This is the second of my university essays I will upload, mostly as a safe place to keep them from being lost to me. It's also a slightly better piece of work compared to the travesty I had already uploaded, although a quick read through revealed that there are still plenty of mistakes present.
So once again, if it is useful to you as a tool for what not to do then go ahead and have a read, and whatever you do don't plagarise it... You will be caught due to the way this work was submitted.
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To many social class is no longer relevant in contemporary Britain, they argue that we now live in a classless society and everyone has an equal opportunity in life and that discrimination based on class, ethnicity and gender no longer exist. However, within this essay I will attempt to provide a persuasive argument for both ethnicity and gender still having a significant effect on already existing differences within social classes. By doing so I will attempt to demonstrate how the experiences of working class women would be different from the middle classes and men in general. In doing so I will highlight how this affects areas of their lives ranging from income to opportunities. In addition to gender, my essay will focus on ethnicity being a source of social division, touching upon subjects ranging from the equality movement to employment opportunities. After doing so I will offer an explanation to how both these categories within society exaggerate existing differences with social classes.
I will focus this part of my essay on how women’s experiences of inequalities are intensified as a result of their working-class backgrounds. Working class women can often be the subject of derogatory stereotyping, their behaviour towards both family and others often associated with deviancy from what is expected of feminine behaviour. When writing about class and gender, Beverley Skeggs illustrated how the middle-classes in Britain created themselves by demonstrating ways in which they were different from the ‘other’, the ‘other’ in this case being the working-class (Skeggs). This created the term ‘class’, and this process of distancing the middle-classes from the ‘other’ is still being used to differentiate between the middle and working class today. Examples of this can be seen often within our society such as the focus by political parties on the breakdown of the family unit, with single mothers being the main focus. This focus on single-parent family is important as it is often associated with working-class families. As Skeggs wrote “just think about the contemporary British Conservative government campaigns (at the 1995 party conference) which demonized single parents thereby (re)presenting working class women as degenerate, irresponsible and a threat to the national family” (Skeggs, in Mahoney and Zmroczek 1997: 125) although this example is from sixteen years ago, this attitude in the media and through politicians is something that can often be seen or heard today. This process of demonization stigmatises the working class female leading wider society to believe that single parent families thought of as working class, are the cause of many of the societal problems within everyday life.
It is not just single parent women who as a result of their working class background that can be at a disadvantage within society. Women throughout society are at a disadvantage in most professional occupations, as a result of this disadvantage women in general earn far less than men in work, known as the gender pay gap. Women make up almost 50% of the labour market in the UK, but earn on average far less due to the lower statuses of positions women hold. Meg Maguire writes about this inequality in her chapter in Class Matters: ‘Working-Class’ Women’s Perspective on Social Class. Maguire states that women are at a disadvantage when it comes to being employed within academia, although more than half of the students within higher education are female very few of these move into lecturing. Something she claims makes those that are in employment within this area ‘outsiders’ to the rest of the academy (Maguire 1997). The inequalities within this sector of paid employment do not stop at this Maguire goes on to explain that on top of the fact that fewer women go onto work within higher education those that do work in lower positions within the lecturing staff, something which is echoed generally throughout most organisations. She writes that “They are concentrated in subordinate positions within an occupation which is organised and managed by dominant male workers from the same occupational class and background” (Maguire 1997: 89). This over-representation of male upper and middle class workers in positions of power within organisations such as universities, large companies and banks has a large effect on the potential for progress in employment for females within that profession. This makes it hard for women to move up the company ladder due to the institutionalised sexism, often referred to as the class-ceiling, whereby women can see the way to progress through the company but cannot due to them being female.
This glass-ceiling effect is echoed in Pamela Abbott’s chapter on gender in the book Social Divisions, within she states that gender has a detrimental effect on the type of employment available to women. She states within that women are concentrated in the low paid manual areas of the employment market, often in caring roles or working in non-manual low paid jobs such as secretarial positions or as clerks in offices. These jobs, although many would consider them to be white-collar and therefore middle-class jobs, are low paid and therefore mean that these women are likely to be living on low-incomes close to the minimum wage available. Citing Payne and Abbott, she states that “Despite over 20 years of equal opportunities legislation, there is still clear evidence that the ‘glass ceiling’ (a barrier to women’s upward mobility into higher level positions) and the ‘glass wall’ (a barrier to women entering occupations defined as male) still act as barriers” (Payne and Abbott 1990 cited in Abbott: 88). This illustrates the divisions that are still present in society, and the obstacles that women face in employment if they wish to progress in their careers, or even gain entry into the occupation that they want to have a career in.
Divisions within society take shape not only due to class and gender but also are related to ethnicity; the background of the person can often lead to social exclusion from areas that other people may have an easier time accessing such as health care services, education and employment opportunities. Although social work can be criticised for failing many groups within society such as children under their care, the ethnic minority community it can be argued suffer an even greater level of negligence due to the effect of institutionalised racism or even racism from the individual social worker themselves. For this argument I will only examine the institutional racism that these communities may face when seeking help from social workers. This can lead to forms of social exclusion Dominelli writes that “The dynamics inherent in the racially exclusive tendency result in black people having limited access to the ‘goodies’ or caring services provided through social work intervention” (Dominelli 1992: 166). By this she means that the ethnic minority community often face huge obstacles in receiving state funded social care, such as community workers to help with everyday jobs around the home that they cannot do themselves due to age or disability or state funded accommodation in old age due to health or dependency. This can be linked to class as most of these services are used by working-class people in retirement through either age or disability. Ethnic minorities are vastly over represented in the working class due to the way that employment opportunities are often inaccessible to them due to their ethnic background. This income inequality is what I will now turn my attention to.
Minority ethnic groups within Britain are more likely to suffer from both poverty and unemployment, this inequality in employment is compounded by the fact that even when in employment the types of jobs and positions they hold generally are much lower paid and more disposable, for example low-skilled manual labour. This fact is highlighted by statistics taken from the Office of National Statistics, Annual Local Area Labour Force Survey 2001/02, the worst affected minority ethnic group was Bangladeshi men and women with unemployment rates at 20% for males and 24% for females, compared to the White majority groups at 5% and 4% respectively (Mason in Payne 2006: 112-113). These figures show just how unequal employment opportunities can be for minority ethnic workers in the UK, added to this Mason explains that during times of economic downturn in the economy minority ethnic groups suffer far worse in relation to the white majority with levels of redundancy (Mason). Unemployment is not the only form of discrimination that minority ethnic groups receive in the labour market, although some ethnic minorities are increasingly closing the gap on the white population in high pay jobs such as the Asian community in the UK, most groups are still at a disadvantage when it comes to employment in skilled and professional occupations.
This disadvantage in accessing the higher level jobs within society for some minority ethnic groups features in many studies conducted, Mason states that within the application process there is still a significant level of discrimination against those from minority ethnic backgrounds (Mason in Payne 2006). One study carried out matched two identical applicants, their CV’s were exactly the same in qualifications, and experience in that field of work was sent to companies from the Times 1,000 index. The only difference in the letters inquiring about future employment was the names of the people inquiring, Evans and Patel. The study found that companies were more likely to respond and when responding provided a better quality of response to Evans than their responses to Patel (Mason). This study highlights the institutionalised racism within companies, and the difficulties posed to minority ethnic groups when trying to achieve social mobility, due to the widespread levels of difference in levels of response given to both these fictitious candidates for jobs.
In conclusion, I believe that both gender and ethnicity play a major role in divisions within society. The role gender plays in intensifying social divisions can be seen in the way that public impressions of the working class female through both politics and media demonise the individuals as being deviant. They are stereotyped as having values differentiating from the middle-class norms held by society, and are perceived as being a threat. Added to this gender can act as a barrier in both attaining professional employment and in progressing through the corporate ladder, with both the glass ceiling and perceived male jobs providing potential barriers for women in achieving social mobility. The role ethnicity plays is a similar one to that of women in dividing society, the area of social care provides inadequate care for many ethnic groups in society through institutionalised racism, perceiving those in minority ethnic groups to be somehow less deserving of help provided. The lack of jobs opportunities and high unemployment rates with ethnic minority groups help perpetuate these class divisions based on ethnicity as many companies are either unwilling to employ ethnic minorities in high pay jobs or employ these groups in less stable jobs that are at prone to jobs losses much quicker in times of recession. Overall, I believe that not only do these divisions help to extend the class divisions in society I believe they are actually made much more intense for minority ethnic groups as a result of the class structure in the UK.
References
Skeggs, B. (1997) Classifying Practices: Representations, Capitals and Recognitions, in Mahoney, P. and Zmroczek, C. Class Matters: ‘Working-Class’ Women’s Perspectives on Social Class, London: Taylor and Francis, 123-139.
Maguire, M. (1997) Missing Links: Working-Class Women of Irish Descent, in Mahoney, P. and Zmroczek, C. Class Matters: ‘Working-Class’ Women’s Perspectives on Social Class, London: Taylor and Francis, 87-100.
Abbott, P. (2006) Gender, in Payne, G. Social Divisions, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 65-101.
Dominelli, L. (1992) An Uncaring Profession? An Examination of Racism in Social Work, in Braham, P., Rattansi, A. and Skellington, R. Racism and Antiracism: Inequalities, Opportunities and Policies, London: Sage, 164-178.
Mason, D. (2006) Ethnicity, in Payne, G. Social Divisions, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 102-130.
