DSOC 2090 1st Edition Exam 3 Study Guide Lectures 14 18 Lecture 14 March 19 Are kids from poor neighborhoods disadvantaged by virtue of where they grow up To what extent does school quality affect attainment HPN High Poverty Neighborhood There is more of an income segregation with poor people becoming more concentrated in high poverty neighborhoods and wealthy people becoming more concentrated in wealthy neighborhoods There are also different levels of stickiness in neighborhoods Low income neighborhoods have higher rates of obesity disease social problems low educational attainment of youth unemployment There are two arguments why neighborhoods have a causal effect on attainment 1 Causal less political motivation in HPN which leads to greater exposure to pollutants which affect child development higher prices of goods services smaller number of institutions and more social disorganization culture of poverty 2 Selection effect attributes of family are affecting kids more than neighborhoods Summary there are some casual effects of neighborhoods on outcomes but it is not known what features of neighborhoods are most important Lecture 15 March 24 Is there a causal effect of schools What is race There is a strong positive relationship between socioeconomic standing and test scores School funding does matter but family SES explains much more Public vs private most academically inclined and wealthier kids go to private schools Three policy imlications o Better public school funding inefficient o Reduce income inequality among parents politically unpalatable o Early childhood investments there is a stronger return on public investment in headstart programs for low SES kids What is race There are two basic approaches o Race as a biological construct used to justify slavery o Race as a social construct identity and hierarchy created through social interaction It is not genetically based Ex Irish immigrants in late 1800s Mixed race constructs Racialization of poverty blacks are more likely to be poor Macro level race embedded into economic political legal institutions Micro level race infused in day to day interactions Lecture 16 March 26 How does the immigrant experience affect inequality Do the new immigrants show similar patterns of assimilation as the old immigrants Why do some children of immigrants assimilate and some do not Native Born in US US territory or to US citizens Foreign born Naturalized US citizens Immigrant subset of foreign born lawful permanent residents and undocumented immigrants Immigrant incorporation had classic modes and new modes o Prior to 1965 just exclusions on the immoral and laborers Secondary sector incorporation accept lower wages and worse working conditions Cheap labor Middleman minorities bridge between immigrants and natives Ex Jewish financiers in Europe Immigrant enclaves spatial concentration of immigrants of one ethnic group with networks and a separate economy Assimilation included structural cultural and identity o After 1964 quotas were eliminated and preferences for highly skilled workers started Highly educated immigrants Segmented assimilation Classic trajectory assimilation upward economically and culturally Speak English at home and adopt mainstream cultural practices Downward assimilation downward acculturation into the values and norms of the inner city Selective acculturation members of ethnic enclave resist acculturation Also depends on societal receptivity resources at entry and spatial context Summary There are many trajectories for immigrant groups Lecture 17 April 07 What is the connection between race and educational attainment What are the patterns proposed explanations What does the evidence say 1 Class and socioeconomic status effects a Apparent racial ethnic differences are income or social effects in disguise Class differences include the level of educational resources outside of school SES is the strongest predictor of educational attainment for all groups b Ability There are two theories blacks are disadvantaged because of genetic endowments or that it is because of socially produced differences in cognitive ability rather than IQ c School classroom composition blacks benefit from attending schools or classrooms more with whites because of the interaction effect However schools do not necessarily desegregate friendships or classrooms d Stressors fear and stress like violent crime exposures make kids do worse in school e Racial cultural effects either parents do not value education or kids have to fit in by doing poorly well in school or of the stereotype threat Lecture 19 April 09 How can we explain differences in the labor market Class based account the reason we see the differences in wages and jobs is because of legacy of discrimination All children born into poor families are disadvantaged Economic restricting account there are fewer and worse jobs in inner cities This directly affects worse occupational placement and creates a black middle class flight from inner cities which leaves little institutions for those left Basically residential segregation and pure discrimination