Role of Race, Class and Gender Essay Example

Stratification

Social stratification plays a crucial role in the lives of individuals. It is usually measured with regards to the level of income, accumulation of wealth, race as well as gender. Such parameters classify people under different groups. For instance, the level of income and education are parameters that rank one of the interviewees in the middle class and the other one in the lower class. The interviewee in the middle class has a college degree and earns an attractive package which enables him to live a posh life. The other interviewee has a low level of education and performs manual labor that attracts a meager pay which is hardly enough to cater for the basic need. Regarding the race, Africans Americans are not provided with quality education, and hence, majority of them do not attain higher levels of education. This is evidenced by the fact that schools meant for ethnic minorities are not provided with enough resources which hinder their academic achievement. Thus, ethnic minorities hardly earn prestigious white collar jobs since a majority of them have not reached to advanced educational levels.

Conversely, the whites often receive quality education which enables them to achieve better in academics, attain advanced degrees and earn white collar jobs with attractive remuneration. This is the main reason as to why they are ranked as middle class in the society. Gender is another factor that affects their lives. Most of duties in the workplace are assigned in reference to the gender of the employee. For instance, the first interviewee was assigned her position since she was a female and the second one was holding a position in the law firm

since he was a male, where males were believed to work best in those situations. Structural-Functional Perspective on Social Stratification The structural-functional perspective applies to the lives of both individuals. This perspective is selected since it examines how different parts of the society function. According to Davis-Moore thesis, the importance of the social role determines the reward .

His theory argues that social stratification serves as a representation of uneven value of different function since some tasks have more value than others in the society. Thus, people who are qualified, possess excellent skills, and hold prestigious positions receive better rewards than others. Similarly, the two interviewees have different qualifications to perform different roles hence one earns a decent remuneration than the other. The African American female has low level of education which implies that she cannot qualify for positions that require a graduate degree and skills. As Davis-Mores argues, her level of education determines the job position. Thus, she earns little amount of money which is lower than those who have graduate degrees. The second interviewee has a college degree which implies he is qualified to fill a prestigious position in a law firm.

His role is considered important in both the company and the society, and therefore, he is rewarded more than other people since the position is considered more valuable. The uneven rewards explain why the two individuals live different lives as one resides in an expensive house whereas the other one resides in overcrowded suburbs with deplorable living conditions. Benefits and Limitations of Interview Cargan (2007) asserts that interview as a method of data collection has both advantages and disadvantages. Some of the advantages

include ease in making corrections, primary and sufficient information, economical and development of a relationship. Any problem that can arise is rectified within a short time due to physical contact between the interviewer and the interviewee. First-hand and enough information is also collected, and this eliminates distortion of the information.

It is also cheap since it only involves physical presence of both parties which can also help to foster a good relationship to facilitate faster collection of information. On the other hand, the disadvantages include incomplete process, lack of attention, time consuming and biasness of the interviewer. The written test can be more crucial to select the most suitable candidate as opposed to the interview. A good interview requires a lot of attention, and if one of the parties is not attentive, it becomes hard to collect the real information. The method also needs enough time to enable the interviewer to ask questions and get the response. Real information may not be collected if the interviewer tends to favor one side due to discrimination that exists in the society.
Components of Culture

The two individual have different cultural symbols which implies social inequality. The African American female does not use formal language often in communication due to the role she plays in the company. She has a positive attitude towards ethnic minorities since she considers them important in the society. The interviewee considers material objects as equally important to the lives of individuals and tends to behave in a respectful manner to retain her job position to enable her meet basic needs. However, the indigenous American male often uses formal language both spoken and written. He however has

a negative attitude towards other people on the basis of race and does not consider them of great value in the society. Similarly, he considers material object of much value and employs managerial behavior particularly in the line of duty.

References

1. Cargan, L. (2007). Doing social research. Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield.
2. Grusky, D. B. (2013). Social stratification: Class, race, and gender in sociological perspective. S.l: Westview.
3. Labov, W. (2006). The social stratification of English in New York City. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press.
4. Leicht, K. T. (Ed.). (2005). Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Volume 23. Amsterdam, NLD: JAI Press.