Causes and Consequences of Higher Edueation: Models of the Status Attainment Process

TLDR: The role of education in social stratification systems was first spelled out in some detail by the late Pitirim A. Sorokin in his classic book, published in 1927, Social Mobility as mentioned in this paper.

Abstract: OCIOLOGISTS' interest in education dates back to the earliest days of the discipline. Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Lester F. Ward, Emile Durkheim, Charles H. Cooley, Edward A. Ross-to mention only a few-were writing on the sociological aspects of education more than a half century ago. Although their interests were more in education as a basic institution for melioration and for passing on the social and cultural heritage from generation to generation, they were not unaware of some of the consequences of educational attainment for the individual and for society. The role of education in social stratification systems, however, was first spelled out in some detail by the late Pitirim A. Sorokin in his classic book, published in 1927, Social Mobility [33]. Sorokin correctly saw the school to be a major channel of vertical circulation and emphasized the extent to which the school served as a mechanism of social testing, selection, and distribution of individuals within different social strata, thus determining the properties of the different social classes. Much later, Talcott Parsons [18] elaborated on Sorokin's theme in his well-known article, "The School Class as a Social System: Some of Its Functions in American Society." Parsons stressed not only the selection and allocation functions of the