Final answer:
The correct answer is option a. low status consistency.
Step-by-step explanation:
Sally's situation is best described by the concept of low status consistency. This term is used to illustrate the inconsistency across different social categories such as income, education, and occupation. Given Sally's high educational achievement, which typically correlates with a higher prestige job and salary, her average salary and low-prestige job point to low status consistency. She isn't experiencing the high status normally associated with her level of education.
The most famous examples of status consistency and inconsistency come from celebrities who have risen or fallen from one social class to another, or individuals who, like Sally, have different aspects of their socioeconomic status that do not align. Sociologists use this term to evaluate and discuss the fluidity or rigidity within a society's social stratification system. In contrast, a caste system would show high status consistency, with limited or no opportunity for altering one's social position.