Essay on Education as a Social Stratification – In technologically advanced countries education has become the most important criterion of social stratification. In such societies occupation is the determinant of income. It is also found that recruitment to various occupations in these societies is determined by the education levels of individuals.
Education – as a Determinant of Social Placement and Social Stratification:
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In the technologically advanced countries normally the status gradation is defined by the occupational and educational levels of education. “Briefly, in view of the close relationship between education and occupation, and to the extent that occupation is an important, if not the only avenue, for income and social status, education acquires significance as a determinant of social placement and social stratification.”
It is noticeable that in the industrial societies the most prestigious jobs tend to be not only those that yield the highest incomes but also the ones that require the longest education. The more education people have, the more likely they are to obtain good jobs and to enjoy high incomes.
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The Complex Relationship between Education and Social Stratification:
Though education acts as a generator of upward mobility it does not invariably do that, Empirical evidences suggest that in the reciprocal relationship between education and social stratification it is stratification that affects education primarily. This effect is greater than the effect of education on stratification.
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In many societies the facilities for education leading to higher levels of occupations and professions like medicine, engineering, management, etc., are limited. But the number of aspirants to lake use of such facilities is very high.
Since the cost of higher education is very high and several constraints govern admission to such education courses, only a select section of the society can manage to enter such courses. This section is normally the privileged section of the society, which occupies a top position in the stratification system.
Such a system of higher education with all its constraints etc., is often defended on meritocratic grounds. Thus education instead of being a generator of upward social mobility is forced to function as an agency of stratification, to function as an agency of status retention.
Social Stratification Affecting Lower Levels of Education:
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Social Stratification affects lower levels of education especially in the rural areas. In many of the developing countries wastage and stagnation in school education is found to be very high.
This problem seems to exist even in the advanced countries to a certain extent. It is found that generally students belonging to the lower stratum background drop out of the school in a large number. Even though education is provided and additional incentives are given, the situation does not seem to improve much.
It is clear from the above that the relationship between educations arid social stratification is complex than what it appears to be. It is true that education has enough potentiality for change the system of stratification. But this potentiality itself seems to be governed by the existing item of stratification.
In conclusion, it can be said that from the point of view of an educational system those who are already at the upper strata of the society are likely to gain more. They have higher achievement motivation and their environment helps them. If we wish to provide equality of educational opportunists we will have to keep this aspect in mind.