Sociology Using Material from Item a Assess Sociological...

Sociology Topic 6 ‘Using material from item A assess sociological explanations of gender inequality in todays society’ In the last 30 years women in the UK working has risen to 2.45 million whereas men working has risen by 0.5 million. Item A suggests a variety of gender inequalities in today’s society for example the pay difference women receive as it is suggested according to item A that women earn a quarter of a million pounds less than men and this is without women not having any children if she did have children it would be  £140,000 less. The pay gap reduces family income overall which isn’t beneficial for families. Another issue is that women mainly work in low paid sectors like retail or caring and due to women having a glass†¦show more content†¦pay is low in occupations where there are many women. This could be because the jobs require less training and promotion prospects for this job in which men are in the majority. Human capital assumes that experiences of employment means the increase in wage whereas experience in part time work is associated with less wages. Some sociologists believe that a dual labour market exists and is divided into 2 sectors primary and secondary. Primary is secure, well paid and with good prospectus whereas the secondary is poor pay insecurity and no ladder of promotion. Barron and Norris concluded that women are likely to be in the secondary this is due to women being unsuitable, disrupted career developments and weak legal and political framework supporting women. Liberal feminists argue that the traditional forms of gender role socialisation in families, education and in the media are responsible for reproducing a sexual division in labour in which masculinity is seen as dominant whereas femininity is seen as subordinate.Oakly argues that the reason for the subordination of women in the labour market is the dominance of motherhood/housewife roles for women. Patriarchal ideology stresses the view that women’s only purpose is to raise children. Sharpe believes that education and careers are main priorities of teen girls. Girls also perform better in education which suggests that society will change at a later stage due to girls performing so wellShow MoreRelatedSociology Essay20437 Words   |  82 PagesAS Sociology Sociology Nik Jorgensen Text  © Nelson Thornes Distance Learning 2010 Illustrations  © Nelson Thornes Distance Learning 2010 All rights reserved. The copyright holders authorise ONLY users of NTDL AS Sociology to make photocopies for their own or their students’ immediate use within the teaching context. No other rights are granted without permission in writing from the publisher or under licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited, of Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street