SOC 436 Topic 8 Discussion: Systemic Educational Inequality

SOC 436 Topic 8 Discussion: Systemic Educational Inequality

SOC 436 Topic 8 Discussion: Systemic Educational Inequality

SOC 436 Topic 8 Discussion Question 1

What patterns of unequal educational opportunities and outcomes can you identify based on current policy in your state? Consider marginalized communities such as English language learners, students with disabilities, or immigrant youth in your response.SOC 436 Topic 8 Discussion: Systemic Educational Inequality

SOC 436 Topic 8 Discussion Question 2

How would you address systemic educational inequality between private and public school districts? Identify current state and/or national policies that contribute to the inequalities.

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SOC436 Topic 1 Assignment – Global Stratification Systems Essay

All societies are stratified, one way or the other. There is no denying that when it comes to countries with more than a population of a billion like India. Accordingly, India was picked to have their global stratification researched and written about. The Indian society over time has made major changed to the caste system. These changes were needed because of the amount of demands of the society. There have been discussions on the various ways that modern stratification has differed from the past. It also reflects on the impact the changes have had on the modern people of the society. Even though the stratification in the past has been rigid the future has actually become more relaxed.

Caste has been the most authentic type of social stratification. “The term caste has been commonly used to describe any system in which the different strata are rigidly fixed” (Marger, 2014). The caste system has certain common features, perhaps the most essential is the hereditary nature of a person’s position in the social hierarchy. This certain stratification takes place across gender, tribe, class, and geographical location. “Members of each caste are guided in their social lives by a set of regulations that pertain to marriage, work, recreation, and most other social spheres” (Marger, 2014). The function of caste according to Irshad et al (2013) is, “in the broader social systems, relation between race and caste, difference between caste and tribe, the broader patter of inter-caste relationship/ social precedence in different regions, patterns of social mobility, and trends of change in education and occupation and its impact on cast in different regions of India”. There was lack of equality and it wasn’t looked at to be negative, lower castes were considered unclean and the higher castes tried to avoid physical contact with them. The classification of the Indian caste system was basically identified in the form of four Varnas (castes), which are the Brahmins the priests, the Kshatriyas who are the princes, the Vaishya who were the merchants, and then the Shudra which were just the ordinary people. “All of those not part of the castes were considered polluted outsiders, referred to as untouchables” (Marger, 2014). Basically, the top three Varnas were the most privileges, they had the education and political and economic power. The people that weren’t apart of these certain castes were considered the outsiders.

Through the years the systems that everyone followed has changed. “Today, caste in India has been officially repudiated and with industrialization is giving way to a more class-based system of stratification” (Marger, 2014). This allowed it to become more flexible at least for some of the population. One thing that played a major role in the changes of the India caste system would be the British rule. There are points out there that say that, “The British were responsible for centralizing the caste system in Indian society slowly, the infrastructure built was also meant to be shared amongst everyone” (Jalali, 2016). The Indian society soon recognized that they were being taking advantage of by the British, and by forcing them out of the country they would accomplish more things. Also, other things that were impacted by the changes would include rituals, customs of the people, marriage restrictions, work restrictions, flexibility of food sharing, and some aspects of religion. That being said that the older generation would defiantly struggle with the new changes that were upon them.

Explained by the author Ahuja and Ostermann (2016), “The modern-day people in India are becoming free to choose their education based on their interested and the profession that they would like to pursue in their life. The second effect is that they are freer to choose their life partners without considering the aspects like caste.” One of the greatest conflicts would come from the relationship between the older generation and their beliefs, habits, and being able to accommodate to the flexibility of all the changes. It has been said that there have been threats and violence’s coming from the changes of the marriage customs. There also has been some research showing that how women participate at home, with education, and how they act in society have had a huge change as well. This issues sometime can cause discrimination for the woman. No matter that there are some negative aspects, we can say that the impacts from the changes are getting better because the country is becoming more modern. The different changes are just making it easier for the new generations to have a better future.

References

Ahuja, A., & Ostermann, S. L. (2016). Crossing Casste Boundaries in the Modern Indian Marriage Market. Studies in Comparative International Development.

Irshad, A. W., Ahrar, A.H., & Zuber, S. M. (2013). Revisiting Social Stratification in Indian Society: A review and analysis with focus on Kashmiri society. International journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention.

Jalali, R. (2016). Caste System of Stratification. The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism.

Marger, M (2014). (2014). Social inequality: Patterns and processes (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.