilled workers, and unskilled workers.
Examination of the mentioned occupations indicates
disparities in prestige, income and power.

3. Education. Educational attainment of a person may be

categorized as masteral or doctoral degree holder, college
graduate, high school graduate, elemetary school drop-out,
among others. Possession of the person of any of these
educational backgrounds may characterize the person’s
status in the community.
4. Types of house dwellings. Dwellings can be categorized as permanent
house (concrete and excellent in appearance), semi-permanent house
(semi-concrete and very good in appearance and construction),
temporary house (wood and fair in appearance and construction), and
poorly constructed house (houses found in squatter areas, or those
considered below-the-bridge houses).

5. Location of residence. Power, prestige and wealth are also attached to

the location of residence. There is disparity of social status when one
residence is located in Forbes Park, White Plains, squatter area,
mountainous-rugged area, in subdivision and non-subdivision area.

6. Kinship or family. In the Philippines, when a person belongs to the

Ayala’s, Soriano’s, Zobel’s, Villar’s, that person is regarded as belonging
to the upper class (rich) status. Children of sultans and datus are
hgihly regarded as rich. If a person is from a family whose house is
situated in the squatter’s area, that person is regarded as poor or
belonging to lower class status.
Types of Social Stratification and their Characteristics

Generally, there are three (3) known types of social

stratification: open
systems, closed systems and ethnic systems ( Ariola, 2012).
Sociologists distinguish between two types of systems of
stratification –
open system and closed system.
For the anthropologists, they include ethnic system as
another type of social stratification.
 OPEN SYSTEM
The class structure is an open system. It encourages
people to strive and achieve something. People belonging to
one social class have similar opportunities, similar lifestyles,
attitudes, behavior and possibly similar socio-economic
positions.
It is based on achievement, allow movement and
interaction between layers and classes. One person can
move up or down to class through intermarriages,
opportunities, or achievement. People have equal chance to
succeed. Whether people do something to improve their lives
or not this greatly depends on them.
Upper Class – The people in this class have
great wealth and sources of income. They
constitute the elite wealthy group in the
society. They have high reputation in terms
of power and prestige. They live in exclusive
residential area, belong to exclusive private
clubs, and may have strong political
influence in the system of government. They
own several cars and properties and their
children may study in exclusive schools.
Middle Class – The people in this class may belong to
the upper-middle class which is often made up of
highly educated business and professional people with
high incomes, such as doctors, lawyers, stockbrokers,
and CEOs or to the lower-middle class often made up
of people with lower incomes, such as managers, small
business owners, teachers, and secretaries. Aside from
generally command of high income, people belonging
to the upper-middle class often have college education,
live in comfortable homes, own properties, have some
money savings, and active in community activities.
People in the lower-middle class have not achieved the
same lifestyle of the upper –middle class but somehow
have modest income and live in simple life.
Lower Class –The lower class is typified by poverty,
homelessness, and unemployment. The people in this class
belong to the bottom of socio-economic ladder. They may be
categorized into two: upper-lower class and lower-lower
class. In the upper-lower class, people are considered as
the working class or laborers. They have acquired little
education, little time to be involved in civic and community
activities. Some of them are underemployed, have many
socioeconomic problems, with little or no luxuries at all.
The people in the lower-lower class are unemployed, or no
source of income except by begging or dependent from
private and government relief. Many of them live in squatter
areas, under the bridge, in street corridors, or with no
house at all. Many of them are liabilities of society because
they may be involved in drug addiction and criminalities.
 CLOSED SYSTEM

Closed system accommodates little

change in social position. They do
not allow people to shift levels and
do not permit social relationships
between levels.
1.Caste System – It is regarded as closed stratification
system in which people can do little or nothing to
change their social standing. Social contact is rigid and
clearly defined. People are born and die in their caste.
Contact between and among the caste is minimal and
governed by a set of rules – especially those who belong
to the lower degree, as this will tend to bring them
down.
We do not practice caste sytem in the Philippines. It
existed for centuries in India and this includes the
Brahmans who are associated with the priesthood, the
Kahatryias (the warriors), the Vaishyus (the businessmen
and traders), and the Shudrus (the servants).
Estate System – It is somewhat a closed
system in which the person’s social
standing is based on ownership of land,
birth, or military strength. Individuals who
were born into one of the estates remained
there throughout life but in extreme cases
there is social mobility, that is people could
change their status. In the middle ages
there are three (3) major estates in Europe
– nobility, clergy, and the peasants.
 EHTNIC SYSTEM
General Characteristics
This type of social stratification is based on national origin,
language and religion. Ethnicity sets segments of society apart and
each group has a sense of identity. People interact more freely with
those people belonging to the same ethnic category. During the
Spanish and American colonial systems in the Philippines, the
colonizers perceived themselves to be occupying the upper social
class than the Filipinos or the natives whom they called as Indios.
Immigrants usually belong to a lower status than the
inhabitants. The Gaddangs, Itawis, Ituweraw, Ilonngots, and other
ethnic minority groups are considered inferior than the others.
Social Stratification and Social Mobility

Social mobility refers to the movement within the social

structure, from one social position to another. It means a
change in social status. All societies provide some opportunity
for social mobility. But the societies differ from each other to
extent in which individuals can move from one class or status
level to another.
Thus, people in society continue to move up down the status
scale. This movement is called ‘social mobility’. For example,
the poor people may become rich, the bank peon may become
bank officers, farmers may become ministers, a petty
businessman may become a big industrialist and so on. At the
same time a big businessman may become a bankrupt and
ruling class may be turned out of office and so on.
Kinds of Social Mobility

In a democratic state like the Philippines, a

person can improve his social status but the
degree of mobility varies. In an open system,
every individual is provided equal opportunities
to compete for the role and status derived
regardless of gender, race, religion, family
background and political inclination. There are
three (3) types of social mobility: social mobility,
geographical mobility, and role mobility.
Social Mobility refers to the movement upward or downward
among the social positions in any given social stratification.
It may be upward (vertival) mobility and downward
(horizontal) mobility. Vertical mobility refers to the movement
of people of groups from one status to another. It involves
change in class, occupation or power. For example, the
movement of people from the poor class to the middle class.
Horizontal mobility is a change in position without the change
in status. It indicates a change in position, within the rage of
the status. A change in status may come about through one’s
occupation, marrying into a certain family and others. For
example, an engineer working in a factory may resign from
his job and join another factory.
Geographical Mobility is otherwise known as
physical mobility. It may be a vluntary
movement of people from one geographical
area to another due to change in residence,
communiting fro home to office, making
business trips, and voluntary migration from
one country to another. It may be also a forced
migration which include forced relocation or
residence, eviction, dispossession of unwanted
people, and transportation of slaves.
Role Mobility is the individual’s shifting from role to
role. Every member of a society has roles to play.
Different situations call for enactment of various roles.
For example, the father is the bread earner of the
family but may be a teacher in school, or the leader at
home or a follower in the school or office. A daughter
may be submissive at home but very active and active
as a campus student leader. A teacher may have varied
roles such as being a mother, a wife, a guidance
counselor, a community leader and many more (Ariola,
2012).
 Theoritical Perspective and Analysis of Social Stratification
Social stratification can be examined from different sociological perspectives—
structural-functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolicinteractionism.

Theoretical Perspective Major Assumptions/Analysis

Stratification is necessary to induce people with special

intelligence, knowledge, and skills to enter the most
Structural - Functionalism important occupations. For this reason, stratification is
necessary and inevitable.

Stratification results from lack of opportunity and from

Conflict discrimination and prejudice against the poor, women, and
people of color. It is neither necessary nor inevitable.

Stratification affects people’s beliefs, lifestyles, daily

Symbolic - Interactionism interaction, and conceptions of themselves.
In sociology, the functionalist perspective
examines how society’s parts operate. It is a
macroanalytical view that focuses on the
way that all aspects of society are integral to
the continued health and viability of the
whole. Structural Functionalism recognizes
that all societies maintain some form of
social stratification, and therefore, social
stratification must have important
functional consequences
According to Davis & Moore (1945), different
aspects of society exist because they serve a
needed purpose. They argued that the
greater the functional importance of a social
role, the greater must be the reward. The
theory posits that social stratification
represents the inherently unequal value of
different work. Certain tasks in society are
more valuable than others. Qualified people
who fill those positions must be rewarded
more than others.
Conflict theory focuses on the creation
and reproduction of inequality. Conflict
theorists are deeply critical of social
stratification, asserting that it benefits
only some people, not all of society.
Conflict theory’s explanation of
stratification draws on Karl Marx’s view
of class societies and incorporates the
critique of the functionalist view
mentioned above.
Many different explanations grounded in
conflict theory exist, but they all assume that
stratification stems from a fundamental conflict
between the needs and interests of the
powerful, or “haves,” in society and those of the
weak, or “have-nots” (Kerbo, 2009). The former
take advantage of their position at the top of
society to stay at the top, even if it means
oppressing those at the bottom. At a minimum,
they can heavily influence the law, the media,
and other institutions in a way that maintains
society’s class structure.
Symbolic-interactionism is a theory that uses
everyday interactions of individuals to explain
society as a whole. Symbolic interactionism
examines stratification from a micro-level
perspective. This analysis strives to explain how
people’s social standing affects their everyday
interactions. Consistent with its micro
orientation, symbolic interactionism tries to
understand stratification by looking at people’s
interaction and understandings in their daily
lives. Unlike the functionalist and conflict views,
it does not try to explain why we have
stratification in the first place.
Rather, it examines the differences that stratification makes
for people’s lifestyles and their interaction with other people.
In most communities, people interact primarily with others
who share the same social standing. It is precisely because
of social stratification that people tend to live, work, and
associate with others like themselves, people who share
their same income level, educational background, or racial
background, and even tastes in food, music, and clothing.
The built-in system of social stratification groups people
together. This is one of the reasons why it was rare for a
royal prince like England’s Prince William to marry a
commoner. Symbolic interactionists also note that people’s
appearance reflects their perceived social standing. Housing,
clothing, and transportation indicate social status, as do
hairstyles, taste in accessories, and personal style.
Process Questions:
1. Describe the life/life situation of the person above before he becomes
successful.
2. Is the status of the successful person above ascribed or achieved?
Why?
3. Does social stratification affect life chances of an individual? Explain.
Directions: Read very carefully the questions below and choose the letter
that
corresponds to your answer. Write your answers in a separate sheet of
paper.
1. Which of the following defines social stratification?
A. Social isolation of people from each other
B. System in which everyone is equal but perform very different tasks
C. System by which a person's place in society is defined by birth
D. None of these
2. Which of the following best describes how social class is related to
social
stratification?
A. Each layer has many layers of social stratification
B. Each layer of social stratification constitutes a social class
C. The terms social stratification and social class mean the same thing
D. Social stratification exists in caste systems, whereas social classes
only exist in non caste systems
3. What is the key distinction between a caste system and a
class system?
A. a marriage within a specific group
B. occupational prestige
C. educational opportunity
D. social mobility
4. What is Social Stratification?
A. The division of society into categories, ranks, or classes.
B. The unequal sharing of scarce resources and social
rewards
C. A social structure in which classes are determined by
ascribed status.
D. A social structure in which classes are determined by
achieved status.
5. The unequal sharing of scarce resources and social
rewards is known as _____.
A. Social Inequality
B. Social Mobility
C. Social Sharing
D. Social Stratification
6. The most distinguishing characteristic of a caste
system (where class is based on birth) is that _______
A. People can only move intergenerationally
B. People can move vertically, but not horizontally
C. Social status is inherited and cannot be changed
D. Social status can be changed by education and hard
work
7. A factory worker's son earns his way through college and
eventually becomes a physics engineer. This is an example of
_______
A. Horizontal mobility
B. Intergenerational mobility
C. Role mobility
D. Vertical mobility
8. Isidra moves from a job as a computer programmer to a job
as a Web page designer. This is an example of _________
A. Horizontal mobility
B. Intergenerational mobility
C. Role mobility
D. Vertical mobility
9. Which of the following perspective states that "inequality
exists because some people are willing to exploit others"?
A. Conflict perspective
B. Structural-Functionalist
C. Social Exchange
D. Symbolic-interactionist
10. A politician describes inequality as a motivator of
people to fill the different and necessary positions in
society. He is using example of _________.
A. Conflict theory
B. Social Exchange theory
C. Structural-Functionalist theory
D. Symbolic-interactionist theory
11. Which of the states that stratification assures that the most qualified
people fill the most important positions, that these qualified people
perform their tasks competently, and that they are rewarded for the
effort?
A. Conflict theory
B. Structural-Functionalism
C. Symbolic interactionism
D. None of the choices
12. Which of the following best describes the structural-functionalist
theory of social stratification?
A. Inequality exists because some people are willing to exploit others.
B. Social stratification will eventually be eliminated when the workers
revolt.
C. Children are taught that a person's social class is the result of their
talent and effort.
D. The inequality of social classes helps assurre that the most qualified
people fill the most important positions.
13. Which of the following best describes the symbolic-interactionist perspective of
social stratification?
A. Inequality exists because some people are willing to exploit others.
B. Social stratification will eventually be eliminated when the workers revolt.
C. Children are taught that a person's social class is the result of their talent
and effort
D. The inequality of social classes helps assure that the most qualified people
fill the most important positions
14. Which describes a society where people frequently can, by acquiring skills and
working hard, move from one level of social stratification to a higher level of social
stratification.
A. closed system
B. open system
C. ethnic system
D. estate system
15. The child of an office clerk becomes a physician. This is an example of _______.
A. Geographical mobility
B. Intergenerational mobility
C. Social mobility
D. Role mobility