How Education Effects the Annual Earnings of Different Minority Groups - Research Paper Example

? Inequality and Education INTRODUCTION While the 21st century claims to be an era of equal rights and progressive behavior for all nations and for all aspects of life, unfortunately this is far from the truth. While many organizations and societies are trying to create equal opportunities for people in the fields of employment, social status, and general treatment in society, many groups are still being heavily discriminated against in many vital aspects. Unfortunately, society has prejudices and provides unfair and unequal treatment to people on the basis of many factors which may include gender, age, social status, nationality, geographic region, etc;. While there are many areas in which discrimination exists, one of the most important elements in which discrimination is widely prevalent is education (Linn, pg 790-792). Education is one of the most vital factors aiding a progressive world today and enables a person to evolve from a barbarian to a civilized human being. Education provides a person with insight, personality, and a perspective to analyze the world. Moreover, it is the key criterion which can guarantee a person a living in this world as the person will be skilled, informed, and polished to the extent of being beneficial to society (Sandefur, pg 200-203). However, even though many people would love to get an education, education is not equally provided to all. In many societies, women are discriminated against when it comes to opportunities for education. Higher education like colleges and universities are not available for women and they are prevented from getting specialized degrees. This occurs because of a bias prevalent in society, which states that education is not as essential for women as it is for men. Some societies even prohibit women from getting any education at all as they believe that a woman should be more accustomed to household chores and is not fit for an external environment. Such prejudices exist in primitive areas which may be abiding by strict religious rules or may have a lack of resources. Lack of resources is also another reason why some groups such as women are prevented from acquiring a standard education. Since some societies are less developed and have fewer resources or opportunities for exposure to education, they prefer that the male child acquire education relative to or at the expense of the female child. This occurs because they feel that the male has the responsibility of earning, hence his education will be more beneficial and is more essential to the education of the female in a society/household with limited resources Jacobs, pg.155). LITERATURE REVIEW There are several other groups who receive unequal educational opportunities because of various reasons. Some groups are minorities whom are not facilitated with adequate schooling facilities in their country of origin or residence. Moreover, some countries lack proper educational exposure as they are not properly developed and government focus is not upon providing everyone with equal educational opportunities. Such countries include many Asian countries, Africa, and other nations Hills & Stewart, pg 107). Hence, more affluent or resourceful students travel to places such as Europe, USA, and Australia to acquire a proper higher education. This is because education provided in these countries is not adequate or appropriate according to required international standards. Hence, students must opt for opportunities elsewhere. However, in other countries they are required to pay very high tuition fees while local students have to pay a very low rate or are completely free. There are several consequences to unequal educational opportunities to minorities and other people prevalent in a country or in the world, which include unfair, biased, and unequal job opportunities and pay rates for the same job compared to graduates from more affluent parts of the world. Educational inequality then further increases to other aspects throughout the afflicted person’s life (Sandefur, pg 202-203). Few other experts (Frizzell, pg 75-76) have indicated that people who have received unequal education opportunities throughout their life suffer from unequal pay benefits. This discrimination exists between genders, minorities, immigrants, disabled people, and on the basis of sexual orientation amongst many other factors. There are several income disparities occurring in different nations upon the basis of several factors and in areas such as the USA, the income disparity rates tend to be quite high (Ogbu, pg. 271). This may suggest that minority groups are being discriminated against because they are not familiar with the local language, do not have proper educational backgrounds, are less skilled, or for some other purposes or reasons. However, the income disparity rate in annual earnings is fluctuating at high angles and is ever increasing to show a gap of thousands of dollars in the US (Ogbu, pg. 275). Besides, there are several other theories and studies (Ogbu, pg. 290) attempting to explain this phenomenon and outline the reasons for the disparity. One theory outlines that these disparities exist because there are varying trends of education amongst different groups of people. For example, in the United States about 31% of Black people graduate from high school or attend high school at all. Hence, they have a lower educational level and a lower tendency to graduate from high school, which makes them less eligible for highly paid jobs (Ogbu, pg. 276-281). Moreover, income inequality and education may also be based upon the fact that the person does not understand or conform to local educational standards. He/she may not understand or speak the local language fluently and may not be technically equipped to local processes. Local processes can be in the form of use of local technical equipment or accounting standards, software, and other forms of knowledge that are not common to all cultures (Frizzell, pg 100). In the area of technical expertise, it is difficult to ensure that people belonging to all origins are familiar with the same types of processes, software, and equipment. Different countries have different educational and training backgrounds; hence, for example an Indian woman may not be as familiar with the use of computers as they were not common in her country when she was a child. On the other hand, an American woman may be very good with the use of computers as she was familiar with this technology and it was easily accessible to her while she was in grade school. Hence, different people belonging to different origins have varying capabilities and strengths. However, certain skilled jobs in certain countries require a minimal level of understanding of technology and computer equipment. In such circumstances, people who have received less educational training in such areas suffer immensely (Tienda, pg 146-150). In addition, sometimes unequal opportunities for higher and specialized education do not exist in one place for certain people such as in Canada. Canada is experiencing high income discrepancy because of discrimination factors that are not making higher education available to all people equally. Such factors include social status, family income, family attitudes, and other things which prevent a person from attaining all opportunities available for higher education. Hence, when it comes to annual earnings, such people earn a considerable amount less than those that have invested thousands of dollars into their education (Frizzell, pg. 121). Unequal Opportunities Based on Social Status: Many people all over the world do not receive a satisfactory level of education because they lack the funds to support their education. Moreover, only the rich and people belonging to a certain strata in society are given the opportunity to attend certain types of quality education institutes. This particular group formation of the rich and elite class which can afford prestigious universities and colleges prevents people from lower strata of society from benefiting from equal opportunities of attending the same type of institutions and receiving the same level of education and training. Hence, there is a massive difference in the annual earnings of people receiving an elite education and people graduating from normal public institutes (Li, Devine, & Heath, pg. 4). This inequality exists to a larger and higher extent in underdeveloped and developing countries where education comes at a price and is not available to people free of cost. Countries such as the USA may have less income disparity because of social status than people in developing countries such as India, Pakistan, China, and other countries. This is because the USA maintains a certified basic level of education that is provided free of cost to all. Besides, the grant of student loans makes higher education more easily accessible and available to Americans rather than people belonging to poorer Asian countries who have to rely upon self-funding at very high rates to fund their education. Otherwise, they are deprived of such educational opportunities (Lin, pg.790). Hence, social status is a major hindrance to equal educational opportunities for all thus creating major differences in annual earnings and forever prohibiting the person belonging to the lower strata to take his/her appropriate place in society. Unequal Opportunities Due to Sexual Orientation: Although there may not be a defined discrimination against people of a different sexual orientation from attaining equal educational opportunities compared to those who are of a straight sexual orientation, but discrimination may exist in the job market (Almquist, pg. 405-407). Additionally, while in institutes such people are the target of bullying and very low tolerance is expressed towards them which may lead many of them to drop out of school or college. Since they do not receive equal educational opportunities, they have a high discrepancy in annual earnings compared to people who have a straight sexual orientation (Li, pg 2). Unequal Opportunities Due to Gender Discrimination: A very common factor of discrimination and group formation that affects educational opportunities is gender bias. While the saying goes, “It’s a man’s world”, statistics also show that in most nations of the world men receive more opportunities for a higher education and better quality education than women do (Jacobs, pg. 160-161). This is because in some countries higher educational institutes reserve a certain amount of seats allotted to each gender. Usually the seats available for men are more than those available for women. This exists because of societal perceptions, biases, religious views, and lack of resources. However, because of this and because of other gender biased reasons there is a strong discrepancy in income levels between men and women at the same educational level in progressive countries such as the United States ( Sewell, pg 795-797). Hence, women who were doctors in the USA made less money than men in the same position. This discrimination does not only exist in educational opportunities but extends to people having the same educational background and working in the same context (Tienda, pg 150-151). Unequal Opportunities Based on Ethic Discrimination: There are many instances of unequal educational opportunities based on ethnic discrimination as different ethnic groups have different educational trends. This may be because of their financial status, resources available in their country of origin, employment opportunities, and other factors (Sandefur, pg.201-207). In progressive countries such as the United States, there is mainly discrimination between Hispanics, Blacks, and in some cases Asians as well (Smelser &Wilson, pg.46). Black or African American discrimination is the most prominent and prevalent because the Blacks have a history of being associated with slavery and they are not regarded as well-behaved individuals in the United States. Since they do not receive equal job opportunities, most of them also do not bother to acquire a professional education. Hence, there is a large discrepancy between their annual earnings and the earnings of a white male (Ogbu, pg 75-79). Unequal Opportunities Based On Other Factors: Other factors affecting educational opportunities and annual income discrepancies may include language barriers, technical expertise, religion, disability, and medical concerns. These factors also cause group formations and are a heavy basis for discrimination but may not be as common as those mentioned above. DATA ANALYSIS Data collection is one of the most essential and imperative phases of any research, as it determines the quality of outcome of the whole research. For this reason, during completion of this paper, the major focus was on acquisition of data from quality sources, such as scholarly journals, books, and articles that allowed the researcher to analyse the collected data and present a discussion in the abovementioned manner. In this regard, the researcher gathered data from library that facilitated with a huge collection of books and journals that were fruitful for the research. Besides, the researcher benefited from tools of internet that were effective in identifying different books and journal articles that were later accessible from the library. In other words, internet made the process of research easier, which enabled the researcher to focus more on analysis and quality of information rather than its collection that often becomes a difficult process in absence of tools and resources. To understand the process of data analysis, the graphs below illustrate above-discussed concepts: Educational Attainment of African-Americans and Whites, 1968 and 2002 (News Batch, 2008) Comparison of Black and White Male Income 1962-1997 (News Batch, 2008) CONCLUSION Recommendations: To ensure that equal educational opportunities are provided for all society and institutions must rid themselves of biases. Moreover, a lot of government control and support is needed on a global level for collaboration between more progressive nations and developing nations on the basis of the provision of education. Education must be made a priority in order to remove the biases or unequal treatment that may exist in job opportunities (Hills, pg 72). Hence, governments must allot maximum resources towards education and ensure that proper resources are allocated towards the needs of minority groups and everyone is ensured a fair chance at attaining a quality education. Furthermore, education should be monitored and made compulsory in all countries at the basic level. Higher education must be made more accessible and cheaper for people of all origins and stratus of society to ensure they get a fair chance at job opportunities equally to their counterparts and peers (Jacobs, pg 156). Problems with Equal Opportunities: However, if equal opportunities are provided for all, the basic value of education will deteriorate as will the standard. Inequalities must exist in every system in order to ensure the system continues. All people at one level or at equilibrium will not create value in society. Since workers are needed at every level of operation from manual workers to professionals to workers who perform janitorial work, unequal opportunities must exist. If education is made easily accessible and equal, the supply of education will exceed demand and this will cause disequilibrium in the economy. Limitations: There were few limitations during this research process. The basic limitation was inadequate amount of time that limited the scope and depth of research that could have been in detail. Secondly, funding was another issue that did not allow the researcher to acquire data through primary sources that would have been more realistic and have facilitated researcher in ensuring 100% validity of the acquired data during completion of this research paper. In this regard, it is anticipation that future researches in the same will enable the researcher to come up with more recommendations and analyze the data and information in the more efficient and critical manner. WORKS CITED Almquist, E. M. “Labor Market Gender Inequality in Minority Groups.” Gender & Society. Volume 1, Issue 4, 1987. Frizzell, A. & Pammet, J. Social Inequality in Canada. Carleton University Press, 1997. Hills, J. & Stewart, K. Introduction to a More Equal Society: New Labor, Poverty, Inequality, and Exclusion. Policy Press, 2005. Jacobs, J. A. “Gender Inequality and Higher Education.” Annual Review of Sociology. Volume 22, 1996. Li, Y., Devine, F. & Heath, A. “Equality Group Inequalities in Education, Employment, and Earnings: A Research Review and Analysis over Time.” Equality and Human Rights Commission. Research Report 10, 2008. Lin, N. Inequality in Social Capital. Contemporary Sociology. Volume 29 (6), 2000. News Batch. Race and Ethnic Policy Issues, 2008. Retrieved on November 18, 2011: http://newsbatch.com/race.htm Ogbu, J. “Racial Stratification and Education in the United States: Why Inequality Persists.” Teachers College Record, Volume 96 (2) 1994. Sandefur, G. D. “Racial and Ethnic Inequality in Earnings and Educational Attainment.” Social Service Review. Volume 63, Issue 2, 1989. Sewell, W. H. “Inequality for Opportunity of Higher Education.” American Sociological Review. Volume 36, Issue 5, 1971. Smelser, Neil J., Wilson, & William J. America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences Volume 1, 2001. Tienda, M. “Minority Concentration and Earnings: Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians Compared.” American Journal of Sociology. Volume 93, Issue 1, 1987. Read More