THE CATEGORIES OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION:

The categories of social stratification are; social class, gender, race and ethnicity and age and disability. Some indicative features of these categories are as follows:
 a) Social Class
• Distinction between wealth and income and their distribution in society.
• Social mobility and the link between class and life chances.
• Changing nature of class and its relationship to the economy and occupational structure.
b) Gender
• Difference between biological notion of sex and the socially constructed notion of gender.
• Nature and consequences of gender-role socialisation.
• Gender inequalities in terms of occupation, family and social roles and expectations.
c) Race and Ethnicity
• Nature, size and distribution of different racial and ethnic groups in modern society.
• Inequality relating to race and ethnicity; in particular, discrimination in education, employment and on life chances.
• Role of the mass media in the formation of stereotypes and the consequences for ethnic groups.
d) Age
• Social construction of the concept of age, including awareness of different notions of childhood, adolescence and old age in different societies.
• Inequalities as a result of age, such as employment, unemployment, low pay, access to benefits and restrictions on social behaviour.
• Implications of changes in the age structure of modern society.
e) Disability
• Social construction of disability.
 • Inequality relating to disability; in particular, discrimination in education, employment and on life chances.

 • Role of the mass media in the formation of negative stereotypes and the consequences for disabled individuals and groups.

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