The department focuses on research on social inequalities and changes in social stratification in a comparative perspective. Particular areas of interest are social and educational mobility and inequalities in access to education. The department also studies the subjective aspects of social stratification, the perception of social inequalities, and the evolution of notions about social justice. In co-operation with the Economic Sociology department, the Sociology of Education and Stratification department was involved in the preparation of the publications Zpráva o vývoji české společnosti 1989-1998 (A Report on the Development of Czech Society 1989-1998) (Academia 1998), and Ten Years of Rebuilding Capitalism. Czech Society after 1989 (Academia 1999). The work of the team up until 1999 is summarised in Nerovnost, spravedlnost, politika (Inequality, Justice, Politics),a monograph by Petr Matějů and Klára Vlachová (Sociologické nakladatelství 2000). Two monographs were published recently: (Ne)rovné šance na vzdělání: vzdělanostní nerovnosti v České republice (Unequal Chances for an Education: Educational Inequalities in the Czech Republic) by Petr Matějů and Jana Straková et al. (Praha: Academia, 2006) and České vysoké školství na křižovatce: investiční přístup k financování studia na vysoké škole v sociologické reflexi (Czech Higher Education at Crossroads: Investment Approach to the financing of Higher Education from a Sociological Reflection) by Natalie Simonová (ed.) and Petr Matějů (chair of the project) (Praha: Sociologický ústav AV ČR, 2005).
Current projects:
From Destratification to Stratification? The Development of the Social Stratification System in the Czech Republic, 1991 – 2009 (PhDr. Natalie Simonová)
Previous projects:
Economic, Social and Cultural Sources of Educational Inequality and Determinants of Life-success: the Initial Phase of a Longitudinal Study (prof. PhDr. Petr Matějů, Ph.D.),
Obstacles to the Implementation of a Cost-sharing Principle in Financing University Education (prof. PhDr. Petr Matějů, Ph.D.),
Unequal Access to Education: The Extent, Sources, Social and Economic Consequences, Policy Strategies (prof. PhDr. Petr Matějů, Ph.D.),
Educational mobility and educational inequalities in the Czech Republic from 1936 to 2004 (PhDr. Natalie Simonová)
