This paper intends to summarize three articles on social class, an aspect of social stratification in the U.S. The three journals present a general discussion on the social class disparity in the U.S. as outlined below.
Social Class and Income Inequality in the United States: Ownership, Authority, and Personal Income Distribution from 1980 to 2010
According to the article, the individual income distribution in the U.S. has evolved to be considerably more imbalanced as of the 1980s (Wodtke 1375). As a result, it has reversed a universal trend of reducing disparity, which began in the 1930s. For instance, in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, there was a decline and stagnation in the earnings of the lower half of the distribution, despite the fact that there was an upsurge in incomes of the higher social classes. Also, according to the author, in the period between the late ‘90s and 2000s, the earnings of individuals in the lower classes neither declined further nor recovered from losses of the preceding decades, although top incomes continued to grow (Wodtke 1375). The article uses the term social class to refer to four specific groups who are distinguished by their standing in the place of work, and who often engage in conflict with each other. They include proprietors, that is, those who own resources for production; the managers, who only control activities of others; workers, who do not control anything; and the independent producers, who own and manage small enterprises by themselves (Wodtke 1375).
In trying to create an understanding on social stratification based on societal class in the U.S., Wodtke presents a theory built on workplace proprietorship and power relationships, and examines the association between social grouping and increase in individual pay disparity as of the 1980s (1375). According to the article, trends in inequality are directed by variations in between-class earnings alterations, fluctuations in the relative proportions of different categories, and alterations in within-group wages distribution. First, the author starts by referring to various studies linking social class in the United States to changes in the dispersion of individual earnings. However, the article acknowledges that most studies do not present a proper linkage between societal group typology and upsurge in personal proceeds disparity. At the same time, they do not provide an accurate explanation on how variations in factor shares, wealth concentration, or management recompense increase individual income disproportion (Wodtke 1376). Therefore, the author uses information from the General Social Survey to examine every variation in turn and to assess their effect on the growing disparity at the populace level.
According to the article, findings from the study indicate that there has been a 60 percent increase in the income differences between social classes since the 1980s (Wodtke 1397). The surge was mainly as a result of the growing earnings for top business executives and large business owners in conjunction with stagnating proceeds for employees and independent manufacturers. Also, the results of the study revealed that there was an increase in the ratio of the labor force and self-governing producers (Wodtke 1397). At the same time, the number of business owners and executives reduced during the period. An analysis of how these trends affected individual earning disparity indicates that variations in comparative proportions of societal groups had a lesser diminishing impact. Additionally, the upsurge in between-class earnings variances had a considerable effect on inflation, more so as of the 1990s. Lastly, the findings suggest that explaining social category detachment in relation to workplace proprietorship and power enhances the instructive strength of frameworks founded on human capital traits and job-related class separations (Wodtke 1397).
The study by Wodtke makes various contributions to the available literature in class structure and earnings disparity (1397). For instance, the article outlines a simple theoretical model that is more beneficial than alternative frameworks. Notably, the author's theory contains an explicit, flexible, and testable model of the circumstances that are perceived to cause observed trends of class conflict. Additionally, the author uses the model to provide an interpretation of the societal forces as well as changes in the competitive environment and social group political involvement that oversee drifts in the material wellbeing of various societal categories over time (Wodtke 1398). Additionally, the study contributes to theory and research regarding class structure by directly linking variations in class arrangement and disparity to developments in the dispersion of individual earnings at the populace level. The article reacts to the demands for past inquiries of societal class disproportion. It also addresses arguments that community stratification based on social class have reduced in modern society using a personal-level framework to precisely highlight social grouping impacts on variations in the individual distribution of earnings (Wodtke 1398).
The author also provides evidence indicating that earnings divergence between social classes could be the reason for the substantial increase in individual income disproportion in the American society. For instance, such a scenario was evident between the ‘90s and the 2000s, a time when disparity heightened mainly because of the rising wages at the top of the social hierarchy (Wodtke 1398). Additionally, the article also highlights an essential role played by unseen influences in social class trend between the 1980s and 1990s. Indeed, the author points out that within-class earning distribution was the leading factor that led to the increasing disparity during the period under consideration. Together, the results of the study imply that social category variances are just a single aspect of an elaborate and past provisional justification for the rise in earnings variation. For instance, technological deviations might have been as a result of differences in individual expertise or biases in resource allocation (Wodtke 1398).
Signs of Social Class: The Experience of Economic Inequality in Everyday Life
In this peer-reviewed article, the authors present research on the subject of social stratification based on class, by examining how persons experience economic inequality in their daily interactions with others. The researchers integrate findings from different studies on social comparison processes and on status signaling as the expression of social class signals, that is, habits that offer insights on an individual's level of education, income and occupation recognized and communicated in the day to day dealings (Kraus et al. 422). The authors hypothesize that social class signals have heightened the economic inequality defined by wide gaps between the rich and the poor. Additionally, the researchers seek to provide evidence to support the assumption that class signals come about often, promptly and precisely in group cognizance process. Lastly, the article also discusses how class signals stimulate psychological and behavioral processes that validate and uphold the present economic system witnessed in the US and throughout the globe (Kraus et al. 422). The authors argue that the approach used in this article will provide a basis for understanding the processes by which individuals evolve to correctly recognize their social class standing in the community in relation to others.
As part of the introduction, Kraus et al. (423) define a social class as a person's standing in the society’s economic hierarchy, which results from an integration of the educational achievement, career status, and the annual income. The authors further highlight that social classes shape an individual's actions through cultural-learning processes such as socialization. Additionally, a person's social category can influence the groups he or she interacts with or identifies with. In this light, social class has many facets and impacts a wide range of social and psychological experiences (Kraus et al. 423). It is for these reasons that it is essential to understand the concept of social class. Conversely, it is critical to recognize how signaling shapes practices associated with the establishment of class confines, cognizance and experiences of social mobility, and individual awareness of their socioeconomic standing in the society.
Kraus et al. argue that during social interactions, individuals frequently liken themselves to others based on economic outcomes (424). Furthermore, research on social signaling reveals that observers can promptly and precisely discern the social class of others when provided with only a little information about the other person. Considering that social class influences a person's dressing, choice of food, music, leisure activities, art, and linguistic patterns, it is highly likely that during social dealings, behaviors and cultural practices can be imbued with social class, thereby accurately expressing social class standings to perceivers. For instance, according to Kraus et al., a study conducted in the US revealed that individuals with non-standard dialects were more likely to be discriminated against as compared to native speakers (425). Furthermore, the study also indicated that persons from traditionally lower status backgrounds more often embrace more standards forms of speech to fit in and blend in with people considered to be from high-status groups. The authors also point out that the findings can be explained by a similar study, which reported that research participants from lower social class contexts had a higher probability of conversing in non-standard dialects as compared to subjects from relatively upper-class backgrounds. The material resources and opportunities associated with an upper social class enable people to travel and interrelate with persons who are well-traveled, thus, resulting in less domestically defined and more formal communication patterns (Kraus et al. 425). Such occurrences provide a rationale for the existence of social stratification based on social class in countries where societal inequality is intensified such as the United States.
Kraus et al. also provide evidence to the claim that the existence of class signals contributes to group confines thereby, enabling the creating of social class categories, triggering typecasts and augmenting the conflict between the lower and upper classes due to unequal distribution of resources in the society (427). As such, schools are neighborhoods are isolated according to social class, and relationships are formed based on societal standing. Additionally, social class sorting also reduces instances of economic mobility, especially in nations such as the US, where the opportunities of class mobility are constrained (Kraus et al. 426). Also, the researchers argue that the creation of social categories may result in an extensive detachment from political affairs given that lower class groups may doubt a structure that disregards their day-to-day economic tussles; this is the present situation in the US (Kraus et al. 431). Individuals from lower class contexts engage less in general elections as compared to persons from relatively upper-class backgrounds. Additionally, the authors assert that intergroup conflicts are likely to arise when immigrants, females or racial minorities are given or are merely alleged to receive support from the state, which is not offered to whites from lower social groups. The benefits may create realistic group conflicts since federal policies seem to address a single form of injustice, for example, racial discrimination and not economic inequality (Kraus et al. 431). The researchers conclude that the subject of social stratification based on economic outcomes is a complex subject that has significant social and economic impacts on the society.
Social class and socioeconomic status: Relevance and inclusion in MPA-MPP programs
Wyatt-Nichol, Heather, et al. acknowledge the broadening gap between the wealthy and the poor and its impact on economic segregation among counties and neighborhoods as well as on public service delivery (187). In line with this assertion, the authors examine the decreasing mobility, financial seclusion, and education to show how social groupings and socio-economic position is related to the discipline of public management. Mobility, in this case, is the prospect for a single age group to improve comparative income above the previous cohort and usually is dependent on economic growth, as well as how fair the society distributes resources (Wyatt-Nichol et al. 189). According to the article, social class is widely abstracted through structural and processual approaches. For instance, when referring to structural lines, one can view social standing based on earnings, occupation, and education. The authors also recognize Webber categorization of social groups as working category, lower-middle, and upper class.
One of the implications of social stratification based on social class, according to the authors, is the economic separation among localities, propagating the issue of disparity in the schooling and judicial system (Wyatt-Nichol et al. 189). In most cases, neighborhoods are a reflection of social status, which can also spread ethnic seclusions provided that an uneven proportion of minorities live in poverty. Economic segregation, conversely, is likely to affect revenue bases and the type of amenities offered by the local governments. Additionally, the authors point out that availability and quality of child and household related establishments, for instance, schools or child care in the US reflects the societal status of localities (Wyatt-Nichol et al. 190). According to the article, despite the increased efforts to ensure equity, there is still evidence of disparity and social stratification in schools based on societal status, for instance, concerning revenues.
The authors also emphasize that the social status of an individual in most cases remains the same even as they progress in their lives, that is, from childhood to adulthood (Wyatt-Nichol et al. 191). For instance, even with financial help through the government scholarship initiatives, individuals coming from poor households are less likely to attend college. Also, according to the article, approximately 53% of youngsters from the top five income groups will receive university education as opposed to only 11% of the children from lower earning populations (Wyatt-Nichol et al. 192). Besides, it is widely contended that when students from working-class households enroll in undergraduate programs, it is often at lowly regarded institutions, which in most cases leads to outcomes that are merely comparable to their counterparts who only finished high school. Additionally, the majority of the students at Ivy League universities come from higher social class families. Similarly, Wyatt-Nichol, Heather, et al. point out that only 3% of newly enrolled learners in 146 highly regarded academic institutions in the US are from low-income households (192). The extent of such disparities indicates the level of social stratification based on societal class.
After highlighting some of the instances of societal stratification regarding social class, the authors propose ways through which change can be realized. According to Wyatt-Nichol, Heather, et al., one possibility of change rests with the preparedness of scholars to come up with a way of ensuring public equity (192). For instance, it could be achieved through representation, research, and pedagogy. For example, there is a need to increase social class awareness in the United States colleges and universities rather than considering socioeconomic backgrounds in the recruitment procedures (Wyatt-Nichol et al. 192). In other words, considering social class when it comes to faculty hiring can go a long way in reducing classist expectations on the part of the campus staff and faculty, thereby bringing diverse perspectives to college. Additionally, there is also a need to increase research in communal stratification based on social class in a bid to address the gaps in community equity coverage (Wyatt-Nichol et al. 194).
Finally, the authors emphasize the need to prepare students to work in and contribute towards less stratified communities (Wyatt-Nichol et al. 194). For instance, courses, and other educational activities and requirements should introduce learners to variances associated with societal identity groups, for example, race, class, gender, and religious conviction. Some of the proposed strategies that can be used to incorporate matters of the social class include expanding admission conditions, increasing research, and integrating matter about social class and public standing into vital courses (Wyatt-Nichol et al. 195). Additionally, the authors highlight the importance of utilizing a structure of processes of societal equity along the classes of access, bureaucratic impartiality, quality and procedure equity, as well as outcomes (Wyatt-Nichol et al. 195). As a result, faculty members would be in a position to raise concerns, identify problems, and come up with assignments that mainly address issues arising from socioeconomic inequality.
Works Cited
Kraus, Michael W., et al. "Signs of social class: the experience of economic inequality in everyday life." Perspectives on Psychological Science, vol. 12, no. 3, 2017, pp. 422-435, NCBI. doi:10.1177/1745691616673192.
Wodtke, Geoffrey T. "Social class and income inequality in the United States: ownership, authority, and personal income distribution from 1980 to 2010." American Journal of Sociology, vol. 121, no. 5, 2016, pp. 1375-1415, NCBI. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4827781/.
Wyatt-Nichol, Heather, et al. "Social class and socioeconomic status: relevance and inclusion in MPA-MPP programs." Journal of public affairs education, vol. 17, no. 2, 2011, pp. 187-208, www.naspaa.org/JPAEMessenger/Article/VOL17-2/04_17n02_wyatt-nicholbrownhaynes.pdf.
