Ignoring status ‘a major mistake,’ says Cook-Gray lecturer

How status perpetuates social inequality was the topic of the 2025 Alice Cook-Lois Gray Distinguished Lecture on Oct. 23. "Status: What Is It? Why Does It Matter for Race and Gender Inequality?" was presented by Cecilia L. Ridgeway, M.S. '69, Ph.D. '72. Ridgeway is Stanford University's Lucie Stern Professor of Social Sciences, Emerita.

To an in-person audience of over 75 people and more online, Ridgeway observed that "status is often treated as a side topic by social scientists who care about inequality." She underscored that ignoring status "is a major mistake that underestimates both the power of status as an individual motive and its central role in perpetuating durable patterns of inequality based on social differences, such as gender and race."

The lecture, which was recorded, was based on Ridgeway's book, "Status: Why Is It Everywhere? Why Does It Matter?" (2019).

Read more on the ILR website.
Tonya Engst is a writer for the ILR School.