The importance of education

 Sarah Elgohary

Professor William Mangino Fall 2016

  Sociology 018 10/2/16                    

Assignment 1 Topic Essay on Educational Inequality

The topic that I want to write about for the semester is educational inequality in schools. More specifically, I intend to focus on the differences in educational opportunities that wealthy students get as opposed to the lack of opportunities and resources that poor minority students do not have in their schools. I decided to write a paper on education for many reasons. First, I took the social problems class and wrote a fifteen-page research paper on educational inequalities in the United States because it was very interesting. Even though, I wish we lived in a utopian society with no problems let alone educational inequality; I l realize that there are no easy solutions to educational inequality and people need to study it from many different perspectives to get a better understanding whole picture.

 I believe that getting an education is the foundation to human beings having the ability to reason and develop rational thought to make our own decisions. This is because we are not controlled by instinct like other species. In other words, without an education human being would be animals because they did not learn to read or write. Therefore, humans would not have the ability to reason because they would be controlled by instincts. As a result, I believe that all human beings are born innocent babies who come into the world without knowing anything, so they have to be socialized by many different socializing agents. The most important socializing agent besides a person’s parents is an education because education is the main institution that allows people to have access to all of the other socializing agents. Education sets the motion for people to help gain a perspective or world view, in, order to learn about social norms, morals, good and bad behaviors, how to build good character, gain knowledge and a large well-connected social capital network. Education is needed to achieve your dreams and goals in life, to be a successful and productive member of society who knows how to make good decisions that not only benefits them, but benefits all of society as well.

Education is the most fundamental element in a modern and civilized society in my opinion. Based on my knowledge and research, race has an effect on many factors that have led to inequality in the education system, such as educational achievement, educational attainment, social status, lack of school funding, ascription, and social mobility People do not look at all of the different elements that cause educational inequality in society. Therefore, most people do not have the sociological imagination, which is why they only look at the inequality in the education system through one aspect the lack of school funding. Thesis statement: C. Wright Mills developed the principle of “sociological imagination,” which states that in order to explain any single problem in society, people have to look at the problem from all aspects. This is why when sociologists want to study educational inequalities they have to analyze them through how race intersects with the lack of funding, social status, educational achievement, educational attainment, class mobility, and ascription. All of these factors help sociologists explain and understand why there are many differences between the educational opportunities and the limited amount of access to the resources that students in poor high schools have. As a result, they cannot obtain a good college education because they cannot afford to get into the college.

 Part 2 the annotated Bibliography

Kozol, J. (1991). Chapter 4. Savage inequalities: Children in America's schools (pp. 35-150). New York: Crown Pub.

     The Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol takes readers on an expedition to six poor urban American communities between 1988 and 1990 to examine the inequalities in their school’s facilities, resources, and teachers. Jonathan Kozol’s analysis of the school illustrates how much less money is spent on students on poor minority students who need more educational opportunities in order receive an equal education as opposed to wealthy students in affluent neighborhoods . Chapter four discusses the racial disparities between schools in New Jersey. More specifically he focuses on Camden, New Jersey, which he cites “Camden as the fourth-poorest city of more than 50, 00 people in America” (Kozol, 1991, p.137). High unemployment, high taxes, and reduced property values add to the community’s problems. 

    The Savage Inequalities was very interesting. I was surprised that there were so many poor school districts in New Jersey, especially the fact that there was a dropout rate of 58 percent at Camden’s Woodrow Wilson High School. I never saw a school with a dropout rate like that before. I always thought that New Jersey was a very affluent area and the school districts had an abundance of resources for students. As a result, it was very eye opening when on his visit to Camden Kozol compared the air of Camden high school to “burning trash glue [and then] a factory” (Kozol, 1991, p.138). From what I have seen in the book, the inequalities in the education system are much more severe than I had anticipated.

Avalon, H., Brodsky, E. Gamoran, A., & Yogev, A. (2008). Diversification and inequality in higher education: A comparison of Israel and the United States. Sociology of Education, 81(3), 211-241. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.hofstra.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.hofstra.edu/docview/61697791?accountid=11449

Ayalon, Grodsky, Gamoran, and Yogev (2008) look at higher education in the United States and Israel, in terms of differences in how the two systems have developed, the authors anticipated that college attendance will be lower in Israel as opposed to the United States. They found that students in the United States are more likely to attend college than are their Israeli counterparts. Despite the fact, what the researchers believe, however, inequality in the chances of attendance is similar across these nations, if not slightly greater in the United States. They found that people in Israel attend college more people because there is less educational inequality because of the way the educational system is structured as opposed to the United States, which gives people in Israel more social mobility. Inequality in the types of institutions that students attend appears greater in the United States, but the contours of ethnic inequality in college destinations are markedly different across these two contexts. 

This article was interesting. I was surprised by the fact that the inequality in the chances of attendance at college or university is similar across in the United States and, Israel if not slightly greater in the United States. This is because western nations have been socialized to believe that they are superior to nonwestern nations in every aspect of life. As a result, most people believe that United States has the best education system in the world. However, after reading this article I no longer have the false misconception that the United States has the best education system. because I learned about that that people in Israel attend college more people because there is less educational inequality because of the way the educational system is structured as opposed to the United States, which gives people in Israel more social mobility. Now I believe that every education system learns to adapt to needs of people in their nation.  

Krymkowski, D. H., & Mintz, B. (2011). College as an investment: The role of graduation rates in changing occupational inequality by race, ethnicity, and gender. Race and Social Problems, 3(1), 1-12. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.hofstra.edu/10.1007/s12552-011-9038-2

In this study, the researchers examine whether or not the fact of students graduating from college or universities has contributed to changes in employment inequality. In order to reach this goal, the authors focus on the relationship between college graduation rates and their effects on the ability of college students to access positions in their desirable occupations and opportunities for social mobility between 1983 and 2002. Due to the fact there are social structures that reproduce inequality vary by gender, race, and ethnicity, the authors study trends for white, black, and Hispanic men and women in their experiment. As a result, Krymkowski and Mints, found that a very small decrease in both gender and racial inequality in terms of access to sought-after occupations and an increase in inequality between Hispanics and members of the other groups. In addition, they found that college completion does indeed provide an explanation for the progress made by white women and for the declines among Hispanic men. However, it does not explain changes for African Americans, and positions in their desirable occupations in the workplace, or their careers and opportunities for social mobility either between men and women or when compared to whites.

This study was interesting. It is nice to know that graduating from college or universities really does increase your opportunities to have the career of your choice. Unfortunately, this study confirmed what I already know this success is still only for a majority of white people not minority groups. However, on a positive note inequality in the workplace has decreased for Hispanics.

Lucas, Samuel. Annual review of law and social science Volume: 1 Issue 1 (2004) ISSN: 1550-3585 Online ISSN: 1550-3631

The authors describe features that structure educational opportunity and how race interacts with these structures. The researchers relate a set of important perspectives on the law-race relation. The researchers divide issues of education into three categories: (a) inherently radicalized aspects of law and education; (b) aspects of education that intersect race and the law; and (c) emerging issues in race, education, and the law.( Lucas, 2004 pg 1 In addition, they emphasize the fact that treating problems as policies will never make progress.

This study was interesting. I agree with the fact that the authors make about treating problems, as policies will never make progress. This study proves there are many social inequalities in education systems of the United States and other countries around the world. In addition, this study demonstrates how race plays an important role in defining and explaning how inequality persists in the education system,