This is an interesting comparison study on how social class, in addition to culture, religion, family background, and politics, influences our life choices. In fact, social class influences a wide range of values and ethics in an individual's behavior and thought.
Family income has a significant impact on educational outcomes. Poverty incidence, depth, duration, and timing all have an impact on a child's educational attainment, as do community characteristics and social networks. People with higher incomes have more options, which often means they have access to healthier options.
My article discusses various sociological post-industrial revolution social class groups and their educational choices.
What is a Social Class?
A social class is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories. In other words, Social class or class is the division of a society based on social and economic status. People in the same social class have the same socioeconomic status.
Social class is different from the social status as the basis of social class is the economic background of a person, while the basis of social status involves factors like family descent, honor or prestige of an occupation, and cultural position.
What is the Difference Between Social Status and Social Class?
The main difference between social status and social class is that social status is based on one’s factors like family descent, honor and prestige of an occupation, and position in society, while social class is based on socioeconomic factors.
What is Social Status?
Social status is a person’s standing in society in relation to others. It also refers to the level of honor, respect, and deference accorded to a person. Some people have a better social status than others. Social status can be ascribed or achieved. Ascribed social status is the status assigned at birth, without considering one’s abilities. Moreover, sex, age, family relationships, religion, and race are usually the basis of an ascribed relationship.
For example, we consider a person born to a poor family to have a low social status. However, some people also achieve social status through their skills, abilities, and efforts. This may be based on factors like education, job, accomplishments, and marital status. For example, if someone belongs to lower status by birth, but he gets a good education and a prestigious job, he will achieve a better social status in society.
In a society, people usually use the hierarchy of social status to allocate resources, positions of leadership and other forms of power. However, it’s always possible to change one’s social status receives acceptance from society.
Different Social Classes
Upper Class:
In modern societies, the upper class is the social class composed of people who have the highest social status, are usually the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the most political power. They are frequently culturally distinct from the newly wealthy classes that dominate public life in modern social democracies.
For example, the British Royal Family, the Saudi Royal Family, the Emirati Royal Family, the Swedish Royal Family, the Gandhi Family, and so on. This social class includes all existing monarchies and royal political class dynasties.
According to our observations, upper-class family members are generally educated in subjects such as Cultural history, Business Administration, Economics and Finance, Law & Public Policy, Politics, Philosophy, and Military Training.
Rich Class:
Today, this group includes celebrities, politicians, investors, and other wealthy individuals. Those who have held and continue to hold positions of power in society are frequently regarded as members of the wealthy class. This social class typically runs businesses or invests money in order to generate income and maintain their social standing.
The general observation is that wealthy children study more subjects that are less STEM oriented. They attend a prestigious college/university for the purpose of networking rather than studying. Language and Literature (especially English) or History are the most popular graduation subjects among wealthy children. Alternatively, the Visual and Performing Arts.
There is also the possibility that children from higher-income families were more exposed to the types of art, music, and literature that colleges consider worthy of study, which may have inspired them to pursue those subjects in college.
Economics, finance, psychology, business management, and engineering are also popular subjects among Rich children.
Upper Middle Class:
The upper middle class is a social group made up of middle-class members with higher socioeconomic status. This social class is made up of well-educated professionals with postgraduate degrees who earn a good living. The primary occupational tasks of upper-middle-class people tend to be conceptualizing, consulting, and instructing, and they are mostly white-collar jobs.
Ex. lawyers, physicians, military officers, psychologists, certified public accountants, pharmacists, optometrists, financial planners, dentists, engineers, scientists, professors, architects, urban planners, civil service executives, civilian contractors etc.
This social class group, like other middle-class groups, is very conservative in nature and only desires a stable, secure career-based lifestyle. Upper middle-class children are more likely to study Engineering, Medicine, Law, MBA, PhD, Architecture, and Chartered Accountancy, all of which are practical, high-paying fields.
They believe they can't afford to lose their social standing, so they want to remain as highly skilled and well-paid working middle-class people.
Middle Class:
Individuals and households classified as middle class typically fall between the working and upper classes in a socioeconomic hierarchy. Middle-class families are more likely to own their own home (albeit with a home loan), own a car (albeit with a loan or lease), send their children to college (albeit with student loans or scholarships), save for retirement, and have enough disposable savings to afford certain luxuries such as dining out and vacations.
Because this social group is struggling to make ends meet, they cannot afford to attend prestigious colleges or universities. They usually study practical subjects and work in an office - engineering, pharmacy, hospitality, science, accounting, and so on.
Lower Class:
They belong to or are related to a poor social group that does not have a high level of education. The working class is sometimes divided into those who are employed but lack financial security (the "working poor") and those who are long-term unemployed and/or homeless, particularly those receiving government assistance. Blue-collar workers are a term used to describe members of the working class.
Ex: Drivers, Carpenters, Electrician, Plumber, Mechanic, Boilermaker, Police officer, Firefighter, Truck driver, Construction Worker etc.
The general trend is for lower-income children to pursue vocation technician courses over others such as pharmacy technician, carpenter, chef, medical assistant, and so on. Because this social class cannot afford a university education, they prefer to attend public schools, community colleges, and polytechnics.
Most Common Degree Among Billionaires:
Look at the 100 richest billionaires according to the Forbes billionaire rankings to see what they studied and where they studied it. Billionaires such as Warren Buffett, Alice Walton, and Elon Musk have degrees in economics.
Most Common Degree Among Millionaires:
Researches at WealthInsight analyzed data on over 100,000 high net worth individuals (HNWIs) - those with assets of $1 million or more, excluding their primary home - to come up with the list of most popular degree courses.
Vocational subjects produced the most millionaires, and the more academic subjects the least. The full top 20, with the percentage of millionaires having studied that subject, are:
Source: WealthInsight/Spear’s Magazine
My Conclusion:
I believe that social class influences our life choices more than cultural, religious, or political reasons. To advance in life, we must rebel against our own social class values and beliefs and reinvent ourselves. We should not despise the wealthy simply because they are more capable than we are. Well, it's a matter of subjective opinion, and I'll leave it at that. Thank you very much for reading.
