01
Front
What is social mobility?
Back
Movement between positions in a society’s system of stratification, measured through dimensions such as income, wealth, occupation, education, or status.
Free Online Flashcard Deck
5 Social Mobility and Opportunity Free Online FlashCards
Study 5 Social Mobility and Opportunity with 12 free online flashcards. Review key terms, definitions, and concepts with this interactive flashcard deck.
12 cards
02
Front
What is a meritocracy, and what is one challenge to its ideal?
Back
A meritocracy allocates positions or rewards according to merit. A key challenge is that measured achievements may reflect unequal resources and circumstances as well as effort.
03
Front
What is vertical mobility?
Back
Movement up or down a hierarchy, such as a promotion to a senior position or a loss of job and income.
04
Front
What is horizontal mobility?
Back
Movement between positions at roughly similar status levels, such as changing to an occupation with comparable pay and prestige.
05
Front
What is intragenerational mobility?
Back
A person’s movement between social or economic positions during their own lifetime.
06
Front
What is intergenerational mobility?
Back
A difference between the social or economic position of parents and that of their adult children.
07
Front
What is structural mobility?
Back
Mobility caused by broad changes in the economy or occupational structure that shift opportunities for many people.
08
Front
What is exchange mobility?
Back
People changing places within a relatively stable social structure; it is also called circulation mobility.
09
Front
What does absolute mobility measure?
Back
Whether people’s living standards or outcomes have improved compared with an earlier generation.
10
Front
What does relative mobility measure?
Back
How strongly a person’s position depends on their family origins compared with other people’s positions.
11
Front
What can a social-mobility transition table reveal?
Back
They show the shares of children from each parental group who reach each adult group, revealing upward movement, persistence, and downward movement.
12
Front
What does intergenerational income elasticity indicate?
Back
It measures how closely children’s adult income is associated with their parents’ income. A stronger association indicates more persistence of income advantage and lower relative mobility.
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