Social Inequality

4.0 credits · Undergraduate

This course surveys research on inequalities in education, income, wealth, prestige, occupation, political power, and health in the U.S. and other rich countries. How much inequality exists and why is it rising in some places? Do we live in a class society (and what does that mean)? How do families, aspirations, schools, social networks, employers, neighborhoods, and government policies shape who gets ahead and who falls behind? Why are education, jobs, and income distributed unequally by race, immigrant status, and gender? Throughout the course, we’ll discuss and evaluate evidence from administrative data, surveys, experiments, and qualitative studies.