SOCI 300; REVIEW QUESTIONS SOCIAL PROBLEMS - EXAM 3(* Possible Essays,all worked out)

Document Content and Description Below

Gender Inequalities 1. How does the concept of gender differ from the concept of sex? (L) 2. What is sexism? What are the global consequences of sexism? What are the consequences of sexism in the U... nited States? How does the gender gap in the U.S. compare to that in other countries? (L) Sexism: • Belief that one sex is superior to the other sex as a result of innate differences o Prejudice  Negative, irrational stereotypes used to prejudge females or males o Discrimination  Treating a person differently because of their gender Global Consequences of Sexism: • Female infanticide o 60 million “missing” female babies • Rape o 1 in 3 females worldwide has been forced to have sex • Sex Slaves o 2 million females forced into sex trade each year • Genital mutilation • Restricted gender roles • Political discrimination o In many countries, females have no right to vote. • Females perform 2/3 of the world’s work but… o Earn 1/10 of the world’s income o Own less than 1% of the world’s property • Lack of education o 2/3 of the world’s women are illiterate Consequences of Sexism in the US: • 1 in 5 females will be raped • Spousal abuse o Females are 6X more likely to be battered • Political representation o In the US, females are disproportionately underrepresented in political offices o US Political Positions  Females 52% of population  Females elected in 2010 • 33% in Senate • 16% in House • 12% woman governors The US is not in the top 10 in terms of gender gap rating. • We are number 17. • We are very low in female economic opportunity. 3. How do the income earnings of full-time employed females compare with those of full-time employed males according to the data reported in class? What accounts for this disparity in income earnings? In answering the latter question, give the explanations of human capital theory, including differences in education and other assets, sex-typed occupations, the devaluation theory, employer discrimination, including the glass ceiling, and differential visibility (discussed in your reading). What are the problems with human capital theory? (L,R) • Full time employed females earned 77% of full time employed male earnings in 2009. • What accounts for this disparity? o Human Capital Theory  Women view fewer assets to the job  US Educational Attainment (2008) • Females were more likely to graduate HS • Females slightly less likely to graduate college o Since 1980, women more likely to earn degree  Degrees Earned 2008 • Females earned more… o Associate o Bachelor o Masters o Doctorates • Males earned more… o Professional • 2009 College Enrollment o More females enrolled in…  Undergrad programs (57%)  Graduate programs (59%) o Problem:  Females earn less than males for the same amount of education  Other Assets: • Females have less work experience. Why? o Less seniority  Females more likely to interrupt careers and to promote husband’s career  BUT…  After age 40, females are less likely to quit than males o Females choose to accommodate their family  Work fewer hours  Chose jobs that offer good hours that fit children’s schedule  Choose jobs closer to home  Choose jobs that do not require travel • Sex Typed Jobs o “Pink Collar Ghetto”  Most females employed in: • Predominately female occupations • Nurturing occupations o Devaluation Hypothesis  Nurturing fields are devalued (pay less)  ↑  Belief that anyone can do the job  Belief that these jobs are not as important o Discrimination  Overt discrimination • Not receiving a job, promotion, or pay raise because of gender o Glass-Ceiling  Females are less likely to be promoted to high power positions  ↑ • Males are likely to be in positions to promote • Male bosses view females less capable of high power positions • Females socialized to be less assertive • Females often satisfied to be in medium-level power positions o Differential Visibility  Members of numerical minorities are more conspicuously visible (ex: Fs in M occupation) • Are always center stage • More likely to fail because: o “Boundary heightening” by majority (Ms)  Exaggerate masculine characteristics to make females feel different  ↓ o Isolates females  Less informal networking for information and help o Prejudged based on performance of previous females  Members that make up less than 50% of a workplace possess a risk because they stand out.  The risk exists because minorities are conspicuously visible.  One of the problems with being a minority member is that people judge the performance of your entire group on your personal performance.  When minority managers fail as a result of an inability to avoid visibility or the heightening of boundaries by members of the network, their failure becomes part of a corporate myth.  Sometimes a minority will succeed, then that group will be acceptable hires again.  Female propositions are more likely to occur when there is a limited minority of female supervisors.  Differential visibility is an appealing theory. However, it cannot be a general explanation of low female occupational status. Human capital theory has attempted to explain women’s concentration in low status positions in terms of female domestic obligations preventing them from obtaining the skills they need for superior jobs. The synthetic turnover model would explain this phenomenon in terms of the need to encourage turnover in settings where long job tenures raise costs for management. Differential visibility theory explains status segregation in terms of organizational pressures on minorities; these pressures impede objective performance and make minorities less objectively qualified for promotion. Employee discrimination models explain women’s concentration in low status positions in terms of the superior capacity of male skilled workers to use worker power to exclude women. Human capital theory is extremely problematic in this regard. The other three theories make some contribution and they also apply to specific times and places. Overall, however, employee discrimination is the most universally observed phenomenon and probably the most important contributor to maintaining gendered status differentials. The human capital theory argues that workers are more productive if they have received training. The productivity-enhancing powers of skills induce economists to refer to them as “human capital”. “Capital” is anything that increases the yield produced by labor power, and the “human” means that skills are located within people and not out in some storage shed. Problems with the human capital theory: Human capital theory argues that the world consists of two types of workers: low-turnover men and high-turnover women. Jobs are divided into male and female based on this. But in actuality, turnover does not divide the labor force into two sets of workers, one male and one female. It divides them into two different pools, younger women in prime reproductive age, and others, meaning men and women past the age of childbearing. The primary reason that women supposedly drop out of the labor force is to care for children at home. This is not relevant for a 55 year old woman. Men have higher quit rates than women. Women are more loyal than men. Another problem with human capital theory is that it assumes that firms obsess about the costs associated with the loss of firm-specific capital. No company ever wants to get rid of skilled workers because of the presumably prohibitive expenses associated with training a replacement. Empirically, human capital theory has not done well when tested as an explanation for occupational sex-typing or gender differences in job holding. The standard test for a human capital explanation of anything is to assess whether that phenomenon can be explained by differentials in education and experience. Human capital theorists argue, frequently with justification, that skills come from schooling and from experience on the job. Sophisticated tests differentiate between experience in the current firm and experience in other firms in the labor market. *4. POSSIBLE ESSAY: What was the evidence and legal argument of Ms. Evan’s complaint of discrimination in your article about the glass ceiling? What would be her employer’s position? What are Ms. Evans options for legal recourse? (R) 5. Why do women have less wealth than men? Why is it important for wo [Show More]

Last updated: 2 years ago

Preview 1 out of 34 pages