Introduction
Intergenerational persistence in economic results impacts the perpetuation and aggravation of the resource gap between the wealthy and poor. Research on social mobility in previous years has mainly concentrated on men. However, there is less or no research on the patterns of social mobility of women. The individuals in low-power positions because of class or gender do not exhibit self-oriented, but other-oriented behavior. Social class shapes the experiences of women at home and work (Mitnik et al., 2016). The fact that the women were not part of the workforce and social classes were represented by the class positions of the husbands explain why women were excluded from mobility studies. Women are neglected in the labor force because they are perceived to have a much weaker attachment to it, and in the long run, they are employed in lower-class positions. The degree at which the mobility patterns of both genders vary biases the conclusions regarding the fluidity of a society. This research project will examine the relationship between gender inequality, class, and social mobility.
Research Objectives
The goal of this research is to know the impact of gender differences and social class impact social mobility index. The latter is an aggregate index score computed grounded on a selection of indicators that gauge the social mobility of the nation. The objective of this study is to offer a comprehensive literature review for the relationship between gender differences, social class, and social mobility, the study constitutes the subsequent sub-objectives:
- To understand the role of gender in class-based orientations;
- To understand the impact of gender differences on social mobility index;
- To understand the effects of social class on social mobility index.
The outcome of this study will be vital to industry practitioners to understand the best tools to use to avoid gender stereotypes in a world that is characterized by social stratification and mobility.
Research Questions
- What is the effect of social class on gender?
- What is the effect of gender inequality on social mobility?
- What is the role of gender in class orientation?
- What is the impact of class on the social mobility index?
Hypothesis
- Gender and class have a significant impact on social mobility index;
- The impact of social class on social mobility index might be distinct for men and women.
Literature Review
The progress that has been made to know how gender differences and social class affect the social mobility index are limited. A growing body of literature on gender disparity in mobility has started to emerge in the latest years. Chetty et al. (2014) argued that there is substantial variation in absolute and relative intergenerational mobility across countries where relative mobility was found to be lowest in children that grow in the southwest side of the United States and highest in the rural Midwest and Mountain West. The factors that erode the middle class affect intergenerational mobility more compared to the factors that result in income growth. McIntosh & Munk, (2009), studied social class and family background by analyzing educational attainment, household earnings, and occupational. They concluded that the family background of individuals has a significant but small effect on lifetime chances; hence, the issue of class has an impact on social mobility.
According to Corak (2013), mobility is lowered by inequality because it shapes opportunities. Mobility changes incentives, opportunities, and institutions that develop and transmit skills and characteristics that are most valued in the labor market. Mobility shifts the balance of power to position some groups to structure policies. Individuals who are more concerned with equal opportunities should consider taking care of outcomes of inequality in gender. Parents can transmit opportunities to their children in the form of economic advantage via social connections that facilitate access to capital sources and jobs. In high-income countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, their values and demographic diversity implies that it is not desirable to change the intensity of mobility. Mobility varies with countries, it is strong in Nordic countries, limited in European countries, and in South American, the mobility on income and education reveals similar ranking (Blanden, 2013). The differences in mobility across countries are caused by intergenerational earnings that are persistent within social classes. In the research by Blanden (2013), mobility was found to be negatively correlated with a return to education and inequality but positively related to the spending of a nation.
Methodology
The most appropriate research design for the study that is selected is a descriptive survey. Descriptive survey research grounded on the data of gender in terms of absolute income mobility earned by men and women in the United States of America, as shown in the Opportunity Insights. The survey method will be suitable for this form of study because it will offer a quantitative description of gender inequality and social mobility, experiences, and views of the sample population from the data gathered from the site. The data needed to complete the project would be the income per gender, social origin, class categorization, and social mobility index of the country. Statistical tests, including the t-test, would be used to test the hypothesis. The data is available on the online databases on Opportunity Insights concerning the social class and gender disparity.
