Hello everyone,
I hope you are finding my post useful. Here's my notes on the topic Social Mobility. You may find two questions from this topic from examination point of view. So, I am sharing one long and one short question to make it easy for you all to revise and learn quickly.
Q1. Give the meaning of social mobility. Discuss the role of Education in mobilizing social mobility. (8 Marks)
Answer. Introduction
A society is constituted by the people who are dynamic (over –changing) in nature. From the primitive uncivilized form it has evolved in to modern civilized and cultured society.
The social position, status and economic conditions of people change from time to time. In many cases social status and economic standard of person changes due to hard work or lighter education or purely due to superior intellect.
Better education and better service also help in change of the socially disadvantaged groups like women and the people belonging to scheduled castes, Scheduled tribes or backward classes.
Lack of better education and will to do hard work have made rich people poor, thereby lowering the standard of living.
Such type of changes which are observed in the social status, class, economic condition and standard of life of a person are spoken of as Social Mobility.
Meaning
Social mobility is the movement of individuals, families, households, or other categories of people within or between social strata in a society. It is a change in social status relative to one's current social location within a given society.
Definitions
According to P.A. Sorokin, Social mobility means “any transition of an individual from one position to another in a constellation of social group and strata.”
According to S. Bogardus, “Social mobility is any change in social position, such as occupational changes where persons move up or down the occupational scale or relation to office whereby a follower becomes a leader, or a leap from a low economic class to a high one, or vice-versa.”
According to William Cecil Headrick, “Social mobility is the movement of persons from social group to social group.”
Analysis of Definition: In the above definitions the nature of social Mobility has been dearly explained as change in relation to occupation, income organizational membership etc. Individuals with high aspirations try to improve his social status and moves upward.
Role of Education in Mobilizing Social Mobility
Education is a very potent means of encouraging social mobility the Indian society. It has multi directional influence in promoting social mobility. Education plays such an important role in following ways:
1. Education is the need of every person because on it depend proper development of man. It is education that reveals the latent qualities and potentiates of man and enables him to understand self and the environment surrounding him.
2. Education sharpens the intellect widens the vision, helps in the wholesome and balanced development of man and above all it leads to social, economic and political development of a nation.
3. Both the streams of education i.e. formal and Non-formal play a great role in bringing about social mobility.
4. Formal education is directly and causally related to social mobility. This relationship is generally understood to be one in which formal education itself is a cause or one of the cause of vertical social mobility.
5. Education is directly related to occupational mobility and the subsequent improvement in economic status and on the other hand, kit forms and element of social change. Persons with higher education and better employment are respected more in the society.
6. It is a purpose of education to develop within the individual such motivation as will make him to work hard for the improvement of his social position.
7. Higher education helps in gaining higher income and, thus, education is an important means for upward social mobility.
8. A change in occupation is considered to be the best single indicator of social mobility. The reason for it is that occupational status is closely correlated with educational status. Income style of life and the other determinants of class status.
9. Uplifting of social status: Education helps students belonging to lower strata of the society to go up in the social scale and attar in a high social position in the society.
10. Education helps in preparing one-self employment, which is an important aspect of social uplift meant.
11. The popularity of education among women has considerably altered the social status of women. It has helped in raising their social position, status and achievement of high social prestige; which indicates upward social mobility of the women.
Conclusion: Thus,
education is a liberating force and in the present age it is also a
democratizing force, cutting across the barriers of caste and class, smoothing
out inequalities imposed by birth and other circumstances, thereby, bringing
about mobility among the people in the social structure of the society.
Q2. What are the factors affecting Social Mobility? (2 Marks)
Answer. Factors affecting social mobility are:
1. Economic Prosperity: There are three main groups; in the society known as poor, middle and rich. There are various differences in their standard of living. Therefore, every individual in the society is trying his best to earn money and to improve upon his position so as to enter into the category of rich people.
2. Structure of Society: The societies of the world can be divided into two groups closed societies and open societies. Closed societies are caste ridden (as in India) and the status of a person is determined by his being born in a particular caste. Therefore, in such a society chances of mobility are very less because such society remains within the bonds of caste and heredity.
3. Level of Aspiration and Achievement: Social mobility is directly proportional to the aspirations of the people. If, the people are more aspirants, we will find more social mobility in that society.
4. Demographic Structure: Social mobility is closely related with diffusion of population. Its size and density. Birth rate and migration of village folks towards towns and cities are closely connected to social mobility.
5. Education: Social mobility is promoted through development. Propagation and spread of education. The people who receive more and more education achieve higher and higher social status.
6. Occupational Prestige: All the occupations in the society do not get the same respect. Some professions carry higher prestige in comparison to other professions. For example. I.A.S. officers and Doctors are considered to be better than the Engineers, Lawyers and Teachers.
7. Administration: In a democratic society greater opportunities are provided for social mobility in comparison with other types of administrative societies, Democratic administration promotes social mobility to be great extent.
8. Legal and Political Factors: Many of the legal and political restrictions have been removed after independence. Untouchability has become a sin. Everyone has seen provided political equality and equality of educational opportunities etc. Any member of the society can visit temples/gurudwaras etc. By these changes in the legal and political restrictions, mobility takes place from the lower group to the higher group.
9.
Intelligence
Factor:
In the modern industrialized society. The inherited positions have become less
and less because the person occupying the hair cannot always give the same
chair to his son or daughter. Thus, there are changes in the social positions
held from one generation to another generation and, thus, making the people
mobile.
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