Coordinator: Bart Landry  |  (301) 405-6416  |  blandry@socy.umd.edu

 

Stratification at the University of Maryland is grounded in the classical theories of Marx and Weber, but goes beyond their original conceptualizations to include the study of prominent neo-Marxists and neo-Weberians. The relevance of Marxian and Weberian theories of stratification to race, gender, globalization and the new economy are also explored. Through a number of courses, students are further able to explore in depth the major issues of the field such as poverty, income and occupational inequality, labor markets, the new economy, education and the relationships among class, race, and gender. A special feature of the study of stratification at Maryland is an emphasis upon the analysis of the macro economy at the national and global levels as the underpinning of class systems, and the investigation of the relationship between macro economic changes and class structure.

 

Faculty Interests

The principal faculty active in the area are Suzanne Bianchi, Patricia Hill Collins, William Falk, Roberto Patricio Korzeniewicz, Bart Landry, Kris Marsh, Alan Neustadtl, Julie Park, and Reeve Vanneman. Bianchi is co-author of Balancing Act: Motherhood, Marriage and Employment Among American Women and the recently published Changing Rhythms of American Family Life. Collins is author of Black Feminist Thought,and the recently published Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism. Falk has published High Tech, Low Tech, No Tech, and the recent Rooted in Place: Family and Belonging in a Southern Black Community. Landry is the author of The New Black Middle Class, Black Working Wives: Pioneers of the American Family Revolution, and Race, Gender, and Class: Theory and Methods of Analysis; Neustadtl is co-author of Money Talks, and Dollars and Votes; and Vanneman is co-author of The American Perception of Class, and Gender Inequality at Work.

 

Faculty research covers a wide array of stratification issues. A number of faculty—Collins, Falk, Landry, Marsh and Park—focus on a variety of issues relevant to race and ethnicity. These include Collins’s work on the new racism, Falk’s research on a southern black community, Landry’s work work on black working wives, Marsh’s research on the black middle class, and Park’s research on Southeast Asian immigrants in the United States. The work of a number of faculty—Bianchi, Collins, Korzeniewicz, Landry and Vanneman—explores gender inequality issues.

 

Other ongoing research includes Bianchi’s study of class differences in parental investment in children during periods of growing societal inequality; Korzeniewicz’s exploration of income inequality internationally, and of state processes in Argentina; Landry’s work on the New Economy focusing on software companies through interviews with founders and programmers in the U.S. and in Brazil, and his research on the development of a global working class; Neustadtl’s research on issues related to social networks among internet users; and Vanneman’s study of changes in the stratification system of India, and on the consequences of occupational sex segregation in the United States.

 

Academic Program

Students wishing to specialize in Stratification take one required course, Social Stratification (SOCY 661) which focuses on theories of stratification, and two electives from an approved list. Those interested in a specific aspect of stratification are encouraged to take additional relevant courses.

 

SOCY 637 Demography of the Labor Force

SOCY 661 Social Stratification

SOCY 682 Race, Gender, and Class: Theory and Research

SOCY 699X Schooling and Inequality

SOCY 699X Poverty and Welfare

SOCY 699X Income Inequality

SOCY 699X Sociology of the New Economy

SOCY 789 Advanced Special Topics in Social Stratification

 

Graduate Student Research Opportunities and Employment

Students are encouraged to present papers at meetings and to become involved in faculty research. Currently a number of students are collaborating with faculty in ongoing research projects. A wide variety of data sets are also available for student use. Students past and present have published journal articles individually and in collaboration while in the graduate program.

 

Recent graduates with training in Stratification have accepted employment at such schools as State University of New York-Stony Brook, The University of Utah, Tulane University, Union College, the University of Missouri-Columbia, and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

 

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