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Sociology vocabulary · Class, Stratification and Inequality

Social mobility

Meaning in sociology, with examples

nounCore term

In sociology, social mobility means: Movement of individuals or groups between positions in a social hierarchy, for example when someone from a working-class family gets a professional job.

In Turkish: toplumsal hareketlilik, sosyal hareketlilik

How it is used

Researchers distinguish upward and downward mobility, intergenerational mobility (between parents and children) and intragenerational mobility (within one person's career). The term comes up often in debates about education and equal opportunity.

Example sentences

  1. The expansion of universities was expected to increase social mobility.

  2. Intergenerational social mobility compares a person's class position with that of their parents.

Common collocations

  • upward social mobility
  • downward mobility
  • intergenerational mobility
  • barriers to social mobility
  • social stratificationThe way a society ranks groups of people in layers, or strata, so that some have more wealth, power and prestige than others.
  • social classA large group of people who share a similar economic position, such as income, wealth, occupation and education, and often similar life chances.
  • achieved statusA social position that a person gains through their own effort, skills or choices, such as a university degree, a profession or a political office.
  • inequalityUnequal access to resources, opportunities, rights and rewards, such as income, education, health or power, between individuals or groups.

More terms: Class, Stratification and Inequality

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