Chapter 3 Answers to "Test Your Knowledge" and "Questions for Critical Thought" questions

Employment Income

Click on each question to check your answer.

Test Your Knowledge

1. What is de-professionalization and why does it happen?

De-professionalization is the tendency for immigrants to secure alternate occupations that do not reflect their training and qualifications. This occurs because credentials earned overseas are often not recognized in Canada, and re-licensing may be an expensive and lengthy process.

2. Why might non-status workers be reluctant to complain about working conditions?

Non-status or undocumented workers are immigrants without the official documentation that gives them the rights and privileges of a permanent resident or Canadian citizen. By complaining, they become vulnerable to deportation.

3. What is skill obsolescence and what group does it apply to?

Skill obsolescence occurs when an individual’s skills are no longer applicable in a changing technological environment. This applies to older workers and creates difficulties when they look for employment.

4. Explain how stigma may influence rates of employment for Canadians with disabilities.

Stigma is a social fear or disapproval directed at certain populations based on the belief that certain characteristics make that population inferior. Canadians with a severe mental illness face the most stigmatization in the workplace and the highest levels of unemployment among people with disabilities.

5. What is the “common sense perspective” and how does it differ from the functional theory of stratification?

Basically, the “common sense perspective” on inequality is that people earn what they deserve to earn – working harder leads to more rewards. The functional theory of stratification, on the other hand, believes that people are incentivized to earn and keep socially valuable occupations. Socially valuable work leads to greater rewards.

6. What are the two models of fairness?

Equivalence-based equality suggests that everyone should be treated in exactly the same way. This is opposed to equity-based equality, which suggests that in order to be fair to all, those who are disadvantaged should be given more help.

7. Complete the table:

Name of Theory for Inequality	Sociologist	Main Points
Common sense perspective	Karen Anderson	Those who work harder get more rewards, in the form of greater pay and more employment opportunities, and those who don’t work as hard earn less.
Functional theory of stratification	Davis and Moore	High rewards make people study hard and work hard to attain the most socially valued occupations.
Functional theory – the ethnicity paradigm	Augie Fleras	Employment opportunities are derived entirely from individuals’ ability to conform to the Canadian work environment.
Conflict theory	Augie Fleras	Social life revolves around constant competition for valued resources like property, power, and status. Those at the top – sometimes called “the ruling class” – use whatever is at their disposal to stay there.
Conflict theory – the equity paradigm	Augie Fleras	Asks how the workplace itself is explicitly or implicitly designed to promote the interests of some workers and not others.
Symbolic interactionism	None named in this chapter	How people interpret the situations in which they find themselves – that is, how people make sense of social life – and how they act based on these interpretations.
Feminist theory	Jean Wallace	Women and men, even within the same class, may have very different experiences.

8. Fill in the blanks:
1. One government-level strategy of resistance is the ________. It aims to prevent ________.
2. One organizational-level strategy of resistance is the ________.
3. One individual-level strategy of resistance is ________.

1. Employment Equity Act; employment discrimination
2. Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia
3. Dress for Success Vancouver

Questions for Critical Thought

1. How do the theoretical perspectives presented by Karen Anderson and feminist sociologists like Jean Wallace differ? Which theory would you argue is most applicable to present-day Canada?

Karen Anderson describes a “common sense perspective” on inequality. A common sense understanding of unequal pay is the view that people earn what they deserve to earn. Those who work harder get more pay and more job opportunities, according to this view.

Sociologists like Jean Wallace see inequality through a feminist lens in that women are significantly disadvantaged when compared to their male counterparts in the workplace. Wallace found that while gender does not directly impact earnings, women are disadvantaged by many factors that play a role in increasing earnings. Women have less work experience, work shorter hours, and are more likely to have preschool-aged children. They also have less job autonomy than their male counterparts. Finally, they are also more likely than men to leave the workforce, temporarily or permanently, for childcare reasons.

By comparing and contrasting both perspectives, you should make a supported argument that draws evidence from the book to determine how Canada’s socio-economic realities fit into the theoretical frameworks.

2. Have you faced any discrimination or barrier when applying for work? Think about how your experience may have reflected interlocking disadvantages.

Here, you should draw from personal experiences in your own life and relate them to the theories mentioned in the chapter.

Example: Abdul immigrated from Lebanon to Canada and had formerly been a lawyer. Even though he had studied for many years, his degree did not qualify him to be a lawyer in Canada. Instead, he drove an Uber to pay for his expenses. After finally getting his law degree conversion, he worked for a firm for over ten years. He was never promoted, as his bosses thought he did not understand the “Canadian way of practicing law.” Would Abdul’s experience fit into Davis and Moore’s “functional theory of stratification” or challenge it? What about other theories mentioned in the chapter?

3. Consider group mobilization and individual change. Can you provide an instance in which a group has succeeded in its goal and an instance in which group mobilization had harmful effects?

Successes of group mobilization: Community organization and group mobilization can counter the discrimination the group and its individual members face in society.

Harms of group mobilization: Group mobilization carries the risk of increasing inter-group conflict without removing the underlying conditions that caused it. Pitting one group against another – women against men, racialized people against non-racialized people, etc. – creates a risk of misunderstanding and injustice.