social mobilization and education essays

social mobilization and education essays Meet Sandra, a mother recently divorced from her abusive middle-class husband. Her previous life had been comfortable; she now lives day-to-day with her children, working as a secretary while attending college courses in her little spare time, all while attending to her home and family. She finally ends up attaining her degree, yet can still find no job paying higher than her secretarial job, so she takes on a second job as a grocery checkout person, still barely making ends meet for her family. As described in Ch. 9 of the Giddens text, this woman had obviously worked very hard to attempt to restore her life back to her previous pre-divorce middle-class state. She says, You try to do the responsible thing, and youre penalized, because the system we have right now doesnt provide you with a way to make it. (p. 169) However, she learned the hard way that class is not quite as easy to transcend in this so-called land of opportunity. The United States is the most highly stratified societ y of the industrialized world. Class distinctions operate in virtually every aspect of our lives, determining the nature of our work, the quality of our schooling, and the health and safety of our loved ones. Yet, remarkably, we, as a nation retain illusions about living in the capitalist land of opportunity, where any average Joe can make his million if he works hard enough. The reality of the our situation is that the US is not as open as we think it may be, meaning that social mobility, or the movement between classes, is not nearly as easy as we may believe. This is due to the fact that many social issues, such as gender, racial, and economic class, serve as barriers that obstruct the path of ones social mobility. Despite our own personal efforts and talents, mobility in our society is primarily based on ones status, and overcoming the stereotypes that accompany one̵...