This concentration of graduate study focuses on the causes and consequences of social inequality, the social processes that sustain it, and how social policies can reduce it. These questions are addressed in terms of class, gender, race, ethnicity, and immigration status/citizenship.

The program is designed to train students in the sociological analysis of social inequality among individuals and groups. This training includes course work in areas such as social stratification, the sociology of the family, the sociology of education, sociology of immigration, social structure and personality, social policy, and research design and methods. Students in the PSI program enroll in a sequence of courses and seminars, and participate actively in ongoing faculty projects dealing with one or more of the above issues.

In addition, the interdisciplinary character of graduate education at Johns Hopkins offers students ample opportunity to enroll in courses or collaborate in research with faculty in other departments. Faculty associates of the program include distinguished scholars in anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science, and public health.

A graduate concentration is not required of PhD students.