socioeconomic status (SES)

How it is used

Very common in quantitative research, education studies and public health, and usually shortened to SES. Researchers compare low-SES and high-SES groups or use SES as a control variable. It is a measurement term rather than a theory of class.

Example sentences

1. Students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds were less likely to apply to top universities.

2. We controlled for socioeconomic status, age and gender in the regression model.

Common collocations

• low socioeconomic status
• high socioeconomic status
• measure of socioeconomic status
• control for SES

Related terms

• social classA large group of people who share a similar economic position, such as income, wealth, occupation and education, and often similar life chances.
• variableA characteristic that can take different values from case to case, such as age, income, education level or attitude, and that researchers measure and compare.
• inequalityUnequal access to resources, opportunities, rights and rewards, such as income, education, health or power, between individuals or groups.
• povertyA situation in which people lack the money or resources to meet their basic needs or to take part in the normal life of their society.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• socioeconomic status · Public Health & Epidemiology

More terms: Class, Stratification and Inequality

• social stratification
• social mobility
• bourgeoisie
• proletariat
• working class
• middle class
• cultural capital
• social capital
• intersectionality
• social exclusion