Deck 13: Social Mobility and Status Attainment: Openness in Us Society

Question 1

The difference between the minimum amount of expected mobility and what actually occurs is often referred to as:

A) circulation mobility
B) outflow mobility
C) intergenerational mobility
D) variance mobility

Answer 1

circulation mobility

Question 2

The decline in the association between an individual's social background and where he or she ends up occupationally appears to be linked to:

A) the rise in the proportion of workers who have higher education
B) the decrease in opportunities for some groups
C) the heterogeneity of the labor force
D) the stagnation of mobility among parents

Answer 2

the rise in the proportion of workers who have higher education

Question 3

Featherman and Hauser's study of mobility in the 1970s revealed that:

A) the top and the bottom of the occupation hierarchy were fairly open to all
B) social background became more important as a predictor of occupational position
C) there was a strengthening in the connection between fathers' and sons' occupations
D) more mobility occurred than what would be expected from only changes in the occupational
Structure

Answer 3

more mobility occurred than what would be expected from only changes in the occupational
Structure

Question 4

Historically, mobility in the United States has:

A) involved virtually no occupational inheritance
B) involved more downward than upward mobility
C) more often been of a long-range rather than short-range variety
D) found an increasing proportion of men from manual origins moving into white-collar positions

Question 5

Recent evidence on mobility in the U.S. suggests that:

A) occupational mobility increased in the last decade of the 20^th century
B) intergenerational mobility in income increased since 1980
C) individuals born into a high- or low-status family are likely to remain in that position
D) children's income and wealth is more heavily influenced by personal effort than by the income and wealth of their parents.

Question 6

Which of the following are likely to have profound effects on U.S. mobility patterns?

A) advances in information technologies
B) shifts in the extent of racial and ethnic discrimination
C) continued establishment and stability of women in the labor force
D) all of the above

Question 7

If one's income declines but the income of others is also declining or those below are much poorer, one may still remain in the same place on the income ladder. This demonstrates the concept of:

A) relative upward mobility
B) absolute downward mobility
C) relative downward mobility
D) interpersonal mobility

Question 8

Research suggests that during the mid-1980s:

A) absolute downward mobility decreased
B) the chances of falling into poverty were greater for the upper classes
C) the chances for falling into poverty were greater for Blacks and women
D) none of the above

Question 9

of the following does national data NOT suggest?

A) the majority of Blacks who were raised in poor families stay poor in early adulthood
B) the chances of upward mobility of both White and Black children are reduced when raised in a poor family
C) almost two-thirds of Black children grew up in the bottom 20 percent of families in the nation, when they become adults
D) Black children, especially those in the middle class, are much less likely than White children to have incomes that exceed those of their parents

Question 10

Which best describes the "industrialism" thesis?

A) Industrialization is the key to economic development.
B) Industrialization promotes social mobility by demolishing old barriers.
C) When industrial countries become dependent upon each other, inequality between them arises.
D) Industrialization leads to the development of social classes and, consequently, greater rigidity in the system of inequality.

Question 11

Research on the "industrialism" thesis suggests that:

A) industrialization inevitably increases upward mobility
B) mobility increases continuously with economic development
C) industrial countries are similar in their rates and patterns of mobility
D) overall mobility rates in Western industrial nations are not very similar

Question 12

The factor that appears to be most responsible for differences in mobility between industrial countries is variation in:

A) discrimination
B) cultural values
C) the occupational structure and composition
D) the strength of connection between parental and offspring position

Question 13

Status-attainment studies attempt to identify the factors that are primarily responsible for connection between:

A) the positions of parents and their adult children
B) the positions of men relative to women
C) social mobility in industrialized to agricultural societies
D) none of the above

Question 14

The Blau-Duncan model of status attainment focuses on:

A) downward rather than upward mobility
B) the role of social-psychological factors in attainment
C) the amount of social mobility during an individual's career
D) the socioeconomic origins of the occupational status of sons

Question 15

Blau and Duncan found that:

A) high degrees of mobility are inconsistent with extensive inequality
B) as men get older, their social origins have an increasing effect on their attainment
C) socioeconomic origins have little effect on the chances of one moving up in society
D) education has become increasingly important to occupational attainment

Question 16

Which of the following factors were added to the Blau-Duncan model of attainment by Wisconsin researchers?

A) father's occupation
B) respondent's education
C) socioeconomic background
D) friends' plans to attend college

Question 17

Education:

A) has no empirical association with occupational attainment
B) has less of an effect on attainment as one moves through the life cycle
C) has an effect on attainment almost solely because of the cognitive skills it imparts
D) accounts for almost all of the variation in occupational attainment among individuals

Question 18

Randall Collins argues that:

A) the primary mission of a college education is to transmit relevant occupational skills
B) occupational attainment is ultimately a function of educational and occupational aspirations
C) schools serve little objective function, but rather educate students to a "status culture" that is
Deemed desirable by future employers
D) college professors and administrators ignore the socioeconomic background of students, evaluating them solely on the basis of their academic merits

Question 19

Research on contextual factors that affect status attainment reveals that:

A) mother's occupation does not appear to affect daughter's occupation
B) sex segregation in occupations has little effect on chances for earnings increases
C) working in a male-dominated occupation increases the likelihood of promotion for women in that occupation
D) individuals who get jobs through personal contacts are more likely to get wage increases and promotion opportunities than those who secure jobs without such contacts

Question 20

Explanations that causally attribute inequality to factors beyond the individual's control are called______________ arguments.

A) structural
B) "fair play"
C) deterministic
D) epiphenomenal

Question 21

Research on status attainment and mobility finds that:

A) class distinctions have become more visible within the Black community
B) Blacks have experienced virtually no mobility in the public sector of the economy
C) higher-status Blacks tend to come equally from a wide range of status backgrounds
D) the chances that Blacks and Whites in low-paying jobs will move up are about the same

Question 22

Research on the educational attainment process:

A) indicates that grades are the major cause of attainment for Blacks
B) suggests that Blacks are more affected by socioeconomic background than are Whites
C) suggests that Blacks are more affected by self-esteem and aspirations than are Whites
D) indicates a stronger connection between mental ability and academic performance among Blacks
Than is the case for Whites

Question 23

In her longitudinal study of women's changing economic fortunes over a 30-year period, Andrea Willson (2003) found that:

A) both White and Black women who were married benefited financially from their marriages
B) White women lost more than Black women in old age due to widowhood and loss of employment
C) continuous employment benefited both Black but not White women
D) none of the above

Question 24

Studies about occupational mobility indicate that:

A) strong kin groups can both aid and hinder mobility of low socio-economic status women
B) men and women from the same status origins tend to go to the same occupational destinations
C) the likelihood of working in a professional occupation is greatest for daughters from blue-collar backgrounds
D) when compared to their parents, daughters are somewhat more likely than sons to have attained incomes higher than their parents

Question 25

The opportunity structure is different for women in that:

A) it is easier for women to break into the various labor markets
B) women are more affected by household-related variables than are men
C) women go through a filtering process that results in their being more qualified for certain positions.
D) women express more desire to move up the occupational ladder than men

Question 26

Changes in mobility studies since the 1940s have been driven by changes in the databases and techniques for analyzing them.

Question 27

Mobility is bound to occur if the occupational distributions in two generations in question are the same.

Question 28

Mobility in the U.S. tends to be greatest in the middle and limited at the extremes of the occupational hierarchy.

Question 29

For most of the twentieth century, the extent of mobility in the United States was due primarily to changes in the occupational structure between generations.

Question 30

Most of those who were raised in poor families will remain poor as adults.

Question 31

Blau and Duncan found that being the youngest or oldest male was negatively related to occupational success.

Question 32

The Blau-Duncan model is more effective in explaining the variation in educational and occupational attainment than the Wisconsin model.

Question 33

The variation that exists among individuals in earnings and income is due primarily to the effect of, socialpsychological variables rather than objective factors, such as SES.

Question 34

Those who are better educated perform usually better in their occupations than the less educated.

Question 35

While parental occupations affect the attainment of their children, it is the fathers' rather than the mothers' occupations which have a greater impact on their daughters' attainment.

Question 36

Mobility in the U.S. tends to be greatest in the middle and limited at the extremes of the occupational hierarchy.

Question 37

While parental occupations affect the attainment of their children, it is the fathers' rather than the mothers' occupations which have a greater impact on their daughters' attainment.

Question 38

Blau and Dunacan suggest that Blacks suffer from cumulative disadvantage.

Question 39

Robert Jackall's study of corporations reveals that hard work, education, and other achievement-based factors are more critical than social skills and personality characteristics in moving up the corporate ladder.

Question 40

Research on eminent Black Americans listed in Who's Who Among Black Americans found that they are more likely to come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Question 41

Whites are significantly more likely than Blacks to feel that things are getting worse rather than better for the average person.

Question 42

Research suggests that Blacks who were in low-paid jobs were less likely than comparable Whites to be upwardly mobile.

Question 43

Blacks who are in white-collar positions experience more earnings instability than Whites in similar positions.

Question 44

One characteristic of an open society is that there is little or no relationship between the status of the parents and that of the offspring.

Question 45

Blacks whose physical appearance more closely approximates Europeans do better socioeconomically.

Question 46

The attainment process of employed women is quite different from that of married, non-employed women.

Question 47

While women are less likely than men to be at the top of the earnings hierarchy, once there they are more likely to remain there.

Question 48

In some corporations, women have to be present in relatively high proportions before they are hired or promoted in significant numbers.

Question 49

Social mobility research clearly indicates that hard work equals successs.

Question 50

What do status attainment studies reveal about the mobility and attainment processes of Blacks and women compared to those of White men?

Question 51

How has U.S. mobility changed since the 1950s? What major factors have brought or are bringing about those changes?

Question 52

Critically analyze the various explanations and models of status attainment.

Question 53

Identify the principal factors that determine occupational and earnings attainments.

Question 54

Discuss the mobility and attainment process among African Americans.

Question 55

Discuss the patterns of mobility and attainment, as well as the obstacles, among women.