Sociology in Modules Chapter 14

1. Education 14
3rd edition
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Sociology in Modules
Richard T. Schaefer

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Sociological Perspectives
on Education
• In the past few decades, increasing
numbers of people have obtained high
school diplomas, college degrees,
advanced professional degrees
– Education has become vast and complex
social institution; prepares citizens for roles
demanded by other social institutions, such as
the family, government, and economy

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Figure 43-1: Current Higher Education
Graduation Rates (BA/BS), Selected Countries

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Functionalist Perspective
• Transmitting Culture
– Exposing young people to existing beliefs,
norms, and values of their culture
– Sometimes nations reassess the ways in
which they transmit culture to students
• Promoting Social and Political
Integration
– Common identity and social integration
fostered by education contributes to societal
stability and consensus

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Functionalist Perspective
• Maintaining Social Control
– Schools teach students punctuality, discipline,
scheduling, responsible work habits, and how
to negotiate a bureaucratic organization
• Serving as an Agent of Change
– Education can stimulate social change
– Best indicator of a person’s lifetime earnings
is still number of years of formal schooling
that person has received

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Figure 43-2: Lifetime Earnings by Race, Gender,
and Degree Level

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Conflict Perspective
• Education is instrument of elite domination
– Educational system socializes students
into values dictated by the powerful and stifle
individualism and creativity to promote
relatively insignificant change

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Conflict Perspective
• The Hidden Curriculum
– Hidden curriculum: standards of behavior
deemed proper and taught subtly in schools
• Credentialism
– Credentialism: increase in the lowest level
of education needed to enter a field
– Number of occupations viewed as professions
has risen
– May reinforce social inequality

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Conflict Perspective
• Bestowal of Status
– Education can distribute members among a
variety of social positions by sorting people
into appropriate levels and courses of study
• Tracking: practice of placing students in specific
curriculum groups on basis of test scores and
other criteria
• Correspondence principle: promotes values
expected of individuals in each social class,
perpetuating social class divisions

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Figure 43-3: Tuition Costs, 1981–2011

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Feminist Perspective
• In 20th century, sexism found in:
– Stereotypes in textbooks
– Pressure to study traditional women’s
subjects
– Unequal funding for athletics
– Employment bias
• Women have made strides in higher
education

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Interactionist Perspective
• Labeling approach suggests that if people
are treated in particular ways, they may
fulfill expectations
– Teacher-expectancy effect: impact of
teacher expectations about a student on
student’s actual achievements

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Table 43-1: Sociological Perspectives on Education

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Schools as Formal Organizations
• U.S. has about 15 million high school
students today
• Schools are similar to factories, hospitals,
and business firms
– Do not operate autonomously

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Bureaucratization of Schools
• Weber’s characteristics of bureaucracy:
– Division of labor
– Hierarchy of authority
– Written rules and regulations
– Impersonality
– Employment based on technical qualifications

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Teachers:
Employees and Instructors
• Teachers undergo many perplexing
stresses
– Between a quarter and a third of new
teachers quit within their first three years
• Fewer students choose teaching as
career due to perceived low income
– In 2012, 3.2% of male and 8.2% of female
first-year college students were interested in
elementary or high school education

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Figure 44-1: Average Salary for Teachers

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Student Subcultures
• Student subculture complex and diverse
– High school cliques and social groups
form according to race, social class, physical
attractiveness, placement in courses, athletic
ability, and leadership roles in school and
community
• Gay and lesbian students particularly vulnerable
• Peer group pressure to conform is intense

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Student Subcultures
• Four distinctive subcultures among
college students:
– Collegiate subculture
– Academic subculture
– Vocational subculture
– Nonconformist subculture
• Each student is exposed to competing subcultures
and must determine which seems most in line with
his or her feelings and interests

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Figure 44-2: College Campuses by
Race and Ethnicity: Then, Now, and in the Future

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Homeschooling
• About 1.5 million schooled at home
– Critics counter that homeschooled
children isolated from larger community
– Proponents claim it is a good alternative for
children with ADHD and learning disabilities
– Quality control is an issue

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Social Policy and Education:
Charter Schools
• Discontent with public schools
• Charter schools: experimental schools
that are developed and managed by
individuals, groups of parents, or an
educational management organization
• Considered public schools, but
administered outside official public school
system

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Social Policy and Education:
Charter Schools
• Looking at the Issue
– 2.6 million children enrolled in charter schools
• Advocates claim they offer parents accountability
for children’s education
– Compete with public schools
• Offer alternative that was once only available to
the wealthy

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Figure 44.3 Charter Schools

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Social Policy and Education:
Charter Schools
• Applying Sociology
– Functionalists argue charter schools meet
society’s need while serving a diverse student
body
– Conflict theorists believe charter schools do
not represent teachers well and will contribute
to decline of labor unions
– Not much research on long-term impact
because charter school movement is
relatively new

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Social Policy and Education:
Charter Schools
• Initiating Policy
– In U.S., school policy is driven at local level
– Many school choice programs in addition to
charter school movement
• Homeschooling, vouchers, etc.
– Jury still out on effectiveness
• Quality cannot be assumed based on a certain
structure, size, affiliation, or funding source

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43-1: Google University
– Do you prefer to do your reading online or
in a magazine, newspaper, or book? Has
the availability of online information
changed the way that you read the written
word?
– Have you participated in any social or
political causes or volunteered your time
while on campus? If so, did you use the
Internet to organize or disseminate
information about your activities?
Sociology on Campus

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43-2: The Debate over Title IX
– Has Title IX had an effect on you
personally? If so, explain. On balance,
do you think the increase in women’s
participation in sports has been good for
society as a whole?
– How might Title IX affect the way students
and the public view gender roles?
Sociology on Campus

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44-1: Violence in the Schools
– Has a shooting or other violent episode
ever occurred at your school? If so, how
did students react? Do you feel safer at
school than at home, as experts say you
are?
– What steps have administrators at your
school taken to prevent violence? Have
they been effective, or should other steps
be taken?
Research Today

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Diane Belcher Gray, Assistant Director of
Volunteer Services, New River
Community College
– Have you, like Diane Belcher Gray, realized
through education that something you were
doing without thinking about it has helped to
prepare you for employment? Explain.
– Do some research on Dublin, Virginia, and
the surrounding area. What kind of economy
does this community have? Relate the layoffs
the community has been experiencing to
larger societal forces.
Taking Sociology to Work