Achieved – something that you earned, you can control (e.g., education, occupation etc.)

Ascribed – something you are born into, and have little or no control over (e.g., race, gender, caste in India, etc.)

Horatio Alger myth – the idea that anyone, regardless of social standing, can reach the top levels of power and wealth with enough effort (hard work), and perseverance.

Ethnicity -- a socially constructed category of people who share a set of common cultural traits (e.g., language, culture, traditions, sometimes religion etc.)

Race -- a socially constructed category of people who share a set of roughly similar genetic characteristics, or gene frequencies

Role – the expected behavior of a person occupying a particular position (or having a particular status).

Social stratification (very broad) – a vertical ordering of society into groups of people that have unequal amounts of resources, life-chances, and power.

Life–chances – opportunities that people have to acquire "things" that are valued and desirable in a society.

Power – the ability to realize one’s will against the resistance of others (one of the many definitions of power)

Social class – a category of people with approximately similar incomes and occupations, who share similar lifestyles.

Social mobility – (in general) the moves of individuals or groups from one position to another. It might be horizontal or vertical.

Horizontal social mobility – the transition of an individual from one position to another situated on the same level. E.g., moving from one company to another in the same occupational status (blue-collar worker in company A --- > blue-collar worker in company B)

Vertical social mobility – the transition of an individual from one position to another, situated at a different level. It can be a move up (upwardly mobile) or a move down (downwardly mobile).

We usually speak of moves up or down taking into account factors such as occupation or education. For instance, upward occupational mobility means moving from a lower status occupation to a higher status occupation. Downward occupational mobility means moving from a high status occupation to another, situated at a lower level.