Transcript Three Types of Social Mobility

Three Types of Social Mobility
1. Intergenerational Mobility
2. Structural Mobility
3. Exchange Mobility
1. Intergenerational Mobility
• the change that family members make in social
class from one generation to the next
• Upward social mobility is when a child moves up
the socail ladder compared to their parents
– Father (high school graduate) is used car dealer, son
(college graduate) owns a GM dealership
• Downward social mobility is when a child moves
down the social ladder compared to their parents
2. Structural Mobility
• Movement up or down the social ladder that is due
to changes in the structure of society, not to
individual efforts
• Example of when computers were invented
• Large amounts of people began training on
computers for repair work, computer programming
and teaching computers
• People went from blue collar to white collar jobs
Structural Mobility Cont.
• Great Depression hit,
opportunities disappeared
and millions of people
went down the ladder
• The change in the ladder is
based less upon individual
behavior than structural
changes in society
3. Exchange Mobility
• When large amounts of people move up or down
the social ladder but on a type of balance.
• Proportions of the social class stay about the same
• Example: High demand for new computers means
new jobs for computer people (white collar)
• Same time, higher demand for imports on the
computers means skilled workers take lower status
jobs (people change their social status)
Women in Social Mobility
• Long period of time, sociologists
would not look at women
compared to their mother
• Women were seen with no class
position (assigned wives the class
with their husbands)
• About half of sons pass their
fathers on the social scale
• 1/3 stay the same level
• 1/6 fell below their father
Women in Social Mobility
• With more women working for
pay, studies began to change
• Sociologists found that women’s
parents advised them to get an
education and a career before
marriage
• Proves family is important in
socialization process
• Without structural mobility in
society, women would not have
these new jobs
Interpreting Statistics
• U.S. is known for its intergenerational mobility
• Children who are born to the poorest Americans,
1/3 stay in that position, half end up even poorer
• Children who are born in to the richest Americans,
1/3 stay in that position, 2/5 end up even richer
• High income parents keep their children afloat,
while low income parents weigh their children
down
Pain of Social Mobility
• Climbing the social ladder brings pain
• People who move up the ladder struggle with the
different worlds
• Women who came from a working class, now in the
middle class life have trouble dealing with the taste
they grew up with
• Better furniture, cars, vacations , etc…
• Parents become distant to their children