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Sociology vocabulary · Social Structure and Institutions

Achieved status

Meaning in sociology, with examples

nounCommon term

In sociology, achieved status means: A social position that a person gains through their own effort, skills or choices, such as a university degree, a profession or a political office.

In Turkish: kazanılmış statü, edinilmiş statü

How it is used

The opposite of ascribed status. Societies that call themselves meritocratic claim to allocate positions mainly by achievement, and sociologists test this claim by measuring how much family background still matters.

Example sentences

  1. Becoming a surgeon is an achieved status that takes many years of training.

  2. In modern labour markets, achieved status is supposed to matter more than family origin.

Common collocations

  • ascribed versus achieved status
  • status achievement
  • based on achieved status
  • ascribed statusA social position given to a person at birth or later in life without any effort or choice on their part, such as sex, age, ethnicity or family background.
  • statusA social position that a person occupies, such as student, mother or doctor, which comes with expected behaviour and a certain level of respect.
  • social mobilityMovement of individuals or groups between positions in a social hierarchy, for example when someone from a working-class family gets a professional job.

More terms: Social Structure and Institutions

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