Institutional racism
Educations and Hispanics or Blacks
Education is important as it acts as a tool for empowerment and economic mobility. However, education inequality is big problem in U.S since education attainment is determined by racial and social class. Racial inequality in education system has been contributed by the racism behavior of linking education with cultural values, sexual orientation, and social status among other elements. Racial disparity in education system is evident from k-12 schooling where children get limited early childhood education programs. The research finds that minority children live a poor life and this affects their education life since they do not get enough education, they lack job opportunities and suffer from health problems in their future life. Boys experience hardships in their adult life since lack of education increases the likelihood of being involved in criminal activities and girls end up giving birth at immature age. Some studies argue that minority have created “individual-level-of analysis” which makes them belief that they are poor and they fear being labeled as ‘acting white’. Lack of education has been associated with economic disadvantage and this is contributed by the high rate of poverty. Black people have experienced education disparities which has negatively affected their socioeconomic status.
Lack of education is a big issue to minority when it comes to employment and wages in technology based industries. Gatchair (357) asserts policymakers and entrepreneurs focusing on developing policies which are based on developing technology based industries for the purpose of economic growth. Such industries require a high level of knowledge which aligns with the modern technology. In this case, African Americans and Hispanics do not get job opportunities in these industries since they lack science and engineering skills. The problem with education inequality is explained further by human capital theory which asserts that employment and earning is determined by ability and skill. In other words, human capital such as education play a significant role in helping an individual get high paying job (Gatchair, 357). Human capital investment creates a difference since individual with high education will enjoy many benefits compared with individuals with low level of education. Other important point is that human capital will create more opportunities of getting better jobs. This means that African Americans will lack opportunities of getting higher paying jobs in the labor market (Gatchair, 358). According to human capital theory, human capital investment improves productivity. The article asserts that education in labor market is seen as a method of filtering and screening. This means that in an organization, an employer does not understand the ability of an employee. Therefore, the level of education of an employee helps the employer understand the ability and productivity level. In addition, many industries use higher education to elate and assess the ability and performance of an employee. The problem with signaling process is that it does not only focus on level of education but they also need to know the schools attended (Gatchair, 358).
Human capital theory clearly shows that Black individuals in the labor market are under-represented in technology based industries which require science and engineering education. Some researches argue that failure to study science and engineering subjects and lack of job opportunity in technology industry is as a result of African American decisions (Gatchair, 359). It is argued that Black individuals choose education and socials sciences career for community development and ignores careers in science and engineering simply because it is unrewarding in terms of financial returns. However, black scientists argue that racial discrimination which is socially constructed and hinder African American from pursuing S&E subjected in white dominated institutions. When Black and other minorities enter in the science and engineering field, the attrition rate is high. Other studies argue that the high rate of attrition is contributed by lack of preparation or under-preparation (Gatchair, 359). Other argument is that under-preparation is due to the fact that Black students do not take pre-requisite courses and get under-resourced schools among other discriminatorily actions which affect their success in science and engineering field. Other important point is that Black individuals do not get support and encouragement from mentors. In addition, they are suffering from financial constraints and experience cultural isolation and discriminatory action in institutions. The above research especially on the fact that Black people face under-preparation is an indication that when they enter in technology industry, they will face discrimination since employers will not use their education level as a signal for ability and productivity (Gatchair, 360). In other words, they will be under-presented in these industries and hey will be forced to search for less rewarding jobs.
Hornsby and Sheila (102) assert that in hospitality industry, there is cultural and ethnic diversity where only 34.9% minorities work in these industries. In hospitality organization, lack of education is the main factor which denies them the opportunity to work in management-level position. In most cases, they work in hourly positions and receive low ages. The point is that the diversity in hospitality industry is contributed by lack of education programs and recruiting to minorities (Hornsby & Sheila, 103). Various researches have confirmed that the number of minorities who do not get opportunity in high position will increase since they are denied hospitality training programs in U.S universities. The big problem is that this phenomenon is only researched by few scholars and this is an indication that researches do not concentrate on minority hospitality education as well as their needs (Hornsby & Sheila, 103). This ignorance or lack of concern denies minorities the opportunity to purse education on hospitality field. Studies on this issue have shown that there are 24 hospitality programs and only few minorities study these programs. The article states that studies on recruitment and retention have been done but the study on minority in hospitality has been ignored (Hornsby & Sheila, 104). It is also important to note that lack of research is due to the fact that there is no critical mass of minority and so it is not possible to find their experience in hospitality education. The authors add that the color line division has affected the higher education and employment. Education inequality hinder minority in being employment in hospitality industries and they do not get access to economic benefit. This affects their lives as they end up living a poor life which hinders them from accessing health care and other important social service and resources (Hornsby & Sheila, 105).
Educational difference between White and Black is not a social structural condition but rather it is problem which stems from minority background (Mocombe & Carol, 1). The oppositional culture theory explained the argument by focusing on two types of minorities. First, there are immigrants’ minorities who had self-determination of migrating to U.S. Thus, these individuals have optimistic attitudes of achieving their goal and succeeding in life. On the other hand, there are involuntary minorities and these are individuals who were slaves and they found themselves in U.S society against their will (Mocombe & Carol, 5). These individuals have the attitude that they are different from the dominant group and they refer to themselves as disfavored group. The negative perceptions make them belief that they are minorities, they cannot get job opportunities and for this reason, they do not value education. Other point is that minorities develop ‘identity-in-differential’ and tend to belief that certain activities belong to White Americans (Mocombe & Carol, 5). In addition, they have created a ‘culture of poverty’ which make them to lack importance on education. They undervalue education and other activities which could lead to success as they fear being labeled as ‘acting white’. The latter creates a difference in academic achievement and this becomes a heavy burden in their lives. In U.S, capitalism world-system does not align with Black’s illegal activities such as drug and crime (Mocombe & Carol, 1). The fear of being labeled as ‘acting white’ makes Blacks to prefer being engages in sports, music and more. The argument is that education disparities are not racism but rather it an “individual-levels of analysis” which made Blacks belief that there is difference in social situations (Mocombe & Carol, 6).
Conclusion
Education disparity is associated with negative consequences which affects the entire life of minority groups. The research has shown that lack of education contributes to socioeconomic inequality in that minorities does not get good jobs and they get poor payment. In labor markets, productivity is measured by human capital. This means that minority who do attain high education do not access or enjoy economic benefit. In addition, the issue of socioeconomic inequality has a profound effect in that there is cultural and ethnic disparity in hospitality management where minorities does get access to high promotion due to lack of education. However, the opposition argument state that there is no racism in education system but what happens is that Blacks have the negative attitude that they are poor and they fear being labeled as ‘acting white’.
Work cited
Gatchair, Sonia. "Race/Ethnicity and Education Effects on Employment in High Technology Industries and
Occupations in the US, 1992-2002." Review of Black Political Economy, vol. 40, no. 4, Dec. 2013,
- 357-370. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s12114-013-9157-7.
Hornsby, Gilpatrick Deshone and Sheila A. Scott-Halsell. "Minorities in Hospitality Management: The
State of Diversity in Hospitality Education." Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, vol. 27,
- 3, July 2015, pp. 102-111. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/10963758.2015.1064316.
Mocombe, Paul, and Carol Tomlin. The Oppositional Culture Theory. Lanham, Md: University Press of
America Inc, 2010. Print.
Annotated bibliography
Mocombe, Paul, and Carol Tomlin. The Oppositional Culture Theory. Lanham, Md: University Press of
America Inc, 2010. Print.
In this book, the author explores the education achievement gap between Whites and Blacks. The author helps the reader to understand that African Americans have created the achievement gap through their own social functions. Thus, rather than concluding that there is education racism in U.S, the book uses oppositional culture theory to argue that Blacks are controlled by the perceptions that certain activities belong to Whites. In addition, the book states that blacks define themselves as ‘underclass’ and they follow the culture of poverty. All these negative perceptions hinder them in attaining education and succeeding in life. The author adds something important and states that they undervalue education and they are controlled by the fear of ‘acting white’. This means that the social psychology makes them belief that they cannot achieve high education and so they prefer other activities such as music.
Hornsby, Gilpatrick Deshone and Sheila A. Scott-Halsell. "Minorities in Hospitality Management: The
State of Diversity in Hospitality Education." Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, vol.
27, no. 3, July 2015, pp. 102-111. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/10963758.2015.1064316.
The article by Hornsby and Scott-Halsell introduces the hospitality industry and minority. The purpose of this article is to show the reader that in modern world, minorities are underrepresented in the hospitality leadership position. This is mainly due to the reason that they do not get higher education which is applicable in these industries. Even if they are employed in hospitality industry, they get hourly jobs. They major cause of disparity is failure of Blacks to achieve hospitality education degree which is required in the management positions. The article offers valuable information by stating that the problem is rooted from universities where there is inadequate hospitality education for minorities. The study in this article shows that enrollment data in other fields was compared with enrollment data on hospitality education and found that minorities are underrepresented in the hospitality education programs. When they in career field, they end up living a poverty life due to lack of higher paying jobs.
Gatchair, Sonia. "Race/Ethnicity and Education Effects on Employment in High Technology Industries
and Occupations in the US, 1992-2002." Review of Black Political Economy, vol. 40, no. 4, Dec.
2013, pp. 357-370. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s12114-013-9157-7.
Sonia offers important information that lack of education contributes to socioeconomic disadvantage toward minorities. In labor markets, high technology industry employs workers who have higher education and who are competent in science and engineering field. This means that lack of education especially in these subjects deny the minorities an opportunity to get career in high technology industry. The article goes on to assert that productivity is measured with respect to the levels of human capital. Thus, level of educational attainment creates employment different between black and whites. Lack of education forces Black people to search for other low paying jobs to sustain their living. In addition, they end living a poor life since they do not get access to higher paying jobs which demands higher level of education.
