Teaching stratification: challenges and strategies for introduction to sociology

Jorge Sola and César Rendueles

Chapter 6 in Teaching Introduction to Sociology, 2026, pp 61-72 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter examines stratification as sociology's key concept for studying social inequality. Despite being a pervasive and consequential phenomenon, stratification often remains opaque to common sense. People struggle to grasp its forms, magnitude, drivers, and effects. While sociology illuminates these aspects, scientific evidence frequently collides with taken-for-granted ideological narratives. The chapter identifies five challenges in teaching this topic: helping students recognize structural—rather than individual—causes of inequality, grasp the scale of contemporary disparities, understand the underlying processes that generate inequality, analyze beliefs that legitimize stratification, and perceive its pervasive effects across social life. Through concrete examples and empirical evidence, the chapter demonstrates how teaching stratification develops core sociological skills while equipping students to critically examine deeply held assumptions about inequality, social mobility, and meritocracy in contemporary societies.

Keywords: Stratification; Inequality; Class; Gender; Cultural Capital; Meritocracy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035355778
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