6.11 Review
Key Terms
Critical Thinking Questions
- How did the formalization of education during the Industrial Revolution support democracy in the United States?
- In what ways do the roles and responsibilities of high school counselors affect their ability to address students’ academic and social needs?
- How do student-to-counselor ratios affect the quality of individualized attention that students receive in high schools?
- What are the potential consequences of the rise in private educational consulting for students from lower- and middle-income households?
- How do macro, meso, and micro-level factors influence the daily work and strategies of high school counselors?
- How does the concept of capital (economic, social, cultural, and symbolic) influence an individual’s status and opportunities within a stratified society?
- How does the hidden curriculum in educational institutions perpetuate societal norms regarding status and power, and how does it affect minority and dominant groups differently?
- How do stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination contribute to the maintenance of systemic inequalities within a stratified system?
- What historical factors have led to the establishment of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and how does ongoing underfunding of these institutions illustrate the lasting impact of discrimination?
- How do affirmative action policies aim to improve equity in education, and what are the implications of recent legal rulings on the enrollment of underrepresented groups in higher education?
- How does the concept of intersectionality help us understand the unique experiences of individuals who belong to multiple marginalized groups?
- How has the historical use of racial categorization, such as the one-drop rule, influenced contemporary understandings of race in the United States?
- How do societal norms and expectations around gender roles contribute to the perpetuation of gender inequality?
- What are the implications of benevolent sexism, and how might it differ from more overt forms of sexism in its impact on gender equality?
- How does social class background affect the educational choices and opportunities for first-generation college students, and what strategies might help mitigate these challenges?
- How does colonialism continue to affect social institutions in the United States today, and what are some examples of settler colonialism and internal colonialism?
- How does White supremacy manifest in the education system, and how does it affect the opportunities and outcomes for students of different racial backgrounds?
- How does patriarchy intersect with other systems of oppression, such as capitalism and White supremacy, to create economic disparities between men and women?
- What are the benefits and drawbacks of capitalism as an economic system, and how does it contribute to social stratification and inequality in higher education?
- How can understanding the structures of colonialism, White supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism help us develop strategies to address and dismantle social stratification?
- How does the myth of meritocracy influence individuals’ beliefs about their success and the success of others in achieving the American Dream?
- How does the disparity in wealth growth among different social classes challenge the notion of the American Dream being attainable for everyone?
- How does the stratification of access to higher education reinforce existing inequalities and impact economic mobility in the United States?
- What role does academic tracking in schools play in perpetuating racial segregation and stereotypes about intelligence, and how does this affect students’ educational outcomes?
- How does parents’ social class influence their investment in their children’s education, and what are the broader implications of this for social inequality?
- How do schools contribute to both the reproduction and reduction of social stratification among students?
- What factors outside of school influence educational inequalities, and how do they interact with the school’s role in student learning?
- How do summer breaks impact students’ academic skills, and what does this suggest about the importance of continuous schooling?
- In what ways do schools standardize learning, and how does this affect gender disparities in academic performance?
- How can the refraction framework help explain the effects of schools on different groups of students?
Data Analysis Questions
Answer each question for each figure in this chapter.
- What is this figure trying to tell me?
- What is the pattern in this data?
- Where do the data come from?
- Why does this data matter?