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Schools
Click on each question to check your answer.
1. What is the difference between ascribed status and achieved status?
Answer: Ascribed statuses are the social statuses assigned to people or groups due to traits that they have which are beyond their control. These traits have little to do with achieved merit. Achieved statuses on the other hand have to do with social statuses achieved by the individual. Often this corresponds with educational attainment, a result of effort, ambition, and dedication.
2. What is the role of educational attainment in influencing intra-generational occupational mobility?
Answer: Intra-generational occupational mobility is any change that someone experiences in their occupational mobility throughout the duration of their life. Educational attainment plays a large role in this mobility. Certain professions emphasize educational credentials more than others. For example, medicine and law are two careers that place a heavy emphasis on education to control career entries.
3. What kinds of problems are foreign-born immigrants facing today in relation to their education?
Answer: Unemployment and underemployment are two basic issues. Their foreign educational credentials are not recognized and as a result, they are forced to work at lower levels. Six out of 10 immigrants have declared that they are not in the fields that they are qualified to work in.
4. What are the four major theories that help us understand the transition from student to the labour force?
Answer: Segmented labour market theory states the labour market is stratified and entry and upward mobility are difficult for people with only a high school education. Educational attainment puts some on a path towards certain careers while keeping others out. Human capital theory says that there is a linear relationship between education and job attainment. Signalling theory is concerned with the symbolic meanings attached to different qualifications on a person’s resume. It is also interested in how these symbolic meanings lead to certain connections that employers might make on that persons’ worth or trainability. Lastly, network theory examines the role of social networks in occupational attainment. This is especially with regards to the employees and acquaintances who can vouch for the quality of an employee.
5. What jobs make up the primary and secondary labour markets?
Answer: The primary labour market consists of jobs that offer good wages, chances to get ahead, and job security; these include careers in law, plumbing, and teaching. The less desirable secondary (marginal) labour market consists of jobs that pay low wages, offer little chance to get ahead, and promise little job security: jobs like taxi driver, secretary, or bank teller.