Assignment #3
Purpose: For this assignment you will be required to examine the dynamics of social
inequality in one of the social contexts that we have examine during the course and in the
course readings.
Instructions: You should begin by selecting on of the general social contexts that we have
examined in class: Household, Workplace/Occupations, Education or Health
You should then select a specific context for the purposes of analysis;
In terms of the household, you may want to focus on the social inequalities
surrounding different kinds of households like dual-eamer households, traditional
family households, male or female headed single parent households, or non-
traditional families.
0 In term of workplace inequalities you may want to select a specific occupation,
trade or profession.
0 In terms of education, you may want to focus on primary schools, secondary
schools, or post-secondary education or issues like streaming or drop-out rates.
In terms of health care, you may want to focus on at-risk groups, health-care
institutions, inequalities in terms of access, or issues surrounding mental health.
You will then be required to write a brief (5-6 typed, double-spaced pages) essay that
focuses on the specific context that you have selected. Essays should include a brief sketch
of the context that you have chosen with specific emphasis on wider social systems and/or
structuring influences. You should also include discussion of the specific forms of social
inequality that exist within that context using the concepts we have examined in the course
so far. Finally, you should briefly consider what steps might be taken to reduce those
inequalities and what barriers may exist to doing so.
Format: Assignments should be in paragraph form. Please keep margins and fonts to
reasonable size. Mg: You are allowed to quote the textbook or other source material,
however you must reference any citations (author, title, page number(s)) and should limit
individual citations to no more than three sentences. If you paraphrase an author you must
also reference them – failure to do so constitutes plagiarism (please refer to the academic
calendar for more information). Assignments will be graded on the basis of the quality of
your original work, avoid excessive paraphrasing and over-citation.