Discrimination as a Pervasive Aspect of Modern Western Society - Coursework Example

Discrimination Contrary to what most people think, discrimination is a pervasive aspect of modern Western society. Accordingly, discrimination exists and is quite prevalent in the 21st century. Job discrimination implies that certain groups of individuals face various barriers, both hidden and overt, to their active participation in the workface. With an employment setting, discrimination is a real issue which a variety of social, economic and political ramification. Insidious and pervasive, employment discrimination affects different types of people but is particularly harmful to certain classifications of individuals. As such, women, people with disabilities, people of color as well as people who are older face a many impediments to their full and active participation in the labor force of this country. The following research paper aims to explore discrimination with an eye to how this form of discrimination affects certain types of people, both within the wider society as well as within the labor market. What influences discrimination in the twenty-first century? How has society attempted to protect people from discrimination? These questions and many more will be discussed with reference to discrimination today. We now begin with an overview of the key integral for this research paper, including discrimination, prejudice and social bias. Introduction The United States has undergone quite substantial changes within the past century the country is much more diverse than it ever was. Immigration and the growth of globalization have altered the social composition of the United States of America. Today, there is a much larger percentage of people of color and visible minorities within key social institutions including government office – President Barack Obama is perhaps the most obvious example today. There is also increased the representation of visible minorities across the country in all aspects of public life – including in the police services and the education sectors, just to name a few. Changing worldwide immigration patterns have led to an increased flow of people from around the world to the United States, facilitating intercultural communication. American society has quickly become far less homogenous and cultural institutions are beginning to reflect this. Unfortunately with the changing social landscape of the United States and the changing nature of this country, the multicultural setting may lead to a rise in racism and discrimination in the twenty-first century (Cahn, 2002). Discrimination is described as the prejudicial treatment of other people based upon certain characteristics, which can be either real or perceived. Discrimination is generally done on the basis of such characteristics as age, race, colour, sex, language, sexual orientation, religion and disability. An example of discrimination would be the refusal to hire a black worker or a Muslim. Discrimination is often based upon pre-held beliefs, judgments and stereotypes about both people and cultural groups. Social exclusion refers to the alienation and disenfranchisement of individuals or groups from the wider society. Prejudice involves previously-held beliefs about people or groups and is a negative concept. Stereotyping refers to the application of pre-conceived notions – prejudicial thoughts and beliefs – on individuals or groups of people (Curry, 1996). Bias is important in that it helps frame our ideas about people and groups. A subtle bias may be latent while a blatant bias is overt and visible. Examples of overt – and state sanctioned – bias and social exclusion include Jim Crow laws in the southern United States towards African-Americans. Racism and xenophobia are related and they play an important role in the promotion of discrimination. Racism is discrimination based upon the racial groupings or classification. Since racism involves prejudice and discrimination it can often lead to violence. Racism which is institutionalized is embedded within a culture, organization or society and is an established custom or norm within that social system. Historically, it could be argued that the immigration system in the United States institutionalized racist policies and practice towards non-whites during the early part of the twentieth century. As with the first example, Jim Crows in the southern United States are excellent examples of institutionalized racism in society. These are examples of bias and stereotyping and the roles that they can play in our lives. What role does discrimination play in the labor force? It is to this question that we now turn (Bernbach, 1996). Discrimination at Work Discrimination in the workforce affects all people from various walks of life. Accordingly, the employment opportunities of half of the American population are hurt by both latent and overt sexism throughout corporate America. Many know that American women earn substantially less than their male counterparts. The Equal Pay Act (EPA) of 1963 was established more than four decades ago to protect women who perform the same tasks as men from wage-based discrimination. Sexism is an unfortunate aspect of society but the Equal Pay Act aims to combat it through positive legislation to correct the pay discrepancy between men and women in the labor force. Older workers also face a variety of challenges to their inclusion in the labor force and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older from discrimination at work. Additionally, people with disabilities face many hurdles in society and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 was established to ensure the full inclusion of people with disabilities in American society as well as in the labor force. Covering a wide variety of instances of discrimination, the ADA is one of the most recent pieces of legislation mentioned above which aims to tackle problems associated with discrimination in the labor force (Bernbach, 1996; Ripa, 2007). Job discrimination prevents the active inclusion of certain types of individuals in the work environment and is detrimental both to the diversity of an office as well as to the productivity of a corporate work space. Seeking to address the major challenges minorities face with respect to discrimination at work, the government has legislated policies to protect certain groups from harmful work practices. The following provides a thorough overview of an important study which sought to address racial discrimination in the US labor market today (Murrell, 1994). Do African-Americans face additional challenges when looking for work? According to Bertrand & Mullainathan, they certainly do face discrimination in the labor force. These scholars sought to study the perception that African-Americans face a series of obstacles when searching for employment and that discrimination in the labor force is real and apparent. Seeking to understand the particular employment challenges African-Americans face in the labor market, these scholars undertook an experiment which sought to discern whether or not potential employment candidates fared differently based upon race. The following is a brief overview of their study. Case Analysis Discrimination in the workforce affects people from all walks of life but as Bertrand & Mullainathan have shown, African-Americans face unique hurdles to their active employment in the United States today. Accordingly, job applicants with stereotypically sounding African-American names received “far fewer callbacks for each resume they send out” (Bertrand & Mullainathan 2004). Seeking to understand the employment challenges facing African-Americans in the US labor market, these scholars do in fact find evidence to support their research claim. Aiming to explore differential treatment based upon race, these scholars interpret their findings to show that yes, racism, either real or latent, is prevalent in American society and can influence hiring decisions. Are the authors unbiased? No, but it is difficult to have researchers who are 100% unbiased and these scholars admit their initial assumptions prior to undertaking the research study. Bertrand & Mullainathan mention from the outset that “every measure of economic success reveals significant racial inequality in the U.S. labor market; compared to Whites, African-Americans are twice as likely to be unemployed and earn nearly 25% less when they are employed” (2004, 991). Seeking to address the major challenges minorities face with respect to discrimination at work, the government has legislated policies to protect certain groups from harmful work practices. Accordingly, scholars Bertrand & Mullainathan have undertaken a study which demonstrates that job discrimination affects African-Americans and remains a real problem. Concluding Remarks It took some time for the United States government to understand that discrimination and prejudice were real issues which needed to be addressed. During the presidency of John F. Kennedy, the United States started its early attempts at combating discrimination in the early 1960s. Accordingly, President Kennedy, under Executive Order 10925, directed all government offices and government contracting agencies to employ “affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." (The American Presidency Project, 2009). This Executive Order set the stage for more substantial attempts at combating discrimination throughout America and not only the federal government sector. While affirmative action remains controversial, it is an important component of the efforts made to tackle discrimination and prejudice in America today. This research paper began with a concise introduction to key terms related to discrimination such as prejudice, social bias and racism. Following this we looked at the types of discrimination people face based on sex, age, disability and race. Our case study looked at the employment impediments faced by African-Americans in the United States and the research by Bertrand & Mullainathan which emphatically demonstrated that African-Americans continue to face discrimination at work. Discrimination is an unfortunate feature of society and it must be tackled with vigor. References Bernbach, J. (1996). Job Discrimination: How to Fight, How to Win. New York: Crown Trade Paperbacks. Bertrand, M. & Mullainathan, S. (2004). Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination. The American Economic Review 94.4: 991-1013. Cahn, S.M. (2002). The Affirmative Action Debate. London: Routledge, 2002. Curry, G.E. (1996). The Affirmative Action Debate. New York: Basic Books. Eastland, T. (1997). Ending Affirmative Action. New York: Basic Books. Murrell, A.M. (1994). Aversive Racism and Resistance to Affirmative Action: Perceptions of Justice Are Not Necessarily Color Blind. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 15, 22-44. Repa, B. K. (2007). Your Rights in the Workplace. Boston: Nolo. The American Presidency Project. (2009). Last Accessed October 31 2009, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=58863 Read More