"Stratification within the Classroom" by Awish Aslam

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Sociological Imagination: Western’s Undergraduate Sociology Student Journal

Article Title

Stratification within the Classroom: An Examination of the Role of Education in the Reproduction of Labour Market Inequalities

Authors

Awish Aslam, University of Western OntarioFollow

Abstract

The relationship between education and social mobility has been of interest to sociologists since the 1950s. This paper examines the role of education in the reproduction of labour market inequalities through the mechanisms of class, gender, and race-ethnicity. Both functionalist and conflict perspectives will be applied to explain the purpose of formal schooling, and signaling theory will be used to explain the significance of academic qualifications in the labour market. Ultimately, the examination of these mechanisms demonstrates how the hidden curriculum of schooling lends itself to the reproduction rather than the upward transmission of social mobility. The ruling class maintains its privilege in the labour market through a system that falsely promotes the ideas of equal opportunity and meritocracy in education.

Recommended Citation

Aslam, Awish (2014) "Stratification within the Classroom: An Examination of the Role of Education in the Reproduction of Labour Market Inequalities," Sociological Imagination: Western’s Undergraduate Sociology Student Journal: Vol. 3 : Iss. 1 , Article 11.
Available at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/si/vol3/iss1/11

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