Week 5: Education

Week 5: Education

SOC 1010: Principles of Sociology

Employment by Educational Attainment

• Trends in Employment

  • Data representation indicates employment likelihood increases with higher educational attainment.

  • Categories:

    • Less than a high school diploma

    • High school graduates, no college

    • Some college or associate degree

    • Bachelor's degree and higher

• Employment statistics (2000-2020)

  • The graph highlights a significant gap in employment rates corresponding to educational levels over time.

Concepts of Education

Definitions

• Education: A social institution teaching basic academic knowledge, skills, and cultural norms.

• Formal Education: Academic knowledge obtained through structured curricula (schooling).

• Informal Education: Learning cultural values and norms through societal participation.

Cultural Transmission

• Refers to acquiring values, beliefs, and norms of one's culture.

Universal Access

• A global issue concerning equal opportunities for education participation.

Education Theories

Functionalism

• Identifies two types of functions in education:

  • Manifest Functions: Intended and visible outcomes.

    • Examples include socialization, culture transmission, social control, placement, and cultural innovation.

  • Latent Functions: Unexpected and hidden outcomes.

    • Examples include courtship, social networks, group work, generation gap creation, political, and social integration.

Conflict Theory

• Cultural Capital: Knowledge that serves as capital in social interactions.

• Hidden Curriculum: Non-academic knowledge perpetuated through informal learning.

• Tracking: Formal system categorizing students in ways that reproduce inequalities.

Symbolic Interactionism

• Credentialism: The significance placed on degrees and certificates indicating competence and achievements.

  • Acts as a label for individuals based on educational attainment.

Feminist Theory

• Evaluates gender inequalities in educational systems.

• Highlights unequal treatment and opportunities for women.

• Legislative Context: Title IX of the Education Amendments (1972) aimed at addressing disparities.