Abstract
Some view the academic hierarchy as an essential meritocratic structure that rewards students who have greater natural abilities. Others suggest that this structure reflects specific status divisions. Using nationally representative data, this study considers the relative and independent influence of students' undergraduate achievement, social class, sex, and race on rank of graduate school they attend. Analysis of covariance techniques indicate that undergraduate achievement is the strongest predictor of rank of graduate institution attended, in all six sub-areas examined. All of the status variables also have independent effects. In several sub-areas the graduate academic hierarchy does not universally reward social class, sex, and race groups for equal levels of achievement. Other sex and race groups, with equal achievement levels, attend similarly ranked graduate institutions.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alba, R., and Lavin, D. Community colleges and tracking in higher education.Sociology of Education 1981,54 223–237.
Astin, A.Four Critical Years. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1977.
Astin, H.The Woman Doctorate in America. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1969.
Baird, L. Who goes to graduate school and how they get there. In J. Katz and R. T. Hartnet (Eds.),Scholars in the Making Cambridge, MA: Ballinger, 1976.
Berelson, B.Graduate Education in the United States. New York: McGraw Hill, 1960.
Blackburn, R. T., and Lingenfelter, P. E.Assessing Quality in Doctoral Programs: Criteria and Correlates of Excellence. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, Center for the Study of Higher Education, 1973.
Blalock, H.Social Statistics. New York: McGraw Hill, 1972.
Blau, P., and Duncan, O. D.The American Occupational Structure. New York: Wiley, 1967.
Brown, F., and Stent, M.Minorities in U.S. Institutions of Higher Education. New York: Praeger, 1977.
Carnegie Council on Policy Studies in Higher Education.Three Thousand Futures: The Next Twenty Years for Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1980.
Centra, J. College enrollment in the 1980s: projections and possibilities.Journal of Higher Education, 1980, Jan.–Feb., 18–39.
Clark, B. The “cooling-out function” in higher education.American Journal of Sociology 1960,65 569–576.
Clark, B.Educating the Expert Society. San Francisco: Chandler Publishing Company, 1962.
Clark, B. Development of the sociology of higher education.Sociology of Education 1973,46 2–14.
College-Rater, Inc. Allentown, Pa., 1967.
Collins, R.The Credential Society: An Historical Sociology of Education and Stratification. New York: Academic Press, 1979.
Crane, D. Social class origin and academic success: the influence of two stratification systems on academic careers.Sociology of Education 1969,42 1–17.
Cross, K. P. The woman student. In W. T. Furniss and P. Graham (Eds.),Women in Higher Education. Washington, D.C.: American Council on Education, 1974.
Darknell, F. Collaboration with industry in the California state colleges.Journal of College Science Teaching 1982,11 358–362.
Davis, J. A.Great Aspirations. Chicago: Aldine, 1964.
Davis, J. A.Undergraduate Career Decisions. Chicago: Aldine, 1965.
Davis, K., and Moore, W. Some principles of stratification.American Sociological Review 1945,10 242–249.
English, R., and Settle, T. Minority students in higher education.Integrated Education 1976,14 3–6.
Feldman, S.Escape From the Doll's House: Women in Graduate and Professional School Education. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974.
Fitzpatrick, B.Women's Inferior Education: An Economic Analysis. New York: Praeger, 1976.
Folger, J. K., Astin, H., and Bayer, A. E.Human Resources and Higher Education New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1970.
Gappa, J., and Uehling, B.Women in Academe: Steps to Greater Equality. Washington, D.C.: American Council on Education, 1979.
Goldstein, M. Academic careers and vocational choices of elite and non-elite students at an elite college.Sociology of Education 1974,47 491–510.
Gordon, R. A. Issues in multiple regression.American Journal of Sociology 1968,73 592–616.
The Gourman Report. Phoenix, AZ: Continuing Education Institute, 1967.
Green, P.The Pursuit of Inequality. New York: Pantheon, 1981.
Hargens, L. L. A note on standardized coefficients as structural parameters.Sociological Methods and Research 1976,5 247–256.
Harris, A. Second sex in academe.AAUP Bulletin 1970,56 283–295.
Harway, M., and Astin, H.Sex Discrimination in Career Counseling and Education. New York: Praeger, 1977.
Hearn, J. C. The relative roles of academic, ascribed and socioeconomic characteristics in college destinations.Sociology of Education 1984,57 22–30.
Husen, T. Problems of securing equal access to higher education: the dilemma between equality and excellence.Higher Education 1976,5 407–422.
Jencks, C., and Riesman, D.The Academic Revolution. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1968.
Karabel, J. Community colleges and social stratification.Harvard Educational Review 1972,42 521–562.
Karabel, J., and Astin, A. Social class, academic ability, and college “quality.”Social Forces 1975,53 381–398.
Kerlinger, F., and Pedhazur, E.Multiple Regression in Behavioral Research. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973.
Kerr, C. Higher education: paradise lost?Higher Education 1978,7 261–278.
Kim, J., and Mueller, C. W. Standardized and understandardized coefficients in causal analysis.Sociological Methods and Research 1976,4 423–438.
Kohn, M.Class and Conformity: A Study in Values. Homewood, IL: Dorsey, 1969.
Lang, D. Educational equality and the academic hierarchy: a study of social class, sex, and race stratification in graduate and professional schools in the United States. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Oregon, 1983.
Lang, D. Educational equality and the academic hierarchy. Paper presented at the 55th Annual Meetings of the Pacific Sociological Association. Seattle: April 1984.
Lang, D. Inequality and the academic hierarchy.Educational Research Quarterly, in press (a).
Lang, D. Stratification and professional education within the academic hierarchy.Journal of Research and Development in Education, in press (b).
Lang, D. Race inequality and the academic hierarchy.Integrateducation, in press (c).
Lawrence, J., and Green, K.A Question of Quality: The Higher Education Ratings Game. Washington, D.C.: Clearing House on Higher Education, American Association for Higher Education, 1980.
Lewis, M.The Culture of Inequality. New York: Meridian Books, 1979.
Lopez, R., Madrid-Barela, A., and Macias, R. F.Chicanos in Higher Education: Status and Issues. Los Angeles: Chicano Studies Center Publications, University of California, 1976.
Lipset, S. M., and Ladd, E. The changing social origins of american academics. In R. K. Merton, J. S. Coleman, and P. H. Rossi (Eds.),Quantitative and Qualitative Social Research. New York: Free Press, 1979.
Medsker, L., and Trent, J. Factors related to type of college attended. In K. Feldman (Ed.),College and Student. New York: Pergamon, 1972.
Milner, M.The Illusion of Equality. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 1972.
Parsons, T., and Platt, G. M.The American University. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973.
Pincus, F. The false promise of community colleges: class conflict and vocational education.Harvard Educational Review 1980,50 332–361.
Richer, S. Middle-class bias of schools—fact or fancy?Sociology of Education 1974,47 523–534.
Riesman, D. Education at Harvard.Change 1973,5 24–37.
Riesman, D. The future of diversity in a time of retrenchment.Higher Education 1975,4 461–482.
Roizen, J. Black students in higher education. In M. Trow (Ed.),Teachers and Students. New York: McGraw Hill, 1975.
Roizen, J., Fulton, O., and Trow, M.Technical Report: 1975 Carnegie Council National Surveys of Higher Education. Berkeley: Center for Studies in Higher Education, University of California, 1978.
Sewell, W. Inequality of opportunity for higher education.American Journal of Sociology 1971,36 793–809.
Solmon, L. Women in doctoral education: clues and puzzles regarding institutional discrimination.Research in Higher Education 1973,1 229–232.
Solmon, L.Male and Female Graduate Students: The Question of Equal Opportunity. New York: Praeger, 1976.
Spaeth, J. The allocation of college graduates to graduate and professional schools.Sociology of Education 1968,41 342–349.
Stockard, J., Schmuck, P. A., Kemper, K., Williams, P., Edson, S.K., and Smith, M. A.Sex Equity in Education. New York: Academic Press, 1980.
Templin, R. G., Jr., and Shearon, R. Curriculum tracking and social inequality in the community college.New Directions for Community Colleges 1980,8 83–91.
Trow, M. The expansion and transformation of higher education.International Review of Education 1972,18 61–82.
Trow, M.Teachers and Students: Aspects of American Higher Education. New York: McGraw Hill, 1975.
Trow, M. The implication of low growth rates for higher education.Higher Education 1976,5 377–396.
Watson, B. Through the academic gateway.Change 1979,11 24–28.
Webster, D. Advantages and disadvantages of methods of assessing quality.Change 1981,13 20–27.
West, S. S. Class origins of scientists.Sociometry 1961,24 251–269.
Wolfle, L. M. Prestige in American universities.Research in Higher Education 1983,18 455–472.
Wright, J., and Wright, S. Social class and parental values for children: a partial replication and extension of the Kohn thesis.American Sociological Review 1976,41 527–537.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lang, D. Education, stratification, and the academic hierarchy. Res High Educ 21, 329–352 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00974866
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00974866