Economics of Race and Gender - Assignment Example

Running Head: THE ECONOMICS OF RACE AND GENDER The Economics of race and gender Insert Insert Insert December 13 2010 Economics of race and gender Q2). The study of the social structure of a given society is important as it largely influences economic and political development of the society. Diverse social positions simply describe the fact that a society could comprise individuals of various ages, gender, religion, tribe, color/race, traditions, and level of education. The above diversity often negatively affects the economy especially if they are not well managed. For instance, these factors will influence employment opportunities and are often bases for discrimination. Such discriminations will start right from the recruitment of employees to the final point that is the salaries and wages received. It has been noted that some jobs are paid differently due to the diversities like gender. Some jobs would be considered masculine and thus females are locked out. The jobs that require a lot of physical energy or irregular working hours are likely to be set for men (Blau, Ferber & Winkler 203). The diversity will lead to occupational differences, which in turn influence the wage differences among the diverse groups. Level of education has an important impact on the economic access in that, in order to maximize service delivery and productivity; certain jobs have to be reserved for those with certain level of education. The education level is often misused since ‘the education is rewarded solely because it signifies higher productivity to the employer and not because of the skills it imparts’ (Blau, Ferber & Winkler 164). The culture of a community negatively influences the economic and political access. Women in some communities are not entitled to take on some jobs or assume some political roles. This has led to the establishments of policies that attempt to fight the discrimination by reserving some jobs or political seats for the women. Q3). It has been observed that some jobs are traditionally associated with a particular gender. One factor that could contribute to this is that women do not prefer jobs that need much physical efforts. For instance, women are generally attracted to office and administrative assistance jobs as well as service occupations. As Blau, Ferber and Winkler (131) explained, ‘office and administrative support jobs include clerical jobs like secretary and administrative assistant, file clerk, data entry clerk, and book-keeper as well as other support jobs like computer operator, customer service representative, and postal service clerk’. Similarly, service occupations include ‘child care workers, firefighters and police, waiters and waitresses, cosmetologists, cooks, maids, and housekeeping cleaners, and ground maintenance workers’ (Blau, Ferber & Winkler 131). On the other hand, men are likely to be found in production occupations, installation, maintenance and repair occupations, and transportation services (Blau, Ferber & Winkler 132). Discrimination based on the gender largely contributes to the difference in jobs taken by the sexes. Due to the discrimination, women, for instance, would not be allowed to hold jobs where they are charged with tough managerial responsibility on allegations of being emotionally weak. A different argument would be observed in a different setting resulting on the diversity of the jobs associated with the sexes. The culture of a particular society can also influence the nature of jobs to be associated with the different forms of gender. In some societies, it was the duty of the men to construct a dwelling place while the women would take on other light duties in the home. In such cases, all the jobs connected to construction would be set aside for the men. The exact reverse would be witnessed in a different society. The structural economic status of a country may also have influence on the nature on the types of jobs taken by the different sexes. A high demand for manufacturing workers and low demand for service workers would be experienced in one country and the reverse experienced in another country. The education system and the academic interest differ for the two genders across the countries. This in turn affects the nature of jobs taken up by the different genders. Q4) (a) (i). The factors that push one into self-employment There are a number of factors that could force an individual to seek self-employment even though he or she is qualified to take on employment. The factors comprise the difficulties encountered right from looking for the employment, execution of the duties and all that deprives the individuals some freedom. Lack of employment opportunity can lead an individual with some expertise to seek for self-employment through establishing a business, free enterprise, or freelances service to earn a living. Seeking self-employment can be also a move to create other minor employment opportunity. Thus, the need to create employment also explains why others opt for self-employment. Underemployment is a case where one does not utilize the professional skills and abilities that one possesses. Often one fill wasted if he does an elementary job while he could do a better one. For instance, a food nutritionist who has secured a job a steward in some hotel not only has the opportunity to expand his or her knowledge in the field but also creates a feeling of being underused and underpaid. Such individuals would opt establish their own hotels or food processing firms due to the job satisfaction that they lack. Poor remuneration is a common cry in many workplaces. Usually the payment rates re predetermined by the superiors in the workplace and may not be proportional to the services the employee offer to the organization. Poor working condition demoralizes the employees and largely affects their overall performance. Harassment at work by fellow employees as well as the management does not give an employee the required spirit of work. A lot of work per day and longer working hours also makes one exhausted and lose interest in the job. Finally, the inability to keep time exactly as required in a non self-employment case has led to others quitting their jobs to be self-employed. Reliance on public means of transport coupled with the traffic congestion during the rush hours may not allow one to keep time as strictly as required. (ii) The factors that pull one into self-employment Self-employment also has some benefits that attract individuals and can make one leave his or her job. One major factor that attracts people into self-employment is the range of freedom that one enjoys. Self-employed people can set their own convenient working hours depending on the nature of business or job they are engaged in. Self-employed people also enjoy the rules that they personally establish and they are not responsible to any higher authority, at least at their establishments (Blau, Ferber & Winkler 263). Besides, the remuneration obtained from self-employment is generally higher than the employed case. Often one can expand the business to the optimum and the returns will be proportional to the input. The earning potential is in this case not bounded. Better still; the self-employed individual has the ability to expand on his career since the employment project he establishes is usually of his interest. The individual has the ability to determine the success or failure of his business unlike the employed case where the success would mostly be in the hands of the higher authority. b). Pros and Cons of Non-Standard Employment Non-standard employment refers to the dispatched workers or contract based jobs as opposed to the full-time permanent and pensionable job. They are those that do not follow the traditional employment arrangements (Blau, Ferber & Winkler 260). It can also include the part time workers are occasionally sought by an organization when their skilled service is required. This type of employment has some advantages and disadvantages to the worker. One such advantage that the part-time employees enjoy is their ability to engage in other activities either to generate more income or just the daily home based activities. They can enjoy all other leisure activities. However, compared to the full-time employees, the part-time employees have fewer working hours with low rates of hourly wage. In effect, their weekly or monthly wages are relatively lower than the permanent employees. Secondly, the part-timers are not entitled to certain benefits, as do the full-time employees. Insurance cover and pension scheme are some benefits they do not enjoy. Lastly, their nature of employment is often irregular and unpredictable and in many instances, they may go for weeks or months without a job. 5). Affirmative action loses favor in the United States Affirmative action refers to a set of measures designed to fight any sort of discrimination concerning, public education, employment, and other opportunities based on gender, race, color, age, religion, and even the national origin. In the US, several affirmative action programs have been set up. These include outreach campaign, targeted recruitment, and employee support programs among others. The main purpose of affirmative action is to achieve a proportional representation of all groups of people of a given society in all the employment and other opportunities in the society. However, the step has had a lot of criticism from among many people in the US. Many states have prohibited affirmative action on allegation that it poses some socio-economic challenges While it is intended to eliminate discrimination, many people observe that some policies included in it like racial quotas governing college admissions only do the exact opposite of what is intended. For instance, Clarence Thomas, a Supreme Court justice, claims that any affirmative action based on race gives an insight on the vice of racialism and often leads to the development of such vices. He also argues that such policies would suggest that some groups of people are more special and need more attention than the others do. A similar argument was made by Thomas Sowell, a libertarian economist. He argued that the beneficiaries of the affirmative action would consider themselves special members of the society. In effect, it would lower their efforts to come out and perform to their best now that it may not be very necessary. On the other hand, since preference is given to some category of people, the less preferred are often demoralized and do not often perform their best, as it might be any good to them. They feel that they are denied a sense of merit. For instance, cases have been filed in courts by white and Hispanic firefighters claiming that they had failed promotion simply because they were not African-American. Another argument that has been put against affirmative action is that it can lead to less competent individuals to take on some jobs now that they were reserved for them. Less qualified scholars have also had access to academic programs resulting into the labour force full of partially prepared employees. This has nevertheless been disapproved by recent studies, which have indicated that the minorities that have been recruited through affirmative action have happened to perform equally well like the others (Blau, Ferber & Winkler 235). Affirmative action has also received opposition due to its inability to promote common understanding among a community. Those that are disadvantaged will not find it easy to associate with the beneficiaries whom they feel are carrying home unnecessary harvest. It thus hinders peaceful co-existence. Besides, there have been arguments that no standard methods of determining the minority groups have been put in place. This so because even among those supporting the move, much focus is on ‘whether it should take the form of sincere efforts to find and encourage fully qualified candidates from the protected group or go so far as to hire them preferentially’ (Blau, Ferber & Winkler 234). Therefore, despite their attempts to fight discrimination, affirmative action policies have been criticized by many scholars and professionals in the US. There are great controversies on the form that this procedure should take. It is thus losing fame in the US. 7). Reasons why females are eager to increase their participation in labor market Several factors have pulled the women to flood the labor force in the recent past. Firstly, there has always been a need to have gender equality among men and women. The position of the women in every society has always been considered lower than the position of men in the hierarchy. Thus, there has often been a need by the women to have steps that empower them in the society. This has prompted many women to go for the jobs that were traditionally believed to be masculine in nature. Secondly, the move tends to increase their economic and financial self-reliance. A woman who has her own source of income will enjoy the freedom of managing her own finances and this even promotes the family unity since the overall family expenditure can be cost-shared. It was observed that ‘women may value earning their own income for the financial independence it brings and to enhance their relative position in the family’ (Blau, Ferber & Winkler 94). Besides, several women have the same approach to analyzing the factors of achievements at work just as the men. As it was observed ‘an increasing number of women view career success in much the same way as their male counterparts’ (Blau, Ferber & Winkler 94). Labor participation also serves to provide an alternative returns and/or satisfaction to bearing children. Generally, the returns that a woman receives from the wages of her employment are more handsome compared to the satisfaction she drives from having more children at home. Another factor that has led to increased women participation is their change of taste and preference. For instance, Blau, Ferber and Winkler (93) observed that preference between ‘preparing a meal at home versus eating out, hiring a cleaning help or doing it oneself, and taking a child to child care versus taking care of the child oneself’ are some factors influencing the participation. Works cited Blau, Francine D., Ferber, Marianne A., and Winkler, Anne E. The Economics of women, men, and work. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 2009. 13 December 2010 from http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Economics-of-Women-Men-and-Work-The/9780136084259.page. Read More