Sociology - Component 2 Section B

• (Weberian) Barron and Norris (1979) Ethnic Inequalities


  White men dominated the primary labour market and ethnic minorities were concentrated in the secondary labour market due to their lower cultural status. Employers tend to subscribe to racist beliefs about the unsuitability of Black and Asian people and may even practice discrimination against them, either by not employing them or denying them responsibility and promotion.
• (Weberian) Parkin on Ethnic Inequalities

  Ethnic minorities form part of a ‘negatively privileged status group’. They face a ‘concrete ceiling’ rather than a glass one. Ethnic majority use social closure to keep ethnic minorities out of positions of authority and status. Discrimination occurs within the workplace where employers favour ‘white’ sounding names.
• (Weberian) Rex and Tomlinson on Ethnic Minorities


  Ethnic minorities experience both class and status inequalities due to discrimination and prejudice they face in the workplace which leads to them experiencing poverty. Therefore, ethnic minorities are more likely to be found in the underclass but through no choice of their own. The black underclass which has been created, consists of people who feel marginalised, alienated and frustrated.
• Age inequalities - Crime

  Age crime curve - offending increases throughout teenage years and decreases throughout the life course i.e. younger people are more likely to commit crime. Children on remand made up the highest proportion of the custodial population for the first time. Children spent an average of over two weeks longer on remand than the previous year. The risk of being a victim of murder/manslaughter in 2007/08 was highest for men ages 16-20.
• Age inequalities - Family

  Grundy and Henrietta - Sandwich generation

  Pivot generation and dual burden

  On average, 1.2 million and 2.6 million women in England and Wales provided unpaid care to relatives and neighbourhoods (ONS). 20% of women aged 60-64 and 3% of women aged 85 and over provided informal care (ONS).
• Understanding social inequalities - Gender

  Leaky pipeline: this is the phrase commonly used to describe the progressive loss of capable individuals from academic careers in science.

  Motherhood penalty: the price women pay for growing their families while they’re in the workforce.

  Horizontal segregation: under or over representation of women and men in certain occupations or industries.

  Vertical segregation: the situation where people do not get jobs above a particular rank in organisations because of their race, age or sex.
• Human Capital Theory

  Related to the idea that men and women serve different roles and purposes in society. The pay gap is justified because its the fact that men have more human capital than women because of their greater focus on the labour market. Women are less committed to paid work and are more likely to take career breaks or opt for part-time work to continue to care for a family.
• (New Right) Murray on Gender

  Murray sees the nuclear family of two parents and their children as the ‘proper’ and best family type. He believes lone parent families are an inadequate family form and the cause of most of society’s problems. Boys brought up without a male role model in the family will not see fatherly behaviour to aspire to and will not understand the role of a man in society.
• (New right) Murdock on Gender

  Murdock studied gender roles in the family in over 200 societies. Women were located in the home because of their biological function of bearing children and because their physique meant they were less able than men to perform strenuous tasks. Men’s natural physical abilities means they are better suited to the workplace and being a breadwinner.
• (New Right) Schlafly on Gender

  Phyllis Shlafly held the position that men and women are fundamentally different and was opposed to the Equal Rights Amendment, which argued for equal treatment for men and women from employment to home. Marriage can be difficult but she sees it as the most fulfilling role for women. A female role should be that of a wife, mother and homemaker rather than career woman. She objected to the idea that women are discriminated against in the workplace.
• Weber argued that a set of religious ideas were responsible for the emergence of capitalism in Northern Europe in the 16th-17th century. Protestant ethic refers to individuals valuing hard work and doing so in the name of ‘God’ or doing ‘God’s work’. A process of secularisation and disenchantment occured where people were enlightened by science, logic and reason, believing less in Religion. People’s work ethic shifted from working for God to working for money. Capitalism emerged because of the protestant work ethic.
• (Weberian) Barron and Norris on Gender

  ‘Dual Labour’ market theory focuses on gender inequalities in employment. There are 2 types of labour market:

  • Primary Labour Market: high pay, high status, job security, good working conditions
  • Secondary Labour Market: lower paid job, less security, inferior working conditions

  Vertical segregation: mens’ domination of the highest ranking jobs in both traditionally male and female occupations. The concepts of ‘glass ceiling’, ‘concrete ceiling’ and ‘glass elevator’ are also relevant here.
• (Weberian) Electoral Commission

  There is a ’political activism gap’ by gender e.g. women are less likely than men to be involved in politics. They identified the following explanations:

  • Those in paid employment are more likely to be politically active and be a member of trade unions.
  • Women have lower confidence that they can influence the political process and are less likely to trust political institution.
  • Married men are significantly more likely to participate in politics than married women.
• (Weberian) Equal Opportunity Commission

  • Family obligations: mother is more likely to take part time work and look after kids while her husband progresses in the career ladder.
  • Discrimination by employers: pregnant women are more likely to be turned away from jobs.
• (Functionalism) Parsons on Gender

  Class conflict is endemic in our modern industrial type of society. Social inequality and difference are functional and inevitable features of social systems. Social systems need to be hierarchal to accomplish order and ranking, both key elements of maintaining a healthy functional society. Division of labour requires discipline and authority. Stratification is based on respect and prestige, not possessions.
• (Functionalism) Human Capital

  The pay gap is justified because it reflects the fact that men have more ‘human capital’ than women because of their greater focus on the labour market. Many women choose to prioritise their role as homemaker, fitting with their ‘maternal instincts’
• (Feminism) Oakley on Gender

  Oakley outlines that females face inequality due to the patriarchy via the theory of canalisation, which is a process where boys and girls are given different toys seen as acceptable for their gender, and where manipulation occurs expecting different behaviours from boys and girls growing up. This leads to gender role allocation and different expectations of the kind of roles and jobs women should have in the future. Manipulation, canalisation, different activities, verbal appellations.
• (Feminism) Pringle on Gender

  The work of female secretaries is largely governed by patriarchal images of the job. It is difficult for female secretaries to be taken seriously or to have their work valued because of those images. Secretaries are ‘represented almost exclusively in familial or sexual terms as wives, mothers, spinster aunts and mistresses’ and their role was merely seen as an extension of their bosses.
• (New right) Murray on Social Class

  Underclass was formed from lone parent families being dependent on the welfare state who are not socialising their children adequately. The underclass have created a ‘dependency culture’ a new class of lazy, working illegitimates where they depends on the benefits system. This is the reason for deviant behaviour and children from the underclass commit crimes and do not value education.
• (New Right) Saunders on Social Class


  Cognitive ability is to some degree passed on in genes. The fact that more than half the top positions are filled by people who attended private school doesn’t mean the system must be unfair. It simply tells us half the top people were probably born to successful parents, who could afford to privately educate their kids. Inequality is desirable and functional to motivate people to work hard. This allows for economic growth and therefore failed the standards of living for everyone.