Economics of Race and Gender - Essay Example

Submitted by: XXXXXXXX Number: XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX of XXXXXXXX Submission: XX – XX – 2010 Economics of Race and Gender a. Discuss how important Diversity is in any given Society. How did this class contribute to your understanding of the economic impact of diversity? Answer: The world is made up of different people from different cultures. The cultural differences are the main aspect that makes people different and creates diversity. It is impossible to ignore diversity in the current society and diversity plays a major role in almost all societies. Firstly, it allows the people to network outside their box of self comfort and permits people from different backgrounds to build solid business alliances and also learn from the experts in various fields. Also the differences among the people and the quality of life of different people across the world can allow people to understand the facts of life and also allows people to be more sensitive and caring about the differences of people across the world and also within their own society (Bucher). Diversity can allow people to learn about the cultural differences in society and can assist people improve the overall living conditions. The class has allowed us to learn more about diversity and how to deal with the diverse cultures. This in turn is very helpful learn the economic impact of the diverse cultures. The level of globalization and the number of different cultures that are present in the society help create newer opportunities and chances for people to develop links with others and use this as a chance to improve the economic conditions. Hence the impact of diversity clearly has very strong and effective impact on the economics of any society. b. Discuss in full details the advantages and disadvantages of the Group Presentations. Remember to state your own participation. Answer: Working in groups for presentations simply assists the presentation to be improved to a great extent. Group presentations can be very useful as it brings in the individual talents and resources of different individuals of different cultures and diverse backgrounds and make a pool of talent. It also helps in covering the mistakes of one member and allows the other members to provide support to each other in times of difficulties, it also allows productivity to be increased through peer group pressure and helps encourage the members be more focused at the topic. Also since all the members work together on developing the presentation, each person has a personal attachment to the entire presentation. All members feel equally responsible for the positives as well as negatives of the presentation and there is a higher commitment from each member of the group. The main disadvantages of the group presentations is the possible conflicts among the team members and also the major issues of group presentations is the possibility of a single person hogging away all the time and credit of the presentation. Considering my own participation, I have only come across cases where the team although working together there is a sense of ‘I am the main person in the presentation’ for a number of people. This spoils the entire team work and efforts and leads the group presentation to be more of an issue rather than simple and well planned. c. Discuss the overview of the three movies presented in class. Answer: Movie: Freedom Writers: The story is about a young lady Erin Gruwell who resorted to unconventional means to break through the hardened students. The twenty three year old teacher taught at Wilson High School which consisted of a very diverse group of students’ who came from different walks of life. The class was a mixture of students of African, American, Latino, Asian origins. Each of them had several different issues and they were juvenile delinquents, some were gang members and others were underprivileged students with less than a meal a day and who came with a hope to make it through the day. The students were all in a condition where they were on a verge of being written off and the society did not have much place for people like them. The class was a diverse mix of different people from very different walks of life. The main plot of this movie is how the teacher and her hundred and fifty students used the gift of writing as a way to change the world that they live in. Erin Gruwell was determined to change the students and make them into responsible and caring individuals. Movie: Rossie the Riveter The movie has been a milestone in the history of working women. The movie has been based on the period during World War II, where the men had a dominating place in the overall employment scene. At this time the women were expected to be at home for child care and other home activities and were not given a chance to be a part of the employment world. The movie highlights how the women start performing the jobs of men and are able to do the job well. The movie brings out the difficulties and the challenges faced by the women during this period to be a part of the workforce. The story is about empowering women and giving them the motivation to meet the new challenges of the changing world. Movie: Crash The story has been set based on a simple car accident which in turn led into the complex story of races and prejudice. The story has brought out a very serious issue and has also highlighted how people react and the unruly and brutal behavior of people. The story brings out a clear view on racism and also leaves it for the viewers to review and act accordingly. The story is about 24 hours in Los Angeles, a very diverse and multicultural city. The story brings a number of people from different walks of life within Los Angeles together. The story is a combination of two philosophizing African American men, the LA District Attorney and his wife, a African American television director, and his wife, and two racist cops and also a Latino locksmith, Persian Shopkeeper and two diverse dating police detectives as well. The story brings out how when each of these people meet it leads to high levels of confrontation and also violent and outrage towards racism. The movie has brought out a very real life kind of situation and does not pose one person to be a complete flawless hero, but brings out both the positives as well as negatives of all the people. The producers and directors have been able to bring out the racism issue to a high level of tension yet within the limits. The producers have brought out the behavior of the people in a way where in one scene they are portrayed to be the worst person in world and in another scene the person will prove to be the kindest. The movie simply aims at bringing out how people are swayed and affected by the preconceptions and the presumptions. The story brings out how people tend to assume the character of people and base all their expectations from the people based on those assumptions. e. Explain the following Economic Terms: Occupational Segregation: Occupational Segregation refers to the concentration of men and women in different jobs and grades. This in a number of manners is a barrier for men and women to take part and show their potential in the markets and also leads greatly to the pay gap (The Scottish Government). Index of Segregation: Index of Segregation has been explained as the measurement of the degree of the residential segregation of individual sub groups within a large population. For instance, if a person wants to check the number of Jamaicans that are residentially segregated than Indians within London. Gender Earnings Ratio: Is the ratio that is used to calculate the amount of earning of the people of a certain area based on the gender of the population. It basically provides an insight into the pay of men vs. women, and in a number of cases the percentage of women’s earning based on men’s (Jacobsen). Labor Market Discrimination: Labor market discrimination includes a number of different aspects like the differences in wages for equally productive work by different workers. Different workers here imply race, color, sex, religion, nationality and even education. The discrimination can also include the discrimination that might be faced by employees based on the social class, union membership and also the political or religious beliefs (Economy Professor). f. It is claimed that employers are reluctant to hire women for some jobs because of their higher expected quit rates. Assuming women are more likely to quit, use human capital theory to explain what kind of jobs an employer would be especially reluctant to hire women for. Explain the reasons for the employer’s reluctance. How valid do you think such employer assumptions about women today? Answer: The human capital theory is a concept similar to the various factors of production in any business. It can also be explained as, “Its a factor of production along with certain other factors, like land, labor, and capital goods.  Land is necessary, for example, in production, as land is required in order for the business to be located somewhere to actually produce the product - though this concept has gotten a little bit gray with the dawning of internet businesses, particularly small ones that can be run from a computer anywhere, making a website, or a virtual space the land rather than anything else” (Human Capital Theory). When a company employees a person, the main expectation of the company is for the individual to be a part of the company for as long as possible. This is simply because the amount of money spent on the training and development of the employee and the overall expenses in terms of the various process based knowledge is quite high. Also companies apart from the funds also invest a whole lot of time on the person to help the individual work for the company. While considering women for a job, there are clearly a number of issues and cautions that companies take up as women have been noted to have a number of different roles that they also need to balance, i.e. the role of a mother, home maker, wife and even sister. Hence there are a number of priorities that they need to take up and manage. Hence any high profile job with a high focus on major money making for the company will not choose women. Taking into consideration the current times and the current position of women in society, it is clear that having this kind of reluctant behavior is uncalled for and it is important to note that women have been able to prove themselves as equally capable wives, mothers, daughters, sisters and most of all professionals. Hence this should be considered by the employers and there is a clear need for a more open mindedness of the employers towards women and their abilities. h. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the rising age of first marriage? Answer: The views of early marriage and late marriage are many. Different people have different views on the matter and the choices of the people are dependent on various factors. With the current trend in the business world, where people are focused on competition and spend a number of hours working towards achieving the objectives, the age of marriage has been getting pushed each year. In the earlier times the average age for men to be married ranged from 23 – 25 and for women 20 – 22. However in the current times the average age of the men getting married is 30 – 32, while women fall into 28 – 30. Late marriage has a number of advantages and disadvantages. Firstly let us look at the advantages of late marriage (Gottman and Silver). Firstly, it allows the individual to be in a more stable position before moving into a commitment. Also, it provides a chance for the individuals to ensure personal growth and improved self skills. Late marriages also allow the individuals to participate in the social events and also provide the chance to people to get enough rest and comfort without the need to worry about responsibilities of children and the commitment of a spouse. However there are a number of disadvantages to this as well, people getting married at a late age tend to have issues of child birth in a few cases. Also a very common issue for almost every person is that they live a major part of their lives alone without a partner. Hence it becomes very difficult for people to adjust and manage with another person inside the house. Also, with marriage come a number of responsibilities (Parrott). A late marriage can cause a number of issues for the individual as they have lived their lives on their own terms all their life. Late marriage can also lead to a number of issues for both men and women in terms of the reproduction and also in terms of energy. Chances of more still birth, birth with disabilities etc. are very high in the case of late child bearing for women. Delayed marriages can also involve a number of issues like ego factors, the imbalance between the income of the men and women and also a greater need for a more childless marriage as well. Hence there are a number of advantages and disadvantages of late first marriages and people need to consider their priorities as well as their frame of mind. j. Explain AFDC: AFDC – Aid to Families with Dependent Children, was a program that was administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. This was a program for the children whose families had little or no income at all. The assistance program was started in 1935 and ended in 1996 (Teles). TANF: TANF – Temporary Assistance for Needy Families was a succession to the AFDC program and this program provides assistance to the American families with dependent children in the form of cash. This again was a program administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (Teles). Earned Income Credit: The Earned Income Credit provides the low income tax payers with a chance to reduce the income tax that they pay. This is a refundable credit that is available to the low income tax payers. For instance, if the tax due is lesser than the amount of the credit then the difference is paid to the taxpayers as refunds. To be able to receive this benefit the taxpayer needs to be working, and earning less than the government’s ceiling for the filing status (Teles). Dependent Care Tax Credit: This has been defined as, ‘A tax credit available to an employed individual or an individual seeking employment who pays another individual to care for a child or dependent. If the individual seeking the credit is married, his or her spouse must also be employed or seeking employment to qualify’ (Investor Words). Child Tax Credit: Similar to the dependent care tax credit, this is a credit provided to the families with dependent child below the age of 17 at the end of each tax year. The amount of credit is also dependent on the number of children in the household and the income level of the household as well (Investor Words). k. To what extent and how did economic factors influence the following Your decision to attend College Your choice of major. Your plans to go on or not to go on to graduate work. Would you expect any of these considerations to differ between men and women, if so why? Answer: With the declining economic condition across the globe, there has been a direct impact on the decision making of a number of different aspects of life. Any large or small expense is becoming even more carefully thought out and well planned. In such a situation, considering my degree and the decision to attend college has also been impacted. I hail from a middle class family with a very simple life. The idea of attending college is impacted by the amount of money I am able to save up, working part time in different companies. I tend to work twice as hard to ensure I am able to pay for the tuition fees and be able to attend college. Also, considering the current trends in the markets and the possible future, I plan to take up a course which has a link to ecommerce. The current trend in the markets is a major focus on the ecommerce and websites. Almost every business has a website and companies without one can even fail to survive or meet competition. Hence this is one of my choices for university study. Also, in this case if I need to go for the graduate work, I will avoid taking the option as the costs involved are very high and hence it will be more difficult to be able to reach the costs involved. Also, in the current times, it is essential to concentrate on learning the basics of the concepts and try to implement them in a more economical manner. Finally, I personally feel that this would be the choice of every person irrespective of whether man or woman and this view is based a lot of the financial and economic condition of the person and their families. Works Cited Bucher, Richard D. Diversity Consciousness: Opening our Minds to People, Cultures and Opportunities. Prentice Hall, 2009. Economy Professor. Labor Market Discrimination. 2010. 2 May 2010 . Gottman, John M. and Nan Silver. The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work: A Practical Guide from the Countrys Foremost Relationship Expert. Three Rivers Press, 2000. Human Capital Theory. Human Capital Theory. 2010. 2 May 2010 . Investor Words. Child and dependent care credit. 2010. 3 May 2010 . Jacobsen, Joyce. The Economics of Gender. Wiley-Blackwell, 2007. Parrott, Les and Leslie. Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts: Seven Questions to Ask Before and After You Marry. Zondervan , 2006. Teles, Steven M. Whose Welfare: AFDC and Elite Politics. University Press of Kansas, 1998. The Scottish Government. Occupational Segregation. 2010. 30 April 2010 . Read More