Studied by 5 people
Social solidarity
This involves a commitment to society, a sense of belonging, and a feeling that the social unit is more important than the individual.
Specialised division of labour
A labour force with a large number of specialised occupations.
Primary socialisation
The earliest and probably the most important part of the socialisation process, usually within families.
Secondary socialisation
The socialisation that takes place during later life, for example, within schools and workplaces.
Particularistic standards
Standards that apply to particular people, for example, to particular children in families.
Universalistic standards
Standards that apply to everybody - for example, to all college students or to all employees in the workplace.
Ascribed status
Status or positions in society that are fixed at birth and unchanging over time, including hereditary titles linked to family background (for example, King or Princess) or the status of a daughter or son within a family.
Achieved status
Status or positions in society that are earned on the basis of individual talents or merit.
Meritocratic
Description of a system in which a person’s position is based on merit - for example, talent and hard work - rather than on their social origins, ethnicity or gender.
Value consensus
Agreement about the main values of society.
Equality of opportunity
A system in which every person has an equal chance of success.
Role allocation
A system of allocating people to roles which best suit their aptitudes and capabilities.
Social stratification
The way that society is structured or divided into hierarchical layers or strata, with the most privileged at the top and the least privileged at the bottom. Examples include caste and social class.
Ruling-class ideology
A system of ideas that justify the position of the ruling class (the bourgeoisie in capitalist societies).
False class consciousness
A false picture of society that disguises the exploitation of the subject class (the proletariat in capitalist societies).
Hidden curriculum
The message schools transmit which are not part of the standard taught curriculum and which are largely hidden from teachers and students.
Correspondence theory
A theory that states that there is a similarity between two things.
Alienation
A feeling of being cut off from and unable to find satisfaction from work.
Sites of ideological struggle
Places where there are conflicts based on different beliefs and values.
Ideological State Apparatuses
Institutions, including the education system, that transmit ruling-class ideology.
Repressive State Apparatuses
Institutions, such as the army and the police, that keep the subject class in its place.
Counter-school culture
A school-based subculture whose members reject the norms and values of the school and replace them with anti-school norms and values.
Shop-floor culture
The culture of low-skill workers which has similarities to the counter-school culture.
Privatise
Move from state to private ownership.
Commodity
Something that can be bought and sold.
Globalisation
The process by which societies, cultures and economies become increasingly interconnected.
Branch campus
A campus which is a branch of the main university.
Cultural reproduction
The transmission of cultural norms, values and experiences between the generations.
Capital
In Marxist terms, wealth derived from ownership of the means of production. Bourdieu broadened this to include the main social, cultural and symbolic resources as well as economic resources that determine people’s position in society.
Economic capital
Financial resources in the form of income and wealth.
Social capital
A social network that can be used as a resource.
Symbolic capital
Honour, prestige and reputation.
Cultural capital
The manners, tastes, interests and language of the “dominant classes” which can be translated into wealth, income, power and prestige.
Conversion
The process by which one form of capital reinforces another.
Habitus
The dispositions, expectations, attitudes and values held by particular groups.
Social reproduction
The reproduction of social inequality from one generation to the next.
Marketisation
The process in which organisations compete in the market.
Performativity
How well an individual or organisation performs.
Vocationalism
Education and training designed to prepare young people for employment and to teach work skills to meet the needs of industry.
Multinational education businesses
Private education companies which have branches in two or more countries.
Attainment gap
A difference in achievements between groups which is based, for example, on class, gender, or ethnicity.
Creaming
Selecting students who appear most likely to succeed for entry to educational institutions.
Life chances
An individual’s chances of achieving positive or negative outcomes - relating, for example, to education, health and housing - as they progress through life.
Intragenerational mobility
An individual’s movement up or down between the strata or layers of society over the course of their life.
Intergenerational Mobility
Movement up or down between the strata or layers of society as measured between the generations of a family.
Absolute mobility
The total amount of social mobility in a society.
Relative mobility
The comparative chances of people from different class backgrounds reaching particular positions in the social structure.
Stratification system
The way a society is structured or divided into hierarchical strata or layers, with the most privileged group at the top and the least favoured at the bottom.
Extra-curricular activities
Activities undertaken outside lessons at school such as clubs and debating societies, or hobbies undertaken outside school such as yoga or dance.
Ethnocentric
Evaluating one’s own culture or ethnic groups as superior to others.
Formal curriculum
The stated knowledge and skills which students are expected to acquire.
Ethnocentrism
The belief that one’s own culture or ethnic group is superior to others.
Patriarchal ideology
The idea that male dominance in society is reasonable and acceptable.
