Social-status-related inequalities as a topic in contemporary educational research

Abstract

Throughout the history of sociology of education, the debate on educational inequalities and their effects on social reproduction has dominated scholars’ attention (Gevric & Krib, 2012). Constructs such as social class, social status, socioeconomic status (often reduced to only 3 letters – SES), and cultural, social, or economic capital are at the core of what we know as sociology of education. These concepts emphasize different aspects of social status (such as cultural or economic capital) and reflect the perception of social status as more of a structural (class) or individual characteristic (SES). However, they all essentially deal with relations between educational practices and some aspects of social status, understood in this paper as “a hierarchical position in a vertical social order, an overall social rank, standing, and social worth” (Pakulski, 2006, p. 585).