Labor Markets, Opportunity, and Economic Mobility: A Sociological Perspective

Description from DukeHub

Why do some people move up the economic ladder while others struggle to get ahead? This course examines how labor markets shape economic mobility and inequality. Going beyond individual skills and choices, the course explores how social relationships, institutions, and historical conditions influence who gains access to opportunities. Students will investigate how education, family background, neighborhoods, networks, race, gender, immigration, and technology shape careers and economic mobility. Through readings of classic and contemporary research and hands-on projects, students will learn how sociologists study work and inequality using evidence from surveys, experiments, and case studies.

Skills

• research methodsAI review: "hands-on projects"

AI-resilient: 1 of 5 1/5

• ✓Yes: Physical, lab or field work · "hands-on"
• No: Live work with people
• No: Judgment someone is accountable for
• No: A craft you practice with your hands or body
• No: Small, in-person format

The checks lean on Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025), which found generative AI applies least to physical work and hands-on work with people. A signal, not a promise. How the score works

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