Category: Uncategorized

When people begin to enter the workplace, the typical office job appears to be the ideal place to be. For instance, they don’t account for the many factors that go into the office workplace. Such things such as gender, as Beese and Birgit point out in their study of European office work.  Birgit (2007) found that less than 12 percent of women make less than 3,500 euros a month, while upwards of 44 percent of men do. The discrepancy between these two groups of people convey how better paying jobs may not lead to better working conditions. Furthermore, the women do make up more than 50% of the workplace, yet they still are prevented from making larger decisions in the workplace overall.  While working conditions are still being shifted as time progresses, there is still reason to believe improvement is always in the works.

Reference:

Birgit, B. (2007, September  23) EurWORK European Observatory of Working Life. Retrieved April 30, 2018 from

https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurwork/articles/quality-of-working-conditions-in-office-work

 

April 27 Freewriting

The topics that I could do for this assignment mostly pertain to something to do with manual labor. Maybe there is something in the current job market that I could expand my ideas to? The physical work done by factory workers appear to be a good start when it comes to a topic. Amazon or warehouse related work online could possibly give me information regarding this sort of topic. The thought process behind this encompasses the entirety of what can and can’t be done when looking for something that appears to be complex. Factory work in other countries have an abnormal rate of workers who work in the poverty zone, and this can run into the amount of work they do or how long they break their back when doing a job like their’s. For instance, maybe I could talk about the rise of globalization and how it has impacted the people of other countries to dispense and accelerate the work load, with no regard to their worker’s health? Fast fashion is still something that’s highly debated, that could work. The instance where physical labor applies the most would be the farmers and their job over the borders. This type of situation can be tackled in my essay, but I’m not sure what can be researched regarding the impact it has had on our current society. Furthermore, there may be a topic regarding overwork in countries such as Japan, where people do work for money, and the neglect of their personal life leads them to a life of peril and disdain. Finally, there can be a discussion in relation to the misconception of people who work these factory jobs or “poor” taste places where the conditions are not ideal, but they still make money. Maybe some of these topics are able to give me some closure on what I can and cannot do for this upcoming essay.

 

Ideas:

-Working conditions and the effects

-Companies that exploit their workers

-Globalization on the larger scale

-Discussion of certain jobs such as warehouse work

-Office jobs and their stereotypes

-Explore the notion of no work for managers in high end companies.

During the course of my life, work has generally been easy- going and a topic that isn’t discussed much within my household. The work that I do or my parents are usually kept from each other, for the fear of leaking their work life into their personal life. These experiences however do come through, but they’re not as  bad as the experience that McClelland details in her essay. Work for me and my parents are easy and challenging at times, but there is leniency given by bosses when a sudden hiccup occurs out of nowhere. However, there are some moments where work has been an issue in my home. The stress that gets accumulated overtime does leak and when it does, it’s not pretty. Moments when anger overtakes the composure someone normally maintains is a sight to be weary of. These events do however, help me realize the different experiences that individuals like my parents go through when they enter their office in the morning. The relations that draw work and social class together are bound by their need to serve the individuals who take up the offer to dedicate their life to a task. Overall, the work relationship appears to be complex, but there may be a change in the future that shifts our view of work ethic.

In my hometown, the evictions that occur can happen for no justifiable reason. Since the town is small and more streamlined, there is no tellin when your landlord can kick you out and they don’t need to provide a reason to do so. However, the community as a whole doesn’t suffer from as much homelessness as in San Francisco, given the size of the community. These rates and issues compare with “Home and Hope” in the sense that many people have begun to come together in times of need, while also assisting individuals who require the use of assistance. The fact that the diversity rate in my hometown is large gives insight into the bond shared by neighbors everywhere when someone appears to be struggling. On the contrary, the city highlighted by Desmond in his essay appear to not only refuse to help neighbors when they’re in need, but push them out into worse situations than they were in before. Overall, my hometown may not share all the qualities of the community stated by Desmond in his essay, but the fact is community is what brings people together.

Critiquing Education:

Over the course of my academic career, there have been moments when I have realized societal influence on my experience. Whether it be from the stereotypes associated with who I was, or the implications drawn when I was in class, I started to take notice. It started to arise during my early elementary school years when people were introduced to the stereotypes. At first I thought that these were jokes not to be taken seriously, but as time went on, the implications became more concrete. The stereotypes continued to be perpetuated, with no signs of stopping. Through these experiences, I learned that society wasn’t any different from the academic environment. In the real world, people everywhere were being patronized, oppressed, and marginalized for being who they were. The only viable solution for people such as me was to conform to what was deemed acceptable and persevere through this system. There was no radical uprising such as the ones happening today, but there were moments where some of the issues were being addressed. The implications overall, have become ingrained in my memories, and will remain there until so otherwise.

Controversial topic:

The topic that I chose to write about discusses the issue of whether social networking is a good or bad thing. While examining the texts from Wikipedia, there are compelling cases for both sides of the issue, ranging from support from friends and families on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, etc… However, the same platform can be used to defile antagonize and harm people from a distance. The issue of whether or not social networking falls under good or bad is an entirely subjective discussion, depending on which points you choose to support your thoughts. The term of social networking has also been highly debated for its ambiguous definition, and the need to narrow it down has proved to be troublesome. Such as the case with the evolving definition encompassing the range of anything that brings people together online, with the ability to edit their profile and connect with others. The loophole in this situation going against why the social network(s) in question are bad would be pointed at a private site where people of similar taste would bond over questionably moral concepts. The opposite could be said for the uplifting positive side that follows with useful and helpful organizations where people benefit from using them. Overall the question debating over how social networking is good or bad can be tilted on either side.

Educational practices:

When looking at websites ranking colleges such as US News, there appears to be a preference for well known and established institutions more so than less known state colleges. Universities such as Princeton, Harvard and others hold the high ranking not only since they are able to churn out students who end up with good jobs, but since their reputation preceeds them. The way that these universities are conveyed in mass media demonstrate the need to apply, while other state college choices are thrown under the bus for the sake of not matching the elite standards. The work that students do at the college appeal to the masses, thus the perpetuation of elite universities remain.

References:

Compass, U.N., & Methodology, R.T. (n.d.)The 10 Best Universities in America. Retrieved March 8, 2018, from https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities

 

Foods in culture:

When most people think about an Asian an the food from their culture, they would associate the group of people with rice in addition to the assortment of meats and vegetables to follow. This of course proves semi- correct, seeing as I am a person who embodies the need to consume rice on the daily, whether I think I want to or not. The cultural impact that Chinese and other Asian foods have on modern society mainly falls upon the stereotype being perpetuated when people bring them up in conversations. From fried rice to beef and broccoli, these foods have been ingrained as “authentic” in society with the actual food that people from that culture eat being swept under the rug. The representation of Chinese food therefore is irrelevant with the rise of stereotypes and the people who follow them are not looking deeper than they need to.

On the other hand, the stereotype  surrounding the eating habits of Chinese people adds to the fire of those aforementioned stereotypes. Nuiances such as eating with chopsticks contributes to illustrating Chinese people as individuals who harbor  the will to appear unique, while disregarding others for what their culture would bring to the table. This unfortunately is where the lines have been drawn in modern society, with no visible change being made to stop the generalization of a group of people who coexist with others in our communities.

Tokenized blog:

When people tend to meet me for the first time, they naturally assume that I am of Asian descent, which they are right. While this may seem harmless as a result, this has perpetuated the ongoing stereotypes that surround my nationality. Through the years, people tend to throw these stereotypes around to gain a laugh or chuckle, but they don’t realize the harm it brings upon the person who is the target of their jokes. Of course most people decidedly brush it off, but that’s one reason why there is violence among nationalities in modern society. What’s being said and done are attributed to two different things, while people tend to swat away anything that shouldn’t be treated seriously, but in reality the wound inflicted is deeper than what most people realize.

In my experiences, my behavior and actions have fallen in line with some assumptions that people have made, but look deeper and you can get a glimpse of the entire person. The conclusions they draw may seem benign, however, this reinforces others to do the same and perpetuate that into the future. The stereotypes were obviously inaccurate in some instances, and when they were, I chose to brush them off and move on, despite not making a change with the voice I had towards those people. Conclusively, these people and many others like them hopefully have realized their mistakes, in addition to striving for a better interaction the next time they meet someone.

APA references task:

1. Gebhard, J. G.( 2010) . What Do International Students Think and Feel. (p. 23)Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

2. Mar, H.( 2011, June). Phone Interview. Boise, Idaho.

3. Mack, T. ( 1997, May). Culture Shock. Forbes. (P. 188-90)

4. Simpson, J. C. (2006, May ). “Chronicler of Culture Shock”. Time. (P. 156). Retrieved from Academic Search Premier on Feb. 9, 2007.

5. Wright, R. (2005, March)  “Goinf to Teach in Prisons: Culture Shock”. Journal of Correctional Education. 56  (1). (P. 19-38). Retrieved  from Academic Search Premier on December 15, 2010.