Issues Paper: Women in the Workplace

Women are gaining ground in obtaining university degrees, employment, and reaching senior positions.  However, women are still severely underrepresented at the top corporate levels and on corporate boards, despite the fact that studies indicate that companies with more women in senior positions perform better than those without.  In the following issue paper, I will explore some of the social forces that work on marginalizing women in the workplace.

Critical Reflection Paper: Learning Styles and Oppression

Every individual has his or her unique style of learning and, in turn, has an idea of what it means to be taught. What then, is the issue with education? I will argue that when one understands the distinction between learning and regurgitation of information, the problem with education as we know it will become clear. There is a hidden curriculum in schools that encourages oppression of students through normalizing power, discursive power, and disciplinary power. 

Issues Paper: Government Funding of Universities

Government funding of universities is a broad topic that affects many people in Canada and throughout the world. I am going to specifically focus on how reduced government funding negatively impacts students financially. The inverse relationship between government funding and tuition cost has drastically changed over the past 50 years. I will explore the issues presented to students in regard to government funding throughout this issue paper.

Critical Reflection Paper: Ideologies and Education

Cultural theorist Stuart Hall had a number of insightful ideas in the field of sociology. One of the concepts he wrote about was that of ideologies. Hall postulated that ideologies were a mental framework, a way of thinking. Our ideologies help us to categorize ideas, language, concepts, images, and thoughts, within our class and in relation to other classes. Hall suggested that ideologies help us explain and make sense of the world in which we are living.