HSB4U – Challenge & Change
Systemic Discrimination and
Gender Inequality
Values
• the beliefs of a group that provide standards
for members’ behaviours
Gender Inequality
• Most at risk for falling below LICO?
• Female lone-parent families where the
mother has less than high school education:
90% below LICO
• Women STILL earn 71 cents for every dollar a
male earns!
Pluralism
• Singularity: a belief that everyone in society
should act and think the same way
– Ex: Iran after the 1979 revolution
– Other examples?
• Pluralism or Inclusiveness: widespread
acceptance of differences in culture, religion,
values and lifestyle
– Ex: Canada?
Case Study –
Educating Girls in Afghanistan
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm3zQVPf
n-c
United Nations. (2010, Dec. 30). United Nations Radio. Retrieved Oct. 2, 2012 from
http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2010/12/food-aid-suspended-afterpakistan-suicide-bombing-2/
Changing Values
• Participation rates: percentage of a particular
group (16-64 years of age) available for paid
work who are actively employed or seeking
employment in the paid economy at any given
time – either as employees or self-employed
Participation Rates
• Afghanistan’s female participation rate is 16%
(2010).
• Canada: 62%
• US: 58%
• Mexico: 41.9%
• China: 68%
• Tanzania: 88%
World Bank. (2012). Data: labour participation rate, female. Retrieved Oct. 2, 2012 from
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS
Participation Rates in Canada
• Men: 80%+
• Women:
– 1970: 38%
– 1980: 50.4%
– 1992: 57.6%
– 1998: 70%+
Social Change in Canada
• In 1970s, Canada’s female participation rate was
38%.
• Why has it increased so much?
Reason for increased
part. rate for women
Higher education levels
Effect / how the factor
increased rates
Smaller families
more time to invest in careers rather than raising
a family
Higher divorce rates
More freedom to work; when single/lone-parent
they need to support themselves
Shift in attitudes toward
working women
Opening of more jobs to
women
Women want to put their education into practice
and get job s that were previously male
dominated
Homework
• Read and take notes on rest of 91 to middle of 94.
Include key concepts
(make sure you include all the info answering question 3
on page 97)
• Read Case Study E (Systemic Discrimination: Karen)
and answer the two questions on the bottom
• Continue Environmental Behaviour Modification
Assignment
HSB4U – Challenge & Change
Systemic Discrimination
The Employment Equity Act (1986)
• Affected all employees of the federal government and all
federally regulated industries and crown corporations
(e.g. the armed forces, the health care system, postal
service)
• Purpose: fight systemic discrimination
•
•
•
•
•
Four target groups:
Women
Aboriginal people
Members of visible minorities
People with mental and physical disabilities
Employment Equity Act cont’d
• Requires these employers to set hiring goals for each target
• Purpose: achieve workplace equity
Employment Equity Act cont’d
Equal pay for work of equal value:
• Established a scoring system to compare the value of different jobs
• All jobs scoring equally must be paid at the same rates
• Purpose was to end discriminatory pay practices
Overall:
1) End discriminatory hiring practices
2) End discriminatory pay practices
Remember: Only for employees of the federal government and federally
regulated industries. Not private corporations/companies
Case Study E: Karen
1) Did Karen face discrimination? What type?
2) What would need to be done to ensure that
women had equal opportunity at this company?
Case Study: Karen
Relating Karen’s case to previous course content:
1) Social Change
2) Alienation and Conformity
3) Income Inequality
4) Social Assistance
5) Employment Equity
Systemic Discrimination
Systemic discrimination (page 91): when a system favours one or some
groups over others in terms of hiring, benefits, promotions and pay
increases.
Systemic racism or sexism (page 290): when inequality is part of the
operation of the whole company, organization, or government. Also known
as institutional racism.
Systemic Discrimination
Systems can include: corporations, organizations, governments,
countries, or any other social institutions
Example of systemic discrimination?
•
•
•
•
Quebec laws that kept women from voting until 1940
Swiss women couldn’t vote until 1971
Apartheid laws kept black South Africans from voting until 1991
Immigration in Canada once favoured white Europeans over others
(restrictions on Black people, Chinese, Japanese, Sikhs, other Asians)
• MS St. Louis carrying 907 Jewish refugees not allowed to land and
sent refugees back to Europe, many to do die in concentration
camps
• Aboriginals on reserve couldn’t vote until 1962
• Aboriginal Canadians face social and economic barriers to success
Systemic Discrimination
1) Read “Aboriginal People Face Systemic Racism in Canadian
Workforce” (2001): p. 291-2.
2) In groups of 3, answer question 1 on page 292
AND
Find evidence of employment disadvantage faced by Aboriginal
Canadians and foreign born visible minorities. Support each with a
piece of data.
Systemic Discrimination:
Aboriginal Canadians
Wab Kinew
Intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbYcuHtvulI
500 years in two minutes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmYu-Wppp3c
Systemic Discrimination:
Aboriginal Canadians
• Housing Conditions: Nearly half (45%) of First Nations people living on
reserve in 2006 lived in homes that they identified as needing major repairs,
compared to 36% a decade ago.
• Post-Secondary Education: In 2006, one-quarter of non-Aboriginal adults
had a university degree, compared to 7% of First Nations people.
• High School Education: In 2006, one-third (33%) of Aboriginal adults aged
25 to 54 had less than a high school education compared to nearly 13% of
the non-Aboriginal population
• Employment: In 2006, the employment rate for Aboriginal people of core
working age (25 to 54) was 65.8%, compared to 81.6% for non-Aboriginal
people in 2006
Systemic Discrimination:
Aboriginal Canadians
• Income: The median total income of the Aboriginal population aged 25 to
54 in 2005 was just over $22,000, compared to over $33,000 for the nonAboriginal population in the same age group.
• Note: The median income for First Nations people living on reserve
was just over $14,000
• Justice system: In 2006 Aboriginal people represented 3.1% of all adults 18
years of age and older, but accounted for 25% of adults admitted to
provincial/territorial sentenced custody and 18% of all adults admitted to
federal custody. Aboriginal adults accounted for 20% of all adults admitted
to probation as well as 21% of those admitted to a conditional sentence.
• Victims of Violence: In 2004, there were 319 violent incidents for every
1,000 Aboriginal people compared to 101 incidences for every 1,000 nonAboriginal people
Systemic Discrimination:
Aboriginal Canadians
Holmes on Homes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVB_HqcwZKo
Homework
Read “Justice for Some” article
Make a list of institutions mentioned in the article that systemically
discriminate, AND defining racial profiling.