Education and Inequality
SOC 263
Spring 2012 not offered
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| Certificates: Civic Engagement, The Study of Education |
This course will focus on educational institutions as mechanisms of cultural transmission, socialization, and legitimation. How do social characteristics such as ethnicity, gender, and social class influence classroom interactions and performance? In what ways are school experiences related to occupational aspirations and attainment? We will examine how schools produce inequality through peer-group cultures, tracking, measures of achievement, and the distribution of knowledge. Schools and universities often become arenas of cultural and political conflict; we will assess the possibilities and limits of educational organizations as vehicles for social change. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Effective Citizenship, Quantitative Reasoning
In this class we will examine social stratification and educational inequalities through a critical look at quantitative research.
We will examine issues such as the racial disparities in incarceration; the rise in income inequality; gender inequalities in earnings; the rates of social mobility; school and residential segregation; trends in racial/ethnic inequalities in wealth, employment, and education; the role of education in social mobility; the achievement gap; education reform debates; the effects of school vouchers; and debates about tracking, merit pay, standards, and back to basics education.
Students will do statistical analyzes of national data sets to explore policy debates about education, inequality, poverty, and social mobility. Each student will identify a research question related to a policy issue in education or social stratification. Next, students will identify an appropriate data set and use regression or logistic analysis to address this question.
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS SOC |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (SOC) |
Major Readings:
Required Text:
Grusky, David B. and Szonja Szelenyi. The Inequality Reader: Contemporary and Foundational Readings in Race, Class, and Gender. Colorado: Westview Press
And selections from:
1. Punishment and Inequality in America by Bruce Western
2. The Black-White Test Score Gap by Christopher Jencks and Meredith Phillips
3. Meritocracy and Economic Inequality by Kenneth Arrow, Samuel Bowles, Steven N. Durlauf, eds.
4. Cuba's Academic Advantage: Why Students In Cuba Do Better In School by Martin Carnoy
5. The Great Curriculum Debate by Loveless, Tom, ed.
6. And several articles from the American Sociological Review and the American Journal of Sociology
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Examinations and Assignments:
One 10-12 page quantitative Research Paper, two take home exams, in class presentations/debates, and a reading journal |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
A Statistics Course (QAC 201, Math 132, ECON 300) and/or a class where you wrote a research paper using logistic or regression analysis (some sections of Soc202 qualify). |
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