Education Inequities and Social Issues

Achievement Gaps

• Disparities in academic progress among different student groups.

Tracking

• Placing students in different classes based on perceived ability.

Adultification

• Attributing adult characteristics to children.

School-to-Prison Pipeline

• Disciplinary practices leading students into the criminal justice system.

Institutional Discrimination

• Widespread practices disadvantage some groups, advantage others.

Institutional Racism

• Societal practices creating unjust outcomes for racial groups.

Residential Segregation

• Separating different population groups into specific neighborhoods.
  • Example: Chicago neighborhoods.

Hypersegregation

• Extreme residential separation limiting contact between different racial groups.

Colorism

• Bias or discrimination based on skin tone (dark to light).

Jack's the Privileged Poor Ted Talk

• Research Question: How low-income students navigate elite colleges.
• Method: Ethnography and interviews.
• Argument: Access ≠ Inclusion; low-income students face challenges in elite colleges.

Cross-Institutional Advantage/Disadvantage

• Positive or negative outcomes across different institutions.
  • Example: A criminal record affecting job prospects.

Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage

• Advantages or disadvantages accumulate over a lifetime.
  • Example: Student debt impacting future wealth.

Intergenerational Advantage/Disadvantage

• Advantages or disadvantages passed from parents to children.
  • Example: Wealthy family background impacting future opportunities.

Structural Violence

• Institutional discrimination harming individuals.

Mass Incarceration

• Extremely high rates of imprisonment.

Mass Deportation

• Extremely high rates of deportation.

Asad Engage and Evade Documentary

• Research Question: How immigrant parents interact with social service institutions.
• Method: Interviews.
• Argument: Challenges faced by immigrant families accessing social services.

Sexism

• Unjust outcomes based on perceived biological sex (female).
  • Example: Undervalued labor traditionally done by women.

Androcentrism

• Unjust outcomes based on performance of femininity.
  • Example: Unpaid work traditionally assigned to women.

Hegemonic Masculinity

• The most admired and rewarded form of masculinity.

Subordinate Masculinities

• Forms of masculinity considered inferior compared to hegemonic masculinity.

Marginalized Masculinities

• Forms of masculinity considered inferior due to other social identities.

Armstrong and Hamilton's Paying for the Party

• Research Question: Impacts of peer culture, women's experiences in parties.
• Method: Interviews & ethnography.
• Argument: Male-dominated party culture, limited opportunities for women.

Second Shift

• Unpaid housework and childcare after paid work.

Time-Use Diary

• Research method where participants record activities over 24 hours.

Ideal Worker Norm

• Expectation of complete job devotion without family responsibilities.

Shared Division of Labor

• Equal distribution of paid and unpaid work between partners.

Specialized Division of Labor

• Unequal distribution of paid and unpaid work between partners.

Ideology of Intensive Motherhood

• Belief that children require intensive maternal investment.

Feminization of Poverty

• Concentration of women at the bottom of the income scale.

Glass Escalator

• Men rapidly promoted in female-dominated professions.

Job Segregation

• Separation of individuals into specific occupations based on social identity.

Androcentric Pay Scale

• Correlation between male representation and higher wages in an occupation.

Care Work

• Face-to-face caretaking of others' needs.

Male Flight

• Men abandoning an activity as women adopt it.

Patriarch/Property Marriage

• Model where women and children are considered the property of men.

Breadwinner/Homemaker Marriage

• Model with one spouse earning while another stays home.

Family Wage

• Income sufficient to support a non-working wife and children.

Ideology of Separate Spheres

• Belief that home belongs to women and work to men.

Heteronormativity

• Promotion of heterosexuality as the only acceptable sexual identity.

Mononormativity

• Promoting monogamy as the only preferred relationship structure.

Pro-natal

• Promoting childbearing and stigmatizing child-free choices.

Partnership Unions

• Relationship model emphasizing love and equality.

Collin's Making Motherhood Work

• Research Question: Sources of American mothers' work-family conflict.
• Method: Interviews.
• Argument: Conflict arises from norms & material circumstances.

Power Elite

• Small interconnected group holding top positions in institutions.

Pluralist Theory of Power

• U.S. politics characterized by competing groups working together.

Elite Theory of Power

• Small, networked group controlling powerful positions.

Social Capital

• Resources gained from relationships and networks.

Social Closure

• Advantaged groups restricting opportunities for others.

Cultural Capital

• Symbolic resources communicating social status
  • Objectified: Possessions representing one's status
  • Institutional: Endorsements from institutions
  • Embodied: Symbolic significance of one's appearance, knowledge, skills.

Fit

• Feeling of compatibility between one's cultural capital and social context.

Ethnography

• Research method involving observation and participation in social settings.

Field

• Location or places where ethnographers conduct research.

Field Notes

• Descriptive accounts of observed social interactions.

Insurgent Consciousness

• Recognition of shared grievance for collective action.

Lauren Rivera How Elite Students Get Elite Jobs

• Research Question: How employers evaluate candidates.
• Method: Interviews.
• Argument: Cultural fit is highly valued.

Social Change

• Shifts in shared beliefs, interactions, and institutions.

Collective Action

• Coordinated activities of a group toward a shared goal.

Social Movement

• Organized collective action for social change.

Interdependent Power

• Power derived from non-cooperation.

Repertoire of Contention

• Common activities representing dissatisfaction.

Social Construction of Social Problems

• Process of defining personal struggles as public issues.
  • Steps: defining harm, seeking institutional solutions.

Insurgent Consciousness

• Recognition of shared grievance that can be addressed through collective action.

Collective Action Problem

• Difficulty coordinating large groups for collective action.

Aldon Morris From Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter

• Research Question: How movements challenge systemic oppression?
• Method: Interviews.
• Argument: Successful movements use grassroots organizing, internal resources, strategic disruption.

Organizational Strength

• Strong leadership, resources, networks, and infrastructure of movement.

Political Networks

• Connections between individuals with similar political goals.

Standing

• Authority to speak credibly on a topic.

Frame

• Concise claim about a social fact, e.g., "Black Lives Matter."

Countermovements

• Organized efforts opposing social movements.

Counterframes

• Frames challenging the frames of existing movements, e.g., "All Lives Matter."

Framing Wars

• Battles over whether a social fact is a problem and what kind.

Political Opportunity Structure

• Strengths/weaknesses of the political system affecting social movements.

Cultural Opportunity Structure

• Cultural ideas/practices enabling or limiting activist strategies.

Critical Event

• Sudden events inspiring political activity, e.g., George Floyd's death.

Economic Opportunity Structure

• Role of money in enabling or limiting a movement.

Interest Convergence

• Alignment of activists' and elite interests.

Reynolds Repurposing Title IX

• Research Question: How sexual harassment became categorized as sex discrimination under Title IX?
• Method: Interviews & comparative history.
• Argument: Collaboration between students and lawyers changed Title IX.

Globalization

• Intensifying connections between nation-states.

Transnational Organizations

• Organizations operating across multiple countries.

Colonialism

• Countries claiming control of territories and exploiting them.

Nation-State System

• World society consisting of sovereign territories.

World System

• Global capital market.

Echo Chamber

• Reinforcement of existing views within a group.

Network Analysis

• Studying connections among individuals and their consequences.

Ideological Homophily

• Tendency to associate with similar individuals.

Burawoy Contradictions, Dilemmas, and Possibilities

• Research Question: Why policy actors deny human activity as a climate cause?
• Method: Surveys & network analysis.
• Argument: Policy actor relationships distort scientific consensus.