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Introduction to social stratification in the united states Read Online
9.1 What is social stratification? Read Online
9.2 Social stratification and mobility in the united states Read Online
9.3 Global stratification and inequality Read Online
9.4 Theoretical perspectives on social stratification Read Online
Aaron grew up on a farm in rural Ohio, left home to serve in the Army, and returned a few years later to take over the family farm. He moved into the same house he had grown up in and soon married a young woman with whom he had attended high school. As they began to have children, they quickly realized that the income from the farm was no longer sufficient to meet their needs. Aaron, with little experience beyond the farm, accepted a job as a clerk at a local grocery store. It was there that his life and the lives of his wife and children were changed forever.
One of the managers at the store liked Aaron, his attitude, and his work ethic. He took Aaron under his wing and began to groom him for advancement at the store. Aaron rose through the ranks with ease. Then the manager encouraged him to take a few classes at a local college. This was the first time Aaron had seriously thought about college. Could he be successful, Aaron wondered? Could he actually be the first one in his family to earn a degree? Fortunately, his wife also believed in him and supported his decision to take his first class. Aaron asked his wife and his manager to keep his college enrollment a secret. He did not want others to know about it in case he failed.
Aaron was nervous on his first day of class. He was older than the other students, and he had never considered himself college material. Through hard work and determination, however, he did very well in the class. While he still doubted himself, he enrolled in another class. Again, he performed very well. As his doubt began to fade, he started to take more and more classes. Before he knew it, he was walking across the stage to receive a Bachelor’s degree with honors. The ceremony seemed surreal to Aaron. He couldn’t believe he had finished college, which once seemed like an impossible feat.
Shortly after graduation, Aaron was admitted into a graduate program at a well-respected university where he earned a Master’s degree. He had not only become the first from his family to attend college but also he had earned a graduate degree. Inspired by Aaron’s success, his wife enrolled at a technical college, obtained a degree in nursing, and became a registered nurse working in a local hospital’s labor and delivery department. Aaron and his wife both worked their way up the career ladder in their respective fields and became leaders in their organizations. They epitomized the American Dream—they worked hard and it paid off.
This story may sound familiar. After all, nearly one in three first-year college students is a first-generation degree candidate, and it is well documented that many are not as successful as Aaron. According to the Center for Student Opportunity, a national nonprofit, 89 percent of first-generation students will not earn an undergraduate degree within six years of starting their studies. In fact, these students “drop out of college at four times the rate of peers whose parents have postsecondary degrees” (Center for Student Opportunity quoted in Huot 2014).
Why do students with parents who have completed college tend to graduate more often than those students whose parents do not hold degrees? That question and many others will be answered as we explore social stratification.
Huot, Anne E. 2014. "A Commitment to Making College Accessible to First-Generation College Students." Huffington Post . Retrieved December 22, 2014 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-e-huot/first-generation-college-students_b_6081958.html).
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Question: One flaw in dependency theory is the unwillingness to recognize _______.
Choices:
that previously low-income nations such as China have successfully developed their economies and can no longer be classified as dependent on core nations
that previously high-income nations such as China have been economically overpowered by low-income nations entering the global marketplace
that countries such as China are growing more dependent on core nations
that countries such as China do not necessarily want to be more like core nations
Question: Mike, a college student, rents a studio apartment. He cannot afford a television and lives on cheap groceries like dried beans and ramen noodles. Since he does not have a regular job, he does not own a car. Mike is living in:
Choices:
global poverty
absolute poverty
subjective poverty
relative poverty
Question: In the past, the United States manufactured clothes. Many clothing corporations have shut down their American factories and relocated to China. This is an example of:
Choices:
conflict theory
OECD
global inequality
capital flight
Question: A sociologist who focuses on the way that multinational corporations headquartered in core nations exploit the local workers in their peripheral nation factories is using a _________ perspective to understand the global economy.
Choices:
functional
conflict theory
feminist
symbolic interactionist
Question: In an American town, a mining company owns all the stores and most of the houses. They sell goods to the workers at inflated prices, offer house rentals for twice what a mortgage would be, and make sure to always pay the workers less than needed to cover food and rent. Once the workers are in debt, they have no choice but to continue working for the company, since their skills will not transfer to a new position. This most closely resembles:
Choices:
child slavery
chattel slavery
debt slavery
servile marriage
Question: Slavery in the pre-Civil War American South most closely resembled
Choices:
chattel Slavery
debt Bondage
relative Poverty
peonage
Question: Maya is a 12-year-old girl living in Thailand. She is homeless, and often does not know where she will sleep or when she will eat. We might say that Maya lives in _________ poverty.
Choices:
subjective
absolute
relative
global
Question: A sociologist working from a symbolic interaction perspective would:
Choices:
study how inequality is created and reproduced
study how corporations can improve the lives of their low-income workers
try to understand how companies provide an advantage to high-income nations compared to low-income nations
want to interview women working in factories to understand how they manage the expectations of their supervisors, make ends meet, and support their households on a day-today basis
Question: A ____________ perspective theorist might find it particularly noteworthy that wealthy corporations improve the quality of life in peripheral nations by providing workers with jobs, pumping money into the local economy, and improving transportation infrastructure.
Choices:
functional
conflict
feminist
symbolic interactionist
Question: Faith has a full-time job and two children. She has enough money for the basics and can pay her rent each month, but she feels that, with her education and experience, her income should be enough for her family to live much better than they do. Faith is experiencing:
Choices:
global poverty
subjective poverty
absolute poverty
relative poverty
Question: France might be classified as which kind of nation?
Choices:
Global
Core
Semi-peripheral
Peripheral
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