Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
My Social Mobility
My family has experienced significant changes that have propelled us from a low social status to a higher social status. This can be attributed to the intra-generational social mobility that has experienced social mobility as we transitioned from one life experience to another. The social mobility in our family has made it possible for me as an individual to move from one social hierarchy to another. According to Macionis (2015), the ability to move from one social hierarchy to the other and the possibility of the vice-versa is the social mobility. As a young African American female, I have observed my family change for the better despite the challenges that we faced being raised by a single mother.
A significant social mobility my family has experienced is the intra-generational mobility. This is because my family has developed from a low social class level to a higher class level within our own lifetime. The intra-generational mobility is the experience of change from the lower social class level to a higher class level in the lifetime of a person (Macionis, 2015). In this regard, my family has experienced a notable growth from a low social status to a higher status that is marked with better education, affordable life and better understanding of our environment. We have grown to a social status that is based on the economic empowerment, achievements and social standings. It is important to note that I am fortunate that my siblings and my mother have lived to witness the tremendous growth in social status. This happened after the unfortunate death of my father some time back, leaving mum alone to take care of us.
Being born from a family of middle class, where my mum practiced the same position that her dad once practiced (Island District Commissioner), it is clear that their social structure remained the same. It is clear that my parents experienced horizontal mobility, meaning there was no change in their social standards that was felt either economically or socially. It was difficult to have observable social mobility. Wilkinson and Pickett (2009), argue that the level of social mobility is likely to be lower where there is a high level of inequality. It is argued that this is particularly true for families that have limitations (Macionis & Linda, 2011). In our family, the limitations included fewer family resources or opportunities that I could take advantage of to advance in life.
The social environment for our family has changed positively. We started in a society where social separations were not common to notice because most people were in the same social level. However, the environment that I live today is different because the society has different social levels. I can now observe this different because our family is on a higher social level than before. This makes me believe that we have experienced vertical mobility.
The experience of the intra-generational mobility in my life has positively affected my life and that of my family. The first main change is in the social scales is felt and the impact of that change to individuals determines the kind of social mobility. While mobility in the society can be positive or negative, there are others that have horizontal mobility (Kendall, 2015). I believe the one of our family was positive in the intra-generational way. It is important to note that the amount of time taken to experience the change from the former social class to the current one was long. For instance, it took us more than ten years for mum to generate more income that had a positive economic impact on use such as afford better education for us.
Another important impact of the intra-generational mobility in our family of mine is that it has promoted our cultural capital. Cultural capital, is the rate of one’s acclimatization’s to new customs to fit in fast and be actively involved in realizing opportunities that are available (Andersen & Taylor, 2007). Now in the university, and in a different location from home, I have realized a new culture of people. I have noticed that people are very separated by class. I really believe that with such higher population your social class is the same as your circle. The same type people, going the same places or selecting VIP to ensure they are surrounded by the same class of people.
Because of the positive change in income, me and my siblings were able to access higher education and pursue our careers. In fact, we are now attending the university together with my siblings. With this upward change in life, I hope to continue with the intra-generational social mobility in the sense that I hope to acquire more than my parents did in my lifetime. Optimism for a better social standing through utilization of all the available resources and opportunities is important to achieving the set goals and ambitions. This is an important factor in human capital that is essential in moving from one social hierarchy to a better one. I make it a true statement everyday through cultivation of important skills and knowledge that may impact one to get better opportunities.
References
Andersen, M., & Taylor, H. (2007). Sociology: Understanding a Diverse Society, Updated. London: Cengage Learning
Kendall, D. (2015). Sociology In our Times, 10th edition. Connecticut: Cengage.
Macionis, J. J. (2015). Sociology: The Basics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Macionis, J.J., & Linda, M. G. (2011). Sociology. Toronto: Pearson Canada