Toward an Examination of Stratification in Organizations

December 1977, volume 22 Research on stratification has tended to focus on the relationship between socioeconomic and educational inputs and achieved status. As Stinchcombe (1965) noted, however, status is in large measure a consequence of the position achieved in an organization. Consequently, the study of stratification is extended to the examination of the determinants of salary in work organizations. In a study of graduates from one school of business, it was found that the effect of socioeconomic origins on salary was greater in (a) staff rather than in line positions, (b) in smaller organizations, and (c) in organizations operating in finance, insurance, banking, or real estate, as opposed to manufacturing. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the use of ascriptive characteristics will increase to the extent performance is difficult to evaluate or to the extent linkage in a high socioeconomic status network is itself an important determinant of performan ce.