Graduate Social Stratification Seminar Spring Sociology SOC-GA 2137 Sociology Conference Room A (4156)

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1 Graduate Social Stratification Seminar Spring 2016 Sociology SOC-GA 2137 Sociology Conference Room A (4156) Professor Florencia Torche florencia.torche@nyu.edu Wednesdays 3:30-6: Lafayette St. #4141 Office Hours: Wed 1:30-3:00pm Course Description This course provides intensive training in substantive, theoretical, and methodological topics in the field of social stratification. We will begin with stylized facts and theoretical approaches to the questions of inequality and mobility. Subsequent sections discuss patterns and sources of economic and class inequality, and the factors affecting mobility over the individual life-cycle and across generations. We will discuss institutional determinants of stratification, including the educational system, the family, and the political system. We will also examine micro- and macro-level mechanisms for stratification including social networks, the role of place, and ascriptive sources of inequality such as race/ethnicity and gender. We will close with a discussion of the (potential) consequences of inequality. After the course students will be well-versed in both in both major perspectives in the field and the most recent themes and findings. However, the field is too vast to cover exhaustively in a single semester. The main objective of the course is to provide an introduction to compelling theoretical ideas and empirical issues so that students can continue research on their own. Prerequisites: A graduate-level introductory statistics course including regression analysis. Our discussion will focus on substantive issues rather than methods. However, in order to fully engage with some of the readings, basic statistical knowledge is needed. Assignments 1) Class participation (15% of the final grade): This course is a collective enterprise and I expect everyone to come prepared to contribute. This involves being able to convey the arguments offered by each reading and to share your reaction/criticism of the material. Prior to each class I will post guiding questions that may help you think about the readings. 2) A series of discussion papers that critically engage with the readings (30% of the final grade). The discussion papers should be approximately 2 single-spaced pages long. They are not just a summary of the readings. Rather, they should offer an extension, critique, or discussion of the implications of the readings. You should submit 6 discussion papers during the semester, so you can select the weeks you are most interested in or curious about. The discussion paper should be submitted at the beginning of class the weeks of your choosing. 1

2 Tips for writing discussion papers: You do not need to provide a comprehensive summary of the readings. Focus on the core of the argument(s) offered by the authors and move on quickly to your own argument, critique, or extension of the material discussed. You do not need to engage each one of the readings assigned and can draw on prior/other literature to articulate your own argument. Be concise and focused, do not get sidetracked by many minor points. Discussion papers should use the kind of language and syntax that you would read in a published research article. 3) A written assignment due at the end of the semester (55% of the final grade). This assignment can be: 1. An original research paper on a topic that interests you. This might serve as the basis for your research paper requirement, a journal submission, or a chapter in your dissertation. 2. A detailed proposal for a research project, including an extensive and critical review of the literature on the topic. This might serve as the basis for a grant proposal to support your dissertation or future wok. 3. A review of the literature in a broad topic area including a critical assessment of the various contributions to the topic (e.g. gender labor market inequality, ethnic/racial discrimination, migration & stratification, etc.). This might serve as preparation for your comprehensive exam or dissertation. A 1-page proposal for your final written assignment should be submitted on March 2 nd. Course Schedule Jan 27: Introduction No readings assigned, start doing the readings for 2/3 if you can. Feb 3 Basic Facts on Inequality: Trends and Determinants. Allison, Paul Measures of Inequality. American Sociological Review 43: (skim). Goldin, Claudia, and Lawrence Katz The Race between Education and Technology. Harvard University Press. Chapter 3. Neckerman, Kathryn and Florencia Torche Inequality: Causes and Consequences Annual Review of Sociology 33: McCall, Leslie and Christine Percheski Income Inequality: New Trends and Research Directions Annual Review of Sociology 36:

3 Feb 10 The Process of Stratification: The Classic Status Attainment Approach. Blau, Peter and Otis Dudley Duncan The American Occupational Structure. The Free Press. Chapter 1 (pp. 1-21, skim), 4 (pp in detail, skim the rest), and 5 (pp ). Sewell, William, Archibald Haller, and Alejandro Portes The Educational and Early Occupational Attainment Process. American Sociological Review 34 (1): Jencks, Christopher, Marshall Smith, Henry Acland, Mary Jo Bane, David Cohen, Herbert Gintis, Barbara Heyns, and Stephan Michelson Inequality: A Reassessment of the Effects of Family and Schooling in America. Chapters 1 and 7. Feb. 17 Beyond Income and Status Attainment: Theoretical Perspectives on Stratification. Weeden, Kim and David Grusky Three Worlds of Inequality American Journal of Sociology 117(6): Tilly, Charles Durable Inequality. University of California Press. Chapters 1 and 3. Wright, Eric Olin If Class is the Answer, what is the Question? Conclusion in Approaches to Class Analysis. Cambridge University Press. Bourdieu, Pierre Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Harvard University Press. Page 1-50 (Introduction and Part I - The Aristocracy of Culture, and The Titles of Cultural Nobility) Feb 24 Intergenerational Mobility. Erikson, Robert, and John Goldthorpe The Constant Flux: A Study of Class Mobility in Industrial Societies. Clarendon Press. Chapter 1 (optional, pp. 1-27), chapter 2 (pp ), chapter 4 (pp ). Gerber, Theodore and Michael Hout Tightening Up: Declining Class Mobility during Russia s Market Transition American Sociological Review 69(5): Blanden, Jo Cross-country rankings in intergenerational mobility: A comparison of approaches from economics and sociology. Journal of Economic Surveys 27 (1): Chetty, Raj, Nathaniel Hendren, Patrick Kline, and Emmanuel Saez Where is the land of opportunity? The geography of intergenerational mobility in the United States. Quarterly Journal of Economics 129(4): Mar 2 Families and Stratification Dynamics. McLanahan, S Diverging Destinies: How Children Are Faring under the Second Demographic Transition Demography 41(4): Mare, Robert and Vida Maralani The Intergenerational Effects of Changes in Women s Educational Attainments American Sociological Review 71:

4 Schwartz, Christine Earnings Inequality and the Changing Association between Spouses Earnings American Journal of Sociology 115(5): Mar 9 Educational Stratification: Inequality of Educational Opportunity. Raftery, Adam and Michael Hout Maximally Maintained Inequality: Expansion, Reform, and Opportunity in Irish Education, Sociology of Education, 66(1): Lucas, Samuel "Effectively Maintained Inequality: Education Transitions, Track Mobility, and Social Background Effects." American Journal of Sociology 106: Torche, Florencia Is a College Degree Still the Great Equalizer? Intergenerational Mobility across Levels of Schooling in the United States American Journal of Sociology 117(3): Mar 16 Spring Break Mar 23 Educational Stratification: The Role of Schools. Raudenbush, Stephen and Robert Eschmann Does Schooling Increase or Reduce Social Inequality? Annual Review of Sociology 41: Gerber, Theodore, and Sin Yi Cheung Horizontal Stratification in Postsecondary Education: Forms, Explanations, and Implications. Annual Review of Sociology 34: Alon, Sigal and Marta Tienda Diversity, Opportunity, and the Shifting Meritocracy in Higher Education American Sociological Review 72: Mar 30 - Gender Inequality Goldin, Claudia The Quiet Revolution That Transformed Women s Employment, Education, and Family. American Economic Review 96(2):1-21. England, Paula The Gender Revolution: Uneven and Stalled Gender and Society 24: Petersen, Trond and Laurie Morgan Separate and Unequal: Occupation-Establishment Sex Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap. American Journal of Sociology 101: Buchmann, Claudia and Thomas DiPrete The Growing Female Advantage in College Completion: The Role of Family Background and Academic Achievement American Sociological Review 71: Apr 6 Racial and Ethnic Stratification William Julius Wilson The Truly Disadvantaged. Second Edition. University of Chicago Press. Chapters 1 and 2. Wilson, William Julius Another Look at the Truly Disadvantaged. Political Science Quarterly 106(4):

5 Pettit, Becky and Bruce Western Mass Imprisonment and the Life Course: Race and Class Inequality in U.S. Incarceration. American Sociological Review 69: Apr 13 Place and Disadvantage Massey, Douglas S. and Nancy A. Denton American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Chapters 1, 2, and 4. Harding, David Cultural Context, Sexual Behavior, and Romantic Relationships in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods American Sociological Review 72: Sampson, Robert Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect. University of Chicago Press. Chapters 5 and 12. April 20 Social Status and Networks Chan, Tak-Wing and John Goldthorpe Class and Status: The Conceptual Distinction and its Empirical Relevance American Sociological Review 72: Gould, Roger The Origin of Status Hierarchies: A Formal Theory and Empirical Test American Journal of Sociology 107(5): Ridgeway, Cecilia Why Status Matters for Inequality American Sociological Review 79(1) Di Maggio, Paul and Filiz Garip How Network Externalities Can Exacerbate Intergroup Inequality American Journal of Sociology 116(6): Apr 27 Inequality and Politics McAdams, Doug and Karina Kloos Deeply Divided: Racial Politics and Social Movements in Post-War America. Oxford University Press. Bartels, Larry Unequal Democracy. The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age. Princeton University Press. May 4 - Consequences of Inequality: Micro and Macro Mayer, Susan How Did the Increase in Economic Inequality between 1970 and 1990 Affect Children s Educational Attainment? American Journal of Sociology 107(1): Burtless, Gary and Christopher Jencks American Inequality and Its Consequences pp in Aaron, H., J. Lindsay and P. Nivola eds. Agenda for the Nation. Brookings Institution. Kawachi, Ichiro and S.V. Subramanian Income Inequality Chapter 4 in Social Epidemiology eds. Berkman, Lisa, Ichiro Kawachi and Maria Glymour. Oxford University Press. Kenworthy, Lane Is Income Inequality Harmful? Blogpost, September 15th. 5