Ethnic inequalities

Effects of incarceration

  • criminal system tends to reinforce racial stereotypes

  • having a record reduces chances of a job call-back significantly (harsher black > white)

Association bet. ethnicity and socioeconomic status

Many migrants and non-white ppl in USA/Europe

  • lower education lvl

  • more unemployed

  • lower occupational status

  • lower household income

  • more often incarcerated

Explanations

  1. Human capital - variation in lang. proficiency, job skills, diplomas etc

    • minorities and migrants - less human capital → lower social status (also less other capitals)

    • wrong skills - limited applicability of skills from institutions in origin country

    • less skills - education in origin country might be of lower quality

    • => returns for education are lower for ppl with foreign degrees

  1. Signalling/ Credentialism - degrees signal certain characteristics

    • education functions as a sorting machine rather than skill provider

    • diploma from an Ivy league college signals a certain standard or SES

    • surgeon cannot operate unless credentials are recognized, regardless of skill

  1. Social capital

  1. Discrimination

Institutional - laws, customs, recognition of foreign diplomas work to disadv of migrants

Attitudinal - ethnic minorities are disfavored by majority due to discrimination

  • Statistical: people are judged based on perceived chara. of their ethnic group

  • Taste-based: dislike for certain minorities

Why these attitudes?

  1. Realistic conflict theory - conflicts due to perceived threat that give rise to ethnocentrism and discr.

  • Economic threats - scarcity of jobs, more competitors

  • Symbolic threat - fear of culture changing due to immigrants

  • Safety threats - crime

  1. Social identity theory - people need to belong to groups for poz. self- and group-evaluation

  • they see neg. chara. of other groups to highlight poz. ones of their own group

  1. Contact theory - contact with other ethnic groups leads to less prejudice, under optimal conditions (equal status, common goals, cooperation etc)

  • type of contact matters - deeper contact like friendships is what decreases prejudice, not just casual contact

Not all ethnic differences level off

  • adv of occupying ethnic niches - in labor marker or in residential quarters

  • spatial mismatch - residential segregation

  • cultural distance - cultural values of migrants are incompatible with those of natives (e.g. education or gender norms)

  • counter culture - migrants can react to position of disadv by adopting oppositional values and behav.