 Dear students, in this module we are going to talk about different patterns of social mobility. So there are different patterns of social mobility that vary across societies and across time. Structural mobility refers to the changes in social status that are the result of changes in the structure of the society, such as economic growth or political change. So when we talk about patterns of social mobility, it is very important to know that some mobility factors are embedded in the structure. The social structure of any society is so favorable to that mobility that the institutional patterns are so favorable. And especially when we look at it overall, the society creates such opportunities that make the individual accessible to the social mobility in their structure. For example, economic growth or political changes, these are major changes in the structure of any society. So the kind of economic conditions in the society will have the same possibilities of social mobility. Similarly, the political situation that your policy making is heavily dependent on your political situation. If your political policies are favorable, then the processes or patterns of social mobility are also easy for you. Then we have the exchange-based mobility which refers to the idea that social mobility is basically a zero-sum game, where one person's upward mobility comes at the expense of another person's downward mobility. It's a very interesting concept to see that one person's gain is considered potentially the loss of another person. According to this, the social positions in the society are fixed. For example, we quote that the number of chairs in the musical chair is fixed and the occupants of those chairs are always more than the number of chairs. So it is a loss for one person to access that chair potentially for another person. Similarly, the social positions are also limited in the same musical chair, and the mobility of one person is considered potentially downward mobility for another person. Then we have the status-attainment mobility which refers to the idea that social mobility is influenced by an individual's education, skills and achievement as well as by their family background and social network. So status-attainment mobility reflects that actually your mobility influences many factors. There is not one factor that is said to be a factor but multiple factors that are involved. For example, your education, the more your education is, the more chances of your mobility increases. Similarly, the life skills that you acquire, which have a huge value in the society, are also helpful in highlighting your mobility skills. Then your achievements and especially your family background and your social networking all come together to convert the process of your mobility into a status-attainment in which social mobility becomes easy for you. So again, it's a food for thought for you to see what are the possibilities of status-attainment mobility in Pakistan. Especially through education and certain or different achievements. So nowadays, because we are seeing that there are very few chances or these chances are very limited that the upward social mobility is due to the economic factor. So for this, you have to observe how our education or the learning of different life skills can become the basis of upward social mobility for us.