Course Syllabus

Course Information
Course Number/Section SOC/POEC 6350 501
Course Title Social Stratification
Term Fall 2007
Days & Times Tuesday 7:00-9:45pm

Professor Contact Information

Professor Melinda D. Kane, Ph.D.
Office Phone 972-883-4766
Home Phone 972-867-4571
Email Address melinda.kane@utdallas.edu
Office Location GR 2.204
Office Hours T 10-11am, 6-6:45 pm and by appt.

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions

There are no pre-requisites for this course

Course Description
Though the United States is often perceived to be a nation without divisive economic splits where
individual achievement is the primary determinant of a person’s success, sociologists find inequality does
exist and that people’s access to societal resources (i.e,. the good stuff in life like money & jobs) is not
just based on their own efforts, but also on their societal positions. This course provides a survey of the
theories and lines of research in the field of social stratification, a core area within sociology.
Stratification is a fairly broad subject, covering many different topics. What links research together into
one substantive field is a focus on the patterned inequalities among social groups that are sustained over
time, particularly class based inequalities. The course begins with some key theories on the nature and
form of stratification, both classic and contemporary. Then, focusing primarily, but not entirely, on the
United States, we turn to the topics of class measurement, class mobility and reproduction, the link
between education and stratification, the implications of race and gender for social class, global
inequality, and the ability of social movements to challenge inequality.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes

By the end of the semester, students in POEC/SOC 6350 should be able to:
*summarize and critique key theories and arguments in the social stratification literature
*analyze and evaluate competing explanations for stratification
*evaluate the potential policy implications of social inequality
*compose an academic literature review that summarizes and evaluates a body of literature

Course Syllabus Page 1

Required Textbooks and Materials
Required Texts
There are three required books, a course packet, and a series of articles available on Electronic Reserve.
(I put articles available electronically on Electronic Reserve, rather than in the course packet, to keep the
packet price as low as possible.) The required books and course packet are available for purchase at both
the university bookstore and at Off Campus Books (561 West. Campbell, #201) (If a store is out of course
packets, please ask a sales associate—they will make more.) All of the required readings & books are
also available at the UTD library. See course schedule for details.

Grusky, David B. 2001. Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological
Perspective. CO: Westview Press.

Kozol, Jonathan. 1991. Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools. NY: Crown
Publishers, Inc.

Piven, Frances Fox and Richard A. Cloward. 1977. Poor People’s Movements: Why They
Succeed, How They Fail. NY: Vintage Books.

Class packet & Readings on electronic reserves

Assignments & Academic Calendar

Assignments
WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS: To encourage attendance and participation, students will be responsible
each week for writing either a brief summary or a brief critique of one of the assigned readings. A
summary requires you to prepare a concise synopsis of the main argument in that reading (no more than a
paragraph). In other words, what is the author’s primary point in that piece? In contrast, critiques require
you to prepare brief, telling comments (no more than a paragraph) on a weakness, flaw, or gap in the
argument. In the rare cases when you find nothing to critique, you may instead generate a thought-
provoking question. The question may reflect your genuine puzzlement about something in the reading,
be an attempt to connect the reading with some other reading or current event, or be a research question
that is implied by the author’s argument. Weekly assignments are to be typed and must be brought to
class the day the reading is due. Late weekly assignments will not be accepted and you must attend
class to turn in an assignment. However, each student may miss up to two weekly assignments without
penalty. For students that miss fewer than two assignments, I will drop their lowest scores. Each
assignment will earn a score between three and zero. The weekly assignments are worth 25% of the
course grade. (A not so subtle threat--If I find that students are only reading “their” assigned readings, I
will change the weekly assignments so that students are required to write a summary or critique on all of
the assigned readings.)

EXAMS: Two take-home essay exams will be given. For each of the take-home exams, you will be
asked to respond to one or two essay questions. I will distribute the questions two weeks before the exam
is due. Your answers, which should draw upon the readings and class discussions, will allow you to
summarize, reflect on, synthesize, and evaluate the materials we cover. Each exam is worth 25% of the
course grade for a total of 50%. See due dates below.

COURSE PAPER: Finally, each student will write a 12-15 page literature review on a stratification topic
of his/her choice. You will have two smaller assignments during the semester to help you get the project
started and to give you some feedback before the final draft is due. The course paper and two, smaller
paper assignments will comprise 25% of the course grade. [See the attached guidelines at the end of the
syllabus for more detailed information about the paper assignment.]

Course Syllabus Page 2

Calendar
The class packet articles are also available at the UTD library. Articles noted with a * are available in the
library’s on-site journal collection and those with a ° are available in the library’s book collection (as are
the three required books).

August 21 Introduction to the Course

August 28 Theories of Stratification I: Classics and Their Updates

Reading (42 pages):

Marx, Classes in Capitalism and Pre-Capitalism G 91-101
Marx, Ideology and Class G 101-102
Marx, Value and Surplus Value G 103-105
Wright, Varieties of Marxist Conceptions of Class Structure G 112-116
Wright, A General Framework for the Analysis of Class Structure G 116-128
Weber, Class, Status, Party G 132-142

September 4 Theories of Stratification II: Elite & Functional Theories

Reading (67 pages):

Davis & Moore, Some Principles of Stratification G 55-65
Tumin, Some Principles of Stratification: A Critical Analysis G 65-73
Inequality by Design G 73-76
Mills, The Power Elite G 202-212
°Domhoff, The Corporate Community, pages 15-30 & 41-43 CP (19 pages)
°Domhoff, How the Power Elite Dominate Government, pages 147-161 CP (15 pages)

September 11 Occupational Prestige (and other class measurement issues)

Reading (51 pages):

Blau & Duncan, Measuring the Status of Occupations G 255-259
Trieman, Occupational Prestige in Comparative Perspective G 260-263
*Jacobs and Powell, Occupational Prestige: A Sex-Neutral Concept? CP (11 pages)
Goldthorpe and Hope, Occupational Grading & Occupational Prestige G 264-271
Davis & Robinson ER (23 pages)

****************Paper Topic & Four References Due****************

September 18 Class Mobility

Reading (69 pages):

Lipset et al., Social Mobility in Industrial Society G 309-318
Gottschalk et al., Inequality, Income Growth, and Mobility G 373-377
Gottschalk et al., The Dynamics and Intergenerational Transmission G 378-389
of Poverty and Welfare Participation
MacLeod, Ain’t No Makin’ It G 421-434
Lareau, Invisible Inequality ER (29 pages)

Course Syllabus Page 3

September 25 Education

Reading (119 pages):

Kozol, Savage Inequalities, Chps 2 & 6 K (70 pages)
Condron & Roscigno, Disparities Within ER (19 pages)
Buchmann, Family Structure, Parental Perceptions, and Child Labor ER (30 pages)
in Kenya

************************Exam 1 Questions Distributed************************

October 2 Race & Ethnicity

Reading (64 pages):

Bonacich, A Theory of Ethnic Antagonism G 555-568
Portes & Manning, The Immigrant Enclave G 568-579
Liberson, A Piece of the Pie G 580-592
Dixon, The Ties That Bind and Those That Don’t ER (26 pages)

*******************Three Page Summary & Eight References Due****************

October 9 Individual Meetings

No Reading
Meet individually with Dr. Kane about your papers
Turn in Exam 1

****************************Exam 1 Due******************************

October 16 The Race-Class Debate

Reading (60-63 pages):

Wilson, The Declining Significance of Race G 611-623
Wilson, Jobless Poverty G 651-660
Massey & Denton, American Apartheid G 660-670
°Conley, From Financial to Social to Human Capital CP (27 pages)
OR
Kirschenman & Neckerman, We’d Like to Hire Them, But… Handout (30 pages)

October 23 Gender: Occupational Segregation

Reading (83 pages):

Bielby, The Structure and Process of Sex Segregation G 703-714
Reskin, Labor Markets as Queues G 719-733
°Phipps, Industrial and Occupational Change in Pharmacy CP (17 pages)
Williams, The Glass Escalator ER (15 pages)

Course Syllabus Page 4

October 30 Gender: Wages

Reading (65 pages)

Marini and Fan, The Gender Gap in Earnings at Career Entry G 743-760
Bernhardt et al., Women’s Gains or Men’s Losses? ER (27 pages)
Kilbourne et al., Is There an Empirical Case for Comparable Worth? G 761-775
Tam, Why Do Female Occupations Pay Less? G 776-780

November 6 Global Stratification

Reading (67 pages):

°Kerbo, Excerpt from Social Stratification and Inequality, 4th edition. CP (24 pages)
°Firebaugh, The Reversal of Historical Inequality Trends CP (16 pages)
Jenkins & Scanlan, Food Security in Less Developed Countries, 1970-1990 ER (27 pages)

************************Exam 2 Questions Distributed************************

************************Course Paper Due ************************

November 13 Responses to Stratification: Social Movements

Reading (123-125 pages):

Piven & Cloward, Chapter 1 and Chapter 3 or 4 PC (various pages)

November 20 Course Wrap Up

No Reading
Turn in Exam 2**********************Exam 2 Due**************************

Grading Policy
The grading scale for the course is as follows:

A = 90-100% = 4.0 B = 80-89%=3.0 C =70-79% =2.0 F =69% or less =0.0

Course Policies
Extra Credit
There will be no extra credit work available.

Late Work
As mentioned above, late summaries and critiques will not be accepted. Late exams, paper assignments,
and course papers will be, but they will be docked half a letter grade for each date late, including weekend
days. For example, after one day late, a 95% would be dropped to a 90, after two days late it would be
dropped to an 85, and so on. Assignments are considered late if they are turned in after class has met that
week.

Class Attendance
As mentioned above, rather than grading attendance, weekly summaries/critiques will be used to
encourage attendance and participation.

Course Syllabus Page 5

Classroom Citizenship
This course covers sensitive topics; therefore, we must always make sure to respect one another.
Disagreements are allowed and expected, but should focus on ideas rather than the individuals that
express them. Signs of disrespect that will not be tolerated include, but are not limited to, making
derogatory comments about others and/or their ideas, having background conversations when others are
talking, or packing up early when others are still talking or asking questions.

Student Conduct & Discipline

The University of Texas System and The University of Texas at Dallas have rules and regulations for the
orderly and efficient conduct of their business. It is the responsibility of each student and each student
organization to be knowledgeable about the rules and regulations which govern student conduct and
activities. General information on student conduct and discipline is contained in the UTD publication, A to
Z Guide, which is provided to all registered students each academic year.

The University of Texas at Dallas administers student discipline within the procedures of recognized and
established due process. Procedures are defined and described in the Rules and Regulations, Board of
Regents, The University of Texas System, Part 1, Chapter VI, Section 3, and in Title V, Rules on Student
Services and Activities of the university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures. Copies of these rules and
regulations are available to students in the Office of the Dean of Students, where staff members are
available to assist students in interpreting the rules and regulations (SU 1.602, 972/883-6391).

A student at the university neither loses the rights nor escapes the responsibilities of citizenship. He or she
is expected to obey federal, state, and local laws as well as the Regents’ Rules, university regulations, and
administrative rules. Students are subject to discipline for violating the standards of conduct whether such
conduct takes place on or off campus, or whether civil or criminal penalties are also imposed for such
conduct.

Academic Integrity

The faculty expects from its students a high level of responsibility and academic honesty. Because the
value of an academic degree depends upon the absolute integrity of the work done by the student for that
degree, it is imperative that a student demonstrate a high standard of individual honor in his or her
scholastic work.

Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, acts or omissions related to applications for
enrollment or the award of a degree, and/or the submission as one’s own work or material that is not one’s
own. As a general rule, scholastic dishonesty involves one of the following acts: cheating, plagiarism,
collusion and/or falsifying academic records. Students suspected of academic dishonesty are subject to
disciplinary proceedings.

Plagiarism, especially from the web, from portions of papers for other classes, and from any other source is
unacceptable and will be dealt with under the university’s policy on plagiarism (see general catalog for
details). This course will use the resources of turnitin.com, which searches the web for possible plagiarism
and is over 90% effective.

Course Syllabus Page 6

Email Use

The University of Texas at Dallas recognizes the value and efficiency of communication between
faculty/staff and students through electronic mail. At the same time, email raises some issues concerning
security and the identity of each individual in an email exchange. The university encourages all official
student email correspondence be sent only to a student’s U.T. Dallas email address and that faculty and
staff consider email from students official only if it originates from a UTD student account. This allows the
university to maintain a high degree of confidence in the identity of all individual corresponding and the
security of the transmitted information. UTD furnishes each student with a free email account that is to be
used in all communication with university personnel. The Department of Information Resources at U.T.
Dallas provides a method for students to have their U.T. Dallas mail forwarded to other accounts.

Withdrawal from Class

The administration of this institution has set deadlines for withdrawal of any college-level courses. These
dates and times are published in that semester's course catalog. Administration procedures must be
followed. It is the student's responsibility to handle withdrawal requirements from any class. In other
words, I cannot drop or withdraw any student. You must do the proper paperwork to ensure that you will
not receive a final grade of "F" in a course if you choose not to attend the class once you are enrolled.

Student Grievance Procedures

Procedures for student grievances are found in Title V, Rules on Student Services and Activities, of the
university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures.

In attempting to resolve any student grievance regarding grades, evaluations, or other fulfillments of
academic responsibility, it is the obligation of the student first to make a serious effort to resolve the matter
with the instructor, supervisor, administrator, or committee with whom the grievance originates (hereafter
called “the respondent”). Individual faculty members retain primary responsibility for assigning grades and
evaluations. If the matter cannot be resolved at that level, the grievance must be submitted in writing to the
respondent with a copy of the respondent’s School Dean. If the matter is not resolved by the written
response provided by the respondent, the student may submit a written appeal to the School Dean. If the
grievance is not resolved by the School Dean’s decision, the student may make a written appeal to the Dean
of Graduate or Undergraduate Education, and the deal will appoint and convene an Academic Appeals
Panel. The decision of the Academic Appeals Panel is final. The results of the academic appeals process
will be distributed to all involved parties.

Copies of these rules and regulations are available to students in the Office of the Dean of Students, where
staff members are available to assist students in interpreting the rules and regulations.

Incomplete Grade Policy

As per university policy, incomplete grades will be granted only for work unavoidably missed at the
semester’s end and only if 70% of the course work has been completed. An incomplete grade must be
resolved within eight (8) weeks from the first day of the subsequent long semester. If the required work to
complete the course and to remove the incomplete grade is not submitted by the specified deadline, the
incomplete grade is changed automatically to a grade of F.

Disability Services

The goal of Disability Services is to provide students with disabilities educational opportunities equal to
those of their non-disabled peers. Disability Services is located in room 1.610 in the Student Union. Office
hours are Monday and Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.;
and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Course Syllabus Page 7

 The contact information for the Office of Disability Services is:
The University of Texas at Dallas, SU 22
PO Box 830688
Richardson, Texas 75083-0688
(972) 883-2098 (voice or TTY)

Essentially, the law requires that colleges and universities make those reasonable adjustments necessary to
eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability. For example, it may be necessary to remove classroom
prohibitions against tape recorders or animals (in the case of dog guides) for students who are blind.
Occasionally an assignment requirement may be substituted (for example, a research paper versus an oral
presentation for a student who is hearing impaired). Classes enrolled students with mobility impairments
may have to be rescheduled in accessible facilities. The college or university may need to provide special
services such as registration, note-taking, or mobility assistance.

It is the student’s responsibility to notify his or her professors of the need for such an accommodation.
Disability Services provides students with letters to present to faculty members to verify that the student
has a disability and needs accommodations. Individuals requiring special accommodation should contact
the professor after class or during office hours.

Religious Holy Days

The University of Texas at Dallas will excuse a student from class or other required activities for the travel
to and observance of a religious holy day for a religion whose places of worship are exempt from property
tax under Section 11.20, Tax Code, Texas Code Annotated.

The student is encouraged to notify the instructor or activity sponsor as soon as possible regarding the
absence, preferably in advance of the assignment. The student, so excused, will be allowed to take the
exam or complete the assignment within a reasonable time after the absence: a period equal to the length of
the absence, up to a maximum of one week. A student who notifies the instructor and completes any missed
exam or assignment may not be penalized for the absence. A student who fails to complete the exam or
assignment within the prescribed period may receive a failing grade for that exam or assignment.

If a student or an instructor disagrees about the nature of the absence [i.e., for the purpose of observing a
religious holy day] or if there is similar disagreement about whether the student has been given a
reasonable time to complete any missed assignments or examinations, either the student or the instructor
may request a ruling from the chief executive officer of the institution, or his or her designee. The chief
executive officer or designee must take into account the legislative intent of TEC 51.911(b), and the student
and instructor will abide by the decision of the chief executive officer or designee.

Off-Campus Instruction and Course Activities

Off-campus, out-of-state, and foreign instruction and activities are subject to state law and University
policies and procedures regarding travel and risk-related activities. Information regarding these rules and
regulations may be found at the website address given below. Additional information is available from the
office of the school dean. (http://www.utdallas.edu/Business Affairs/Travel_Risk_Activities.htm)

These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the Professor.

Course Syllabus Page 8

 Course Paper

Each student will write a research paper on a stratification topic of his/her choice. Any topic is acceptable
as long as it deals with inequality and is a unique paper written for this course (see me if you have
questions about the acceptability of your topic).

What is a literature review?

A literature review involves researching, organizing, and evaluating a body of literature (i.e., race based
wage inequality; educational tracking; Marxist feminism; experiences of the upwardly mobile). You will
not answer a specific question (i.e., why do women earn less than men?). Instead, you will describe what
existing research has to say about a specific topic (i.e. the causes of the gender gap in pay) and what
issues still need to be addressed. While you do not need to read and cite every article ever written about
your topic, your paper must provide a representative sample of existing research. Do not just rely on the
work of a few. Also keep in mind your literature review should not be a laundry list of articles/studies.
Instead, you should organize the review around themes/explanations and use particular studies as the
citations/evidence for those themes. [Articles in the Annual Review of Sociology are good examples of
literature reviews, though on broader topics than you should choose.]

During the semester, you will hand in two, smaller assignments to get you started on the paper. On
September 11th, you need to hand in a description of your paper (no more than ½ a page) and four
scholarly references (i.e., articles from academic journals, books written by academics). Your description
should explain the substantive area you intend to investigate.

The second assignment, due Oct 2nd, is a three page, double-spaced version your paper with eight
scholarly references. At this point, you should be further along on your paper so the summary should be
more detailed and concrete. Students will meet with me individually the week of October 9th to discuss
their summaries and papers more generally.

Evaluation & Format of Final Paper

The final version of the paper is due November 6th in class. Each paper should be between 12-15 pages
(not including references), typed, double-spaced, with 10-12 point font. The paper length is firm; I will
stop reading the paper after 15 pages.

You will be graded on writing quality as well as content. Write simply and clearly. Use correct spelling
and grammar. Organize your argument. Your discussion will be clearer to you and to me if you write
from a well-organized outline and edit your paper. Also, limit the number of direct quotes you use; I am
more interested in your summary of the literature, not a cobbling together of other scholars’ words.

You are required to cite any ideas that are not your own. A correct citation requires you to cite the source
within the text and to include a reference page with the full citation. If you put another author’s idea into
your own words, you need to include the author’s last name and the date the article was published (e.g.,
Piven and Cloward 1977). If you use the author’s exact words, those words need to be put in quotation
marks and you need to provide the author’s last name, the date of the article, and the page number (e.g.,
Piven and Cloward 1977: 43). Please use the citation and reference formats used in the American
Sociological Review, found on-line and in the UTD library.

Course Syllabus Page 9

Common Mistakes to Avoid:

*Not selecting a stratification topic

*Plagiarism, usually caused by citation errors

*Over-reliance on non-academic sources

*Over-reliance on direct quotations

*Creating a laundry list of articles and findings rather than synthesizing existing literature

*Forgetting to discuss remaining gaps/unanswered questions in the literature

Course Syllabus Page 10