Institutionalized Inequality

“Gender Inequality and Higher Education” (Article 1) and “American schooling and educational inequality: A forecast for the 21st century” (Article 2) both attempt to analyze the inequality that is present in the schooling system of the United States.

The first article discusses the evident gender equality within the institutions, fixating on “educational inequality, sexual inequality, higher education, and women’s education.”

Contrastively, the second article focuses on what they believe will happen in the future in terms of inequality among socioeconomic and racial groups with centralization on “quality of education, educational evaluation, and forecast.”

Jerry A. Jacobs, the author of Article 1, began his research seeking what aspects of education displayed the highest discrepancy between genders. He specifically sought to answer questions such as “how does the education of women interface with gender inequality in the workplace and in the family,” and “has the expansion of education for women stimulated changes in other areas, or has the educational system merely reflected developments in the rest of society?” On the other hand, Adam Gamoran, the author of Article 2 investigated the issue as to “what will happen to educational inequality in the 21st century.”

The authors of both articles used a conflict interactionist approach in the sense that the conflict perspective of sociological theories explains the aspects of our social world by examining the groups that hold power and benefit from a specific social composition.

In the case of Article 1, women were the victimized group depending on which aspect of higher education, whereas in Article 2, it was any group that doesn’t fit the standards for the dominant racial group, which we unfortunately know to be “white.” Jacobs and Gamoran each went about this with the use of previously written articles by other professionals on which to base their research.

In Article 1, Jacobs uses this knowledge and research to simply make an analysis, while Gamoran uses this to make a projection for the future. Jacobs discusses how he had found research applicable to the questions he was attempting to answer outside of the field of sociology, including “economics, history, social psychology, career counseling, and educational policy.” Having research from such diverse subjects and areas of study allowed for him to look at aspects of inequality outside of the limitations of sociology. He was able to use this research to highlight the aspects of inequality between the sexes and the results of this on women.

During his study, Jacobs also utilized methods such as “in-depth interviews and observations with students spanning several years at two southern universities.” This style of research, known as case studies, allowed him to collect an extensive amount of details on the subject, as well as, the ability to conduct specific experiments. Gamoran made use of articles and research dating back to 1966 in order to collect a considerably large amount of information to accurately predict the condition of inequality in schools in the coming century. He also effectively explored case studies and surveys, which were found throughout his research.

In his studies, Jacobs reveals that he found three major distinctions in which gender inequality is strikingly evident: access to higher education, college experiences, and post-collegiate outcomes. He explains that “women fare relatively well in the area of access, less well in terms of the college experience, and are particularly disadvantaged with respect to the outcomes of schooling.” Jacobs makes a point to mention that although women are typically hindered in opportunity compared to men, there are some aspects in which they are able to thrive, as mentioned, access to higher education.

However, that does not discount the fact that opportunity continues to lag in various situations and that is not to be overlooked. One compelling feature of education that Jacobs calls attention to is the “prominence of women among college students.” As observed from the research of enrolled college students from 1992, 65.4% of women who graduated high school attended a college that fall while that number was only 59.7% for men, resulting in 53.1% of all college students being women. Furthermore, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics 1994, women earned 58.9% of two-year degrees, 51.5% of master’s and professional degrees, and 37.3% of Ph.D. degrees. Many scholars have sought to analyze the existence of gender inequality in education, through critical, feminist, and neo-Marxist perspectives, despite the intransigence against it on behalf of female students.

As a result of “in-depth interviews and observations with students spanning several years at two southern colleges, they conclude that the college experience is tangential to intellectual and career development among young women.” This conclusion attempts to answer an aspect of the overarching question of education inequality in America. In terms of educational inequality with respect to socioeconomic and racial groups, Gamoran offers three suggestions as to the outcome of this racism in the 21st century.

Based on the studies of trends and assumptions, he believes that the inequality between blacks and whites will see a great decline. We can acknowledge the source of this prediction with our observation in the dissolution of racism in America over the century. Although it still exists, if trends continue, we can expect to see this decline within educational institutions as they aim to be more inclusive of all races. Gamoran then anticipates a stagnation in inequality by socioeconomic backgrounds. He explains that “privileged groups protect their advantages until virtually all members reach a given status, at which point the axis of inequality shifts upward to another level of educational outcome.”

These inequalities have long been the product of differences in family background, in which “whites tend to have parents with higher levels of education, occupational status, and income than do blacks”

Whether it is inequality between men and women (“Gender Inequality and Higher Education” by Jerry Jacobs), races, or socioeconomic backgrounds (“American schooling and educational inequality: A forecast for the 21st century” by Adam Gamoran), we can assume there will be inequality within the higher education system. This is a trend we have seen for centuries and although in many aspects it appears to be improving, it is an obstacle and concern that needs to be dealt with.

The perfect “white, middle-class man” stereotype is one of the past and while we look for ways in which this inequality continues to be an issue, we need to look for ways in which we can correct it.

References:

Jacobs, J. A. (1996). Gender inequality and higher education. Annual Review of Sociology, 22, 153-185. Retrieved from https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.soc.22.1.153

Gamoran, A. (2001). American schooling and educational inequality: A forecast for the 21st century. Sociology of Education, 135-153. Retrieved from http://www.yorku.ca/pathways/literature/Access/gamoran%2001.pdf