How is society stratified by class, gender, ethnicity and age, how do sociologists explain inequality, and is the class structure changing?
Social differentiation and stratification (Component 3, Section A): systems of stratification; dimensions of inequality (social class, gender, ethnicity and age); theories of stratification (functionalist, Marxist, Weberian and feminist); social mobility and life chances; and the changing class structure.
The compulsory Section A content of WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 3: systems of stratification, inequality by social class, gender, ethnicity and age, functionalist, Marxist, Weberian and feminist theories of stratification, social mobility and life chances, and debates about the changing class structure.
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What this dot point is asking
Section A of Component 3 (Power and Stratification) is compulsory and covers social differentiation and stratification. You need to know the major systems of stratification, the dimensions of inequality (class, gender, ethnicity and age), the competing theories (functionalist, Marxist, Weberian, feminist), the ideas of social mobility and life chances, and the debate over the changing class structure.
The answer
Systems of stratification
Dimensions of inequality: class, gender, ethnicity, age
Inequality is multidimensional:
- Social class - based on occupation, income, wealth and education; the central axis of stratification in modern Britain.
- Gender - women face inequalities in pay, employment and the domestic sphere (the gender pay gap, the glass ceiling).
- Ethnicity - minority-ethnic groups face inequalities in employment, income and treatment, shaped by racism and discrimination.
- Age - the young and the old face distinctive inequalities in income, status and treatment.
Theories of stratification
Social mobility and life chances
The changing class structure
A central debate is whether the class structure is changing. Some argue class identity has weakened and that postmodernists see fragmented identities based on consumption and lifestyle rather than class. Others insist class still strongly shapes life chances (income, health, mortality, education), even if people identify less with a class. The strongest position treats class as enduring and intersecting with gender, ethnicity and age.
Examples in context
Inheritance versus reward. The functionalist account claims unequal rewards are needed to motivate talented people into important roles, so stratification is, in effect, earned. The conflict reply is that advantage is largely inherited: limited social mobility means children of higher-class families tend to gain better health, education and income regardless of talent, while able children from poorer families are held back by material deprivation. Weber sharpens this by separating class, status and party, showing that a group can have wealth without status, or power without either. A top essay uses this contrast to argue that, while rewards and roles are linked, persistent, structured and inherited inequality is better explained by conflict and Weberian theory than by the functionalist claim that the system is fair.
Try this
Q1. What is meant by life chances? [4 marks]
- Cue. The opportunities people have to obtain valued things (health, education, income, a long life), shaped by position in the stratification system.
Q2. Explain the difference between the Marxist and Weberian views of stratification. [6 marks]
- What the marker wants. Marxism centres on class exploitation and ownership; Weber adds status and party as separate dimensions, making inequality multidimensional.
Q3. Evaluate the view that social mobility is limited in modern Britain. [16 marks]
- What the marker wants. Evidence that advantage is inherited and mobility restricted, weighed against claims of openness, with a supported judgement.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
WJEC specimen (30)Evaluate the functionalist view of social stratification. [30 marks]Show worked answer →
A high-tariff essay, so set out the functionalist account, test it against the conflict and Weberian views, and judge.
Explain the functionalist theory: stratification is inevitable and functional because society must motivate the most able people to train for and fill the most important roles by rewarding them more (the functional theory of stratification). Inequality, on this view, serves society's needs.
Evaluate with Marxism, which argues stratification reflects class exploitation and serves the ruling class, not society; with the Weberian view, which adds status and party to class as dimensions of inequality; and with feminism, which highlights gender stratification that the functionalist account ignores. Note criticisms that it justifies inequality and assumes rewards match importance.
Conclude with a judgement: the functionalist account usefully links rewards to roles, but conflict theories better explain persistent, structured inequality and the way advantage is inherited rather than earned.
WJEC specimen16 marksEvaluate the view that social class is no longer the most important division in society.Show worked answer →
An evaluation question weighing class against other divisions, with a clear judgement.
For the view, note arguments that class identity has weakened, that postmodernists see fragmented identities based on consumption and lifestyle, and that gender, ethnicity and age are powerful divisions in their own right.
Against the view, marshal evidence that class still strongly shapes life chances (health, education, income and mortality), that Marxists and Weberians see class inequality as enduring, and that mobility remains limited.
Conclude that class remains a powerful determinant of life chances even if class identity is less salient, and that the strongest position treats class as intersecting with gender, ethnicity and age rather than being replaced by them.
Related dot points
- The main sociological perspectives applied across all components: functionalism (consensus, value consensus), Marxism (class conflict, ideology), feminism (patriarchy, its strands), interactionism (meanings, labelling), postmodernism (diversity, choice) and the New Right; structure versus action and consensus versus conflict.
The core sociological perspectives required across every component of WJEC A-Level Sociology: functionalism and value consensus, Marxism and class conflict, feminism and its strands (liberal, Marxist, radical), interactionism and labelling, postmodernism and the New Right, plus the underlying structure versus action and consensus versus conflict debates.
- Crime and deviance (Component 3, Section B option): defining crime and deviance; theories of crime (functionalist and strain, subcultural, Marxist, interactionist and labelling, realist, feminist); the social distribution of crime by class, gender, ethnicity and age; the problems of measuring crime; and crime control, punishment and social order.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 3 option on crime and deviance: defining crime and deviance, functionalist, strain, subcultural, Marxist, interactionist, realist and feminist theories of crime, the patterning of crime by social class, gender, ethnicity and age, the problems of measuring crime, and crime control, punishment and the maintenance of social order.
- Health and disability (Component 3, Section B option): the social construction of health, illness and disability; the biomedical and social models; inequalities in health and life expectancy by class, gender, ethnicity and region; the medical and social models of disability; the power of the medical profession; and sociological perspectives on health.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 3 option on health and disability: the social construction of health, illness and disability, the biomedical and social models, inequalities in health and life expectancy by class, gender, ethnicity and region, the medical and social models of disability, the power of the medical profession, and functionalist, Marxist, feminist and interactionist perspectives.
- Politics (Component 3, Section B option): defining power, authority and the state; theories of the distribution of power (pluralism, Marxism, elite theory, feminism); voting behaviour and the social bases of party support; political participation, parties, pressure groups and new social movements; and ideology and power.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 3 option on politics: defining power, authority and the state, pluralist, Marxist, elite and feminist theories of the distribution of power, voting behaviour and the social bases of party support, political participation through parties, pressure groups and new social movements, and the relationship between ideology and power.
- World sociology (Component 3, Section B option): defining development and global inequality; theories of development (modernisation, dependency, world-systems, neoliberal); the role of aid, trade, transnational corporations and global institutions; globalisation and its consequences; and gender, the environment and development.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 3 option on world sociology: defining development and global inequality, modernisation, dependency, world-systems and neoliberal theories of development, the role of aid, trade, transnational corporations and global institutions, the causes and consequences of globalisation, and the place of gender and the environment in development.
- Education (Component 1, Section C option): the role and functions of education; differential educational achievement by social class, gender and ethnicity (home and school factors); processes within schools (labelling, the hidden curriculum, subcultures); educational policy; and perspectives on education (functionalist, Marxist, feminist, interactionist, New Right).
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 1 option on education: the role and functions of education, differential achievement by social class, gender and ethnicity through home and school factors, in-school processes such as labelling, the hidden curriculum and pupil subcultures, education policy, and functionalist, Marxist, feminist, interactionist and New Right perspectives.
Sources & how we know this
- WJEC GCE AS and A Level in Sociology specification — WJEC (2015)