The Sociology of Work Flashcards
What is the gender wage gap?
The wage gap between men and women in the U.S.
The gap has shrunk a little over time but persists
A common explanation of the gap is not wanting to give maternity leave but it is not completely true
Widens as people age, wider when it is the age that women can no longer have children
What is the racial wage gaps?
Wage gaps between racial/ethic groups in the U.S.
White and Asian Americans make much more than Black Americans and Latinos
What are the hypotheses why these wage gaps exist?
Human Capital theory
Employer and Customer Discrimination
Occupational Segregation
What is the human capital theory?
Your income is based on skills and knowledge
In school or elsewhere, you acquire skills
In the labor market, people will pay for workers with the right skills
Depending on the demand those with the skills needed will get paid more
Wage gaps occur because some people either don’t have skills or don’t have skills that are in demand
About supply and demand
What is the college premium?
Workers get paid more due to going to college, how much more the average college graduate make compared to the average high school graduate
What is the criticism of the human capital theory?
The gender pay gap is still present between genders who received the same degree
Thus education can’t be the only reason
What is employer and customer discrimination theory?
Wage gaps emerge when employers or customers discriminate against certain workers
What is occupational segregation?
The concentration of members of certain groups in different jobs
Typing: some jobs are widely perceived to be appropriate only for certain types of people
Teachers certain believed to be a job for females
Self-selection
Workers hold preferences for certain occupations related to their structural position in society
In our society, women are more likely to take responsibility for childcare, and many researchers believe this is an important factor in the wage gap
Women may be more likely to pick jobs they feel they can balance with childcare duties
These jobs may be lower-paid, part-time
Women may also select out of male-dominated professions where they frequently encounter hostility, harassment, and discrimination (the tech industry, hedge funds)
What is the relationship between labor and capital?
An antagonistic relationship
Capitalism is about workers trying to get as much as owners trying to give as little as possible
What are systems of control?
Capitalists develop systems of control that are designed to convert as much of workers’ labor power into actual labor performed as possible
What does every system of control involve?
The direction of work tasks
The evaluation of workers’ performance
Discipline and rewards to elicit cooperation and enforce compliance
What are the three systems of control?
Simple control
Technical Control
Bureaucratic control
What are the categories of the three systems of control?
Direction, evaluation, discipline
What is simple control?
Direction, evaluation, discipline:
direct oversight and coercion
Managers’ application of power: arbitrary/personal
Weakness:
Doesn’t scale; workers start to organize and resist
What is technical control?
Direction, evaluation, and discipline:
Machine (backed by a human supervisor)
Managers’ application of power:
Embedded in the physical structure of the labor process
Weakness:
Workers can hold up production by stopping the machines
What is bureaucratic control?
Direction, evaluation, and discipline:
Company policy, “rule of law”
Managers’ application of power:
Embedded in the social structure of the workplace
What is gamification?
Practice using game elements like real-time feedback, points, rewards, leaderboards, etc., designed to meet management’s need for a reliable, on-demand
What are work games?
Workers are presented with continually updated stats, feedback, and intermittent rewards designed to meet management’s need for reliable, surge pricing, “on-demand” workforce
So that workers are committed to the app almost addicted to a slot machine
The work game can transform “a monotonous, soul-crushing job into an exciting outlet for workers to exercise their creativity”
The downside is being able to make decisions, short short-circuit collective resistance due to people trying to win the game that the app gives them
