hierarchy , *
power structure
pecking order

But their eyes are set on the very top of higher education's pecking order.

A family name alone was enough to place someone in the pecking order.

Children from schools, areas, parents low in the pecking order.

In their eyes they are at the top of any pecking order.

So you're right at the head of the pecking order?

By evening's end, the pecking order will have been stood on its head.

There was clearly a pecking order about who sat where.

To find the center of power, get close to it, and work your way up In the pecking order.

As a result, he is at the bottom of the school's social pecking order.

His answer told them clearly what the pecking order would be: mother first.