Department of Social Change and Inequality Studies is a structural unit of the Institute of Sociology at the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences.

The origins of the Department activities can be traced back to 1977 when a division of sociology was set up at the then Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. In 1990, the Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law was reorganised into the Lithuanian Centre for Philosophical and Sociological Research. In 2002, the Lithuanian Centre for Philosophical and Sociological Research was once again reorganised into the Institute for Social Research with three sociology divisions. The Institute of Sociology as a LSRC unit has been functioning under its current name since 2010. From 1st January 2021, the Lithuanian Social Research Centre became the Institute of Sociology of the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences. Former Institute of Sociology renamed the Department of Social Change and Inequality Studies.

The main areas of scientific research of the Department of Social change and inequalities studies cover social stratification and mobility, social (in)equality, inclusion and exclusion, political sociology and processes of democratization, sociology of gender, research on well-being of older people, and identity research. Researchers of the Institute also explore the latest developments in social research methodology and practice as well as scientific research ethics.