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Contemporary Social Problems 3/29/16-3/31/16 Employment Concerns of Recent Grads  Not getting a job in area of study  Not getting a job at all – job competition  Benefits  ½ students that graduate end up with jobs that don’t require a degree  9% decrease in earning when compared to cost of living increase  Student loans  Cost of living Forced Labor/ Human Trafficking  Working because of threats or coercion or kidnapping  Not enough data  Experts say 35 million are being trafficked  75%-85% sex trafficking vs labor trafficking in U.S.  Reporting decreases because of fear of police, lack of understanding, attachment, etc  Stigma when returning home, isolation  Hard to identify victims  Men tend to be forced into labor rather than sex  Men are less likely to report Sweatshop Labor  Low pay, low benefits, long hours, poor conditions, banned unions  Most often used in garment industries but also in Ag, mining, etc  Fair trade agreements try to combat this  H2A visa – Ag visa for migrant workers for 5 years. Often bad working conditions Child Labor  Less time focused on school  Often dangerous conditions  ½ children work in unsafe conditions o Child soldiers, sex work, long hours Health and Safety  Adults that die at work – fishing, warehouse, construction, mining, transportation o BP oil spill, mining disasters  Employees are afraid to report injuries o Benefits, job security Work/Life Conflict  70% Americans report work/life conflict  More hours, lack of vacation time  Men taking on more family responsibility Alienation due to jobs – usually in low –paying jobs  From how you work  From others  Products we make  Selves Labor Unions/Workers Rights Contemporary Social Problems 3/29/16-3/31/16  Very mixed reviews on unions in society  Unions were created for employees to have collective bargaining power  Workers in unions have better benefits, higher pay, better conditions  Union laws have been weakened, harder to start Strategies for Action  Reducing unemployment o Schools and businesses are teaming up to help students o Goodwill helps unemployed with job preparation o Targeted at chronically unemployed o Job creation o International partnerships  Worker Cooperatives – employees own company Efforts to End Trafficking  Shelters  Reducing poverty  International agreement o We often don’t count underemployment in our stats. 16% are underemployed Efforts to End Sweatshop Labor  Fair trade association  Student activism  Legislation Chapter 8: Problems in Education Global Context  1 in 5 are unable to read o Women and those in poor countries are more at risk o Organizations made to help these people  Rise in college attendance. 35% have a college degree o Those with higher education have higher pay and more employment  Education premium is most often worth it  Most of education budget is spent on teacher’s salaries o U.S. teachers have more hours than most worldwide o Younger people are more likely to be educated o U.S dropped from #1 to #9 in education Sociological Theories  Functionalist – education system provides important roles for society. Problems affect other institutions o Provides instruction, socialization, sorts individuals into statuses, childcare  Conflict – examines inequalities in education. Says that education allows solidification of our social hierarchy o Poor people get less/worse education o Money distribution is unequal o Indoctrinates capitalization Contemporary Social Problems 3/29/16-3/31/16 o Education only allows 1 view of history and culture  Symbolic Interactionalist – looks at interactions in school o Student-teacher interactions – self-fulfilling prophecy o Teacher preconceptions Factors in Education  Social Class o Parental socioeconomic class affects student’s academics o Middle and upper class kids are more involved in extracurriculars o Headstart – program for lower class children, early development o District funding – promotes more inequality  Businesses aren’t near poor areas, especially innercity  Inner city has many public buildings- no tax  Schools are old and need repair  Race and Ethnicity o Schools are more segregated than before o Minorities do worse on standardized tests o Minorities also struggle with poverty o Minorities may need extra help learning/improving language skills o Testing is biased toward whites/white history o Teacher discrimination o Defacto segregation o Socioeconomic intergration  Helps remove black vs white mindset  Gender o Women in the past were mostly illiterate o Women are enrolled at a higher rate today than men o Title IX – if you take federal funding, it must be evenly split between genders o Education for women improves society Problems in the American Educational System  Lack of financial support o Larger classes, less resources  Low levels of academic achievement o U.S. ranked 9th o Mississippi is the worst in U.S., Minnesota is 1 o Global competition decreasing  High levels of dropouts o Communities with more dropouts spend more on welfare o GED programs haven’t helped – actually made it worse  Bullying o 46% have been bullied, 16% have bullied o Indirect – rumors, reputation o Direct – more physical, face to face  Crime/Violence o School shooters o More reports of violence, theft at school o Zero-tolerance policies involve police fairly often o School to prison pipeline Contemporary Social Problems 3/29/16-3/31/16  Inadequate facilities o $270 billion + to fix all schools o Worst schools are in inner cities  Can affect academic outcomes  Recruiting and retaining teachers o Low pay, long hours, behavior issues o New teachers are less effective o The higher the teacher’s pay, he more effective they are o Most effective teachers are at wealthy schools o Teaching to the test  Challenges in higher education o It’s expensive o Tenure track is decreasing – adjunct professors o Low income students have a hard time affording college o Minorities often report feeling unwelcome on campus o Junior College enrollment is increasing – less expensive, more personal, close to home Strategies for Action  Policies o Reforming no child left behind o Common core state standards o Testing and accountability  Advocacy and Grassroots movements o Parents becoming more involved  Parent trigger laws allow parents to vote to close school if it’s in the bottom 5% for a set number of years o Character education – education also focuses on ethics  Promotes democratic awareness o Virtual education  Increasing enrollment  Even classroom based often uses technology  Digital divide o Debate over school choice  School vouchers – money for one child for a particular school  Charter schools – designed to give parents more influence  Moves voucher to charter school to receive funding  Proponants say it encourages competition and improves education  Privatization of schools  Often for better education  Smaller teacher – student ratio  religion