THE LABOR MARKET: SOCIOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES

Models or theories have been developed that point out inequities or obstacles in the labor market that may affect the earnings or success of different individuals.

THE UNITED STATES LABOR MARKET

Labor market – serves to fulfill the needs of citizens of a state, a nation, and/or the world.
Job availability is related to the demand of individuals for food, shelter, clothing, etc.
Professional specialties are the group most likely to increase in demand for jobs.
Growth – the need for new workers to meet demands of an occupation beyond the needs that are met by replacing existing workers
Workers leave occupations for a variety of reasons.
Service occupations are projected to have the largest number of openings
A large number of jobs in US do not require a college education.
The amount of education is closely related to income¼, economic value of education.

SOCIOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC APPROACHES

Emphasizes the study of social organizations (psychology (focuses on individuals, not organizations)
Sociology – study the development, organization, and operation of human society. Examine family, cultural, and other social factors that predict career choice as well as variables such as unemployment and pay distributions by industry. Studies the patterns of customs, interactions, and professional development of hundreds or illegal and legal occupations. Ability, interests, and values, and career decision making are studied to predict labor market or work behavior (also for economists)
Economics – study the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Investigate factors such as unemployment, pay distribution by industry, job title, gender, and race (which are related to a person’s career development)

YOUTH EMPLOYMENT

Not a homogenous group, ages 15-24 often used
Girls only make 70-75% of what boys make, less disparity in 12th grade
Differences in motivation for work
Quality of employment is low
Part time work has positive and negative effects on future employment
Students may develop a sense of autonomy
Youth more likely to be underemployed than older workers

THE EFFECT OF THE WORK ENVIRONMENT ON THE INDIVIDUAL

Having an unchallenging job may lead to a loss of intellectual skills
Substantive complexity – the degree to which the work requires thought and independent judgment
Substantive complexity increases intellectual functioning of employees



STATUS ATTAINMENT THEORY

The role of achievement and social status influences occupational selection
Focused on intergenerational change (vertical mobility) and predicting an individual’s occupation from the father’s job.
Found that they could predict the socioeconomic status level of one’s first job from father’s occupation and education
Family status includes father’s job, socioeconomic status, income, education.
Mother’s job is a factor of increasing importance
Culture affects status attainment

HUMAN CAPITAL THEORY

Individuals invest in their own education and training so that they will receive increased life-time earnings
Career earnings – function of ability, education and training, combined with the effort to produce effectively
Education and appropriate job experience lead to desired income
Individual is seen as a firm or company
Endorsement of trait and factor theory – emphasizes role of interests and abilities in selecting an occupation
Criticism – not just about money

THE STRUCTURE OF THE LABOR MARKET

Disadvantaged and underprivileged groups tend to enter different types of jobs from those who are more privileged
Classifies both firms and labor markets into two basic groups: primary (core) and secondary (peripheral) - basic view
A way of seeing a variety of discontinuous segments in the labor market
Hard to move from lowest sector to a higher sector

WOMEN AND DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE

Discrimination leads to lower pay, less advancement, and occupational segregation¼leads to working in jobs less prestigious than men
Four determinants of discrimination:
Taste discrimination – preference not to employ members of a certain group
Monopoly model of discrimination – when an organized group agrees to exclude another group from positions
Error discrimination – employers who do not have discriminatory taste but may underestimate the ability of women to perform the same task as men
Statistical discrimination – when an employer applies generalizations about a group of people to an individual
Women have similar unemployment rates as men but move in and out of the labor force more frequently than men.
Women are in jobs that tend to pay less and have less prestige than men’s jobs.
Gender segretation refers to the difference in distribution of men and women in various occupations; this is illustrated by Table 15.3, p. 397
Men are now entering more jobs in the service sector that have been previously held by women

CULTURALLY DIVERSE INDIVIDUALS AND DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE

Unemployment rate for African Americans and Latinos in 2003 was much greater than rates for Caucasians and Asians
Relatively few Hispanics and African Americans in high-skill jobs
African American men have higher unemployment rates because of fewer opportunities for less-educated workers.
When African Americans and Caucasian men have similar résumés, African American men at all educational levels experience discrimination
Some firms inconsistent in applying affirmative action rules
Evidence that African American men tend to work at the lowest sector of the labor market
Ogbu differentiates between involuntary and voluntary minorities who differ in attitude towards workOgbu finds that African Americans perceive a job ceiling