social class

Meaning: Social class is a group of people who occupy a similar position in a stratified society, usually measured by socioeconomic status (SES), which combines income, wealth, education, and occupation. Marx defined class by relation to the means of production: the bourgeoisie own them and the proletariat sell their labor. Weber treated class (economic position) as separate from status (prestige) and power (ability to achieve goals despite resistance). Class can change through social mobility, upward or downward, within a lifetime (intragenerational) or between parents and children (intergenerational).

On the MCAT: Passages tie class to health, education, and access to resources, with lower SES generally linked to poorer health outcomes. Questions ask you to apply Marx or Weber to a scenario, classify mobility as upward or downward and intra- or intergenerational, or recognize cultural capital (Bourdieu) and social capital as non-economic resources that help class persist across generations.

Common confusion: Class is not the same as prestige. A professor or member of the clergy may have high prestige but modest income, while someone with great wealth may have lower prestige. Also keep income (earnings over a period) separate from wealth (net assets); wealth is often distributed more unequally than income.