Okuzeka
Sociology vocabulary · Migration, Race and Ethnicity

Minority group

Meaning in sociology, with examples

nounCore term

In sociology, minority group means: A group that has less power, status or access to resources than the dominant group in a society, often because of its ethnicity, religion, language or another shared characteristic.

In Turkish: azınlık grubu, azınlık

How it is used

In sociology, minority refers to a position in a power relationship, not only to numbers: a large group can still be a minority group. In law, the word may have specific legal definitions that differ from country to country.

Example sentences

  1. Louis Wirth defined a minority group by its experience of unequal treatment, not by its size.

  2. Researchers interviewed members of several minority groups about their experiences at work.

Common collocations

  • ethnic minority group
  • religious minority
  • minority rights
  • dominant and minority groups
  • ethnicityA shared cultural identity based on things such as common ancestry, language, religion, traditions or a sense of shared history.
  • discriminationTreating people unfairly or differently because they belong to a particular group, for example on the basis of gender, ethnicity, age, religion or disability.
  • raceA way of classifying people into groups on the basis of perceived physical differences such as skin colour, which sociologists treat as a social rather than a biological category.
  • assimilationThe process by which a minority or migrant group gradually adopts the culture, language and customs of the majority society and becomes less distinct from it.

More terms: Migration, Race and Ethnicity

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: