Weekly Discussion 2

Data Trends
It’s often difficult to understand fact from fiction with the prolific use of personal and anecdotal data in the media. Rather than rely on our limited experiences, let’s use data to tell the story for us. Use Bureau of Labor Statistics (link to http://www.bls.gov/home.htm) to identify a trend in the labor market for women, minorities, and/or immigrants. Analyze the trend within a framework of sociological theory.
Be sure to answer the following questions:
How do your findings differ or align with your personal experiences?
What advantages do you see to using a source like the BLS for data to help understand trends?
What are the benefits to connecting the trend to a sociological framework?
NOTES from the Professor:
­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Diversity in the Workplace: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation
One with our modern notion of work pertains to how we define work. Generally, the definitional bias is toward paid employment outside the home. By that definition, a great majority of the world’s work goes unrecognized. Schools rely heavily on volunteers, yet that is not paid and thus, not considered to be work. Domestic labor, primarily performed by women, is often not categorized as work because it is often unpaid. When the “what do you do” question comes up, too many women in our society respond by stating “I’m just a housewife or a mom.” Such a response clearly shows that these women have bought into the notion that work implies receiving a wage and it is somehow not what our culture defines as work. Chinese communist leader Mao Tse-Tung used the phrase “women hold up half the sky” to promote the equality of women as part of the overall vision of human equality under Chinese communism. Despite this belief, which has been globally adopted, women are not rewarded or acknowledged for most of the work they do. “Across countries, women make up a disproportionate share of the illiterate, the poor, the displaced, the elderly, the underpaid, the underemployed, and the underrepresented” (Henderson & Jeydel, 2007, p. i
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Benet, W. J. (2013). Managing the polarities of democracy: A theoretical framework for positive social change. Journal of Social Change, 5(1), 26 – 39. doi: 10.5590/JOSC.2013.05.1.03 Retrieved from http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=jsc
The New Yorker. (2014, July 22). Malcom Gladwell on income inequality – The New Yorker Festival (Full) – The New Yorker [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/embed/iKvFlSedpNI (Links to an external site.)
Levknecht, L. (2013, January 8). Using polarity thinking to achieve sustainable positive outcomes. Retrieved from http://www.elsevier.com/connect/using-polarity-thinking-to-achieve-sustainable-positive-outcomes
Young, M. C. (2010). Gender differences in precarious work settings. Relations Industrielles / Industrial Relations, 65(1), 74-97.
Recommended References
DeJesus, V., (2017, September 27). How to use Bureau Labor of Statistics website. [Video file]. Retrieved fromHow to use Bureau Labor of Statistics website (Links to an external site.)
Henderson, S., & Jeydel, A. S. (2007). Participation and protest: Women and politics in a global world. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Misra, J., & Strader, E. (2013). Gender pay equity in advanced countries: The role of parenthood and policies. Journal Of International Affairs, 67(1), 27-41.