Checking date: 19/05/2024


Course: 2024/2025

Social Stratification II
(19312)
Master in Social Sciences (Plan: 481 - Estudio: 325)
EPC


Coordinating teacher: TORRE FERNANDEZ, MARGARITA

Department assigned to the subject: Social Sciences Department

Type: Electives
ECTS Credits: 6.0 ECTS

Course:
Semester:




Objectives
Knowledge: K-1. Advanced knowledge and understanding of the processes of economic, social, and political change, as well as the structures that make up societies (markets, families, institutions) from an analytical, methodological, and empirical perspective. K-4. Knowledge of comparative analysis and historical analysis applied in major scientific contributions in Social Sciences. K-5. Knowledge of the internal logic of a scientific publication, examining the clarity of exposition, as well as the consistency between theory, analytical strategy, indicators, results, and conclusions. K-12. Advanced knowledge of the foundations of sociological analysis and the determinants of socioeconomic achievements based on the relationship between theory and methodological developments. Skills: S-1. Ability to synthesize the main theories and empirical contributions in one or more contemporary debates from an interdisciplinary perspective. S-4. Ability to select and apply the method of comparison or historical analysis for the study of a political, economic, or social phenomenon. S-5. Skill in organizing and expressing ideas clearly and unambiguously, and in supporting theoretical arguments on a topic through a critical analysis of the literature. S-12. Mastery of macro, meso, and micro factors in the formation and reproduction of social inequalities. Competencies: C-1. Ability to apply knowledge about existing theoretical and empirical debates in an original development of one's own ideas in a context of academic or applied research. C-4. Ability to select cases and apply the comparative method and/or historical analysis when providing an empirical response to a research question within the framework of applied or academic research. C-5. Ability to identify the strengths and weaknesses of scientific publications in an area of study and to justify the advancement in the knowledge frontier that is intended to be achieved in the research project. C-12. Ability to apply theoretical knowledge and methodological advances on the subject in the development of a research paper in the area of Sociology.
Skills and learning outcomes
Description of contents: programme
-Ethical and normative dimensions of (un)equal opportunities and mobility -The economic approach to the study of social mobility: Differences and similarities with the sociological approach -New advances in the study of intergenerational transmission of capabilities from an interdiciplinary perspective -Mechanisms of transmission of cognitive skills and advantageous personality traits -New perspectives in the study of social mobility -The equalising role of schools -Compensatory advantage as a mechanism of educational inequality -The equalising role of institutions: Welfare States and Stratification -Personality traits, self-control, achievement and inequality: The role of non-cognitive capacities in inequality -New evidence on parental investments -New advances in socio-genomics and the "nature versus nurture" debate -Conclusions
Learning activities and methodology
Training activities: AF1 - Theoretical class AF3 - Theoretical-practical class: learning theoretical content on mathematics, statistics, and causal inference. AF5 - Tutoring: the possibility of establishing weekly meetings with the professor teaching the course. AF6 - Individual student work. Teaching Methodologies: MD1 - Lectures in class by the professor with the support of computer and audiovisual media, in which the main concepts of the subject are developed. MD2 - Critical reading of texts recommended by the subject professor: press articles, reports, manuals, and/or academic articles. MD4 - Presentation and discussion in class, under the moderation of the professor, on topics related to the content of the subject, as well as practical cases. MD5 - Preparation of papers and reports individually or in groups.
Assessment System
  • % end-of-term-examination 40
  • % of continuous assessment (assigments, laboratory, practicals...) 60

Calendar of Continuous assessment


Basic Bibliography
  • Anger, S., & Schnitzlein, D. . "Cognitive skills, non-cognitive skills, and family background: Evidence from sibling correlations.¿ . Journal of Population Economics, 30(2), 591¿620. . 2017.
  • Bernardi, F. . "Compensatory advantage as a mechanism of educational inequality: A regression discontinuity based on month of birth." . Sociology of Education, 87: 74¿88. . 2014.
  • Blanden, Jo. . "Cross¿country rankings in intergenerational mobility: a comparison of approaches from economics and sociology." . Journal of Economic Surveys, 27(1), 38-73. . 2013.
  • Borghans, L., Golsteyn, B. H., Heckman, J. J., & Humphries, J. E. . What grades and achievement tests measure. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(47), 13354-13359. . 2016.
  • Bowles, S. & Gintis, H. . ¿The Inheritance of Inequality.¿ . Journal of Economic Perspectives, 16, 3¿30. . 2002.
  • Brand, J.E. & Xie, Y. . ¿Who Benefits Most from College? Evidence for Negative Selection in Heterogeneous Economic Returns to Higher Education.¿ . American Sociological Review 75(2): 273¿302. . 2010.
  • Branigan, A. R., McCallum, K. J., & Freese, J. . ¿Variation in the heritability of educational attainment: An international meta-analysis.¿ . Social Forces, 92(1), 109¿140. . 2013.
  • Conley, D., Domingue, B. W., Cesarini, D., Dawes, C., Rietveld, C. A., & Boardman, J. D. . Is the effect of parental education on offspring biased or moderated by genotype?, . Sociological Science, 2, 82. . 2015.
  • DiPrete, T. A. . ¿Life course risks, mobility regimes, and mobility consequences: A comparison of Sweden, Germany, and the United States.¿ . American Journal of Sociology, 108(2), 267¿309. . 2002.
  • Downey, Douglas B., Paul T. von Hippel & Beckett A. Broh. . ¿Are Schools the Great Equalizer? Cognitive Inequality during the Summer Months and the School Year.¿ . American Sociological Review 69: 613¿635. . 2004.
  • Esping-Andersen, G. . Welfare regimes and social stratification. . Journal of European Social Policy, 25(1), 124¿134. . 2015.
  • Hout, M. & DiPrete, T. . ¿What we have learned: RC28's contributions to knowledge about social stratification.¿ . Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 24(1), 1-20. 0¿165. . 2006.
  • Hsin, A., & Xie, Y. . ¿Life-course changes in the mediation of cognitive and non-cognitive skills for parental effects on children¿s academic achievement.¿ . Social Science Research, 63, 15. . 2017.
  • Liu, A. . Can non-cognitive skills compensate for background disadvantage? ¿ the moderation of non-cognitive skills on family socioeconomic status and achievement during early childhood and early adolescence. . Social Science Research, 83(April), 102306. . 2019.
  • Roberts, B. W., Kuncel, N. R., Shiner, R., Caspi, A., & Goldberg, L. R. . The Power of Personality: The Comparative Validity of Personality Traits, Socioeconomic Status, and Cognitive Ability for Predicting Important Life Outcomes. . Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2(4), 313¿345. . 2007.
  • Roemer, J. E. . ¿Equality of Opportunity¿, in Arrow, K. J., Bowles, S. and Durlauf, S. N. (Eds.) Meritocracy and Economic Inequality, . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp. 17¿32. . 2000.
  • Schneider, D., Hastings, O. P. & LaBriola, J. . "Income Inequality and Class Divides in Parental Investments." . American Sociological Review, 83: 475¿507. . 2018.
  • Swift, A. . Would Perfect Mobility Be Perfect? . European Sociological Review, 20, 1¿11. . 2004.
  • Watts, T. W., Duncan, G. J. & Quan, H. . "Revisiting the Marshmallow Test: A Conceptual Replication Investigating Links Between Early Delay of Gratification and Later Outcomes." . Psychological Science: 0956797618761661. . 2018.

The course syllabus may change due academic events or other reasons.