Topic and Guidelines – Credentializing in Society

DUE DATE: Reflection Paper #2: Friday, 5/27/22 at 11:59 pm
(Submission of this assignment is to be done online only – Please post your paper into this assignment [Text Entry Only]).
[PLEASE NOTE: No form of Word Documents Uploaded will be accepted]. Do not email this paper to the instructor’s email via CANVAS and/or Chaffey email system – Paper will not be accepted (Please see the course syllabus for further instructions on late submission of Reflection Papers – Under section named: Written Assignments)
Assignment Topic – See Below
Hello everyone. According to the textbook, schooling is the formal, institution of education. The function of education in a society is the systematic transmission of the society’s knowledge; it socializes the young in society’s morals, values, and ethics. Sociologist Randy Collins states that industrialized nations have become credential societies, where degrees are used as sorting devices to decide who is eligible for a job, assuming that the educational institutions will have weeded out those who are incapable (Henslin, 2019). How has universal education developed? Prior to industrialization there was no mandatory education, as many people were famers. Industrialization brought new requirements for workers and universal education to help train that new workforce. Additionally, educational institutions helped to Americanize immigrants. Increased industrialization brought with it higher levels of required education and a larger demand for college degrees. Today, two out of every three high school graduates enter college, a very different picture from when only an eighth-grade education was required.
Assignment Directions
Disclaimer: Videos in the weekly modules may present as outdated, however the importance is to focus on the general content in relation to the topic of the assignment.
Please Be Advised: Video/s In This Course May Also Contain Sensitive Subject Material
Step One: Read Chapter 17 from the assigned textbook in this course and watch the assigned video below.
Video One:
In this episode of Dan Rather Reports, Rather interviews two California entrepreneurs who created a solution to affordable higher education. (49 minutes)
https://fod-infobase-com.libris.mtsac.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=114479
Video Two:
Topic: Published May 15, 2017 – Benefits of Higher Education in Today’s Society https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-zCKcJFAlY
In the above video, Dr. Hanna Jeff Bosdet gives a talk about benefits of higher education in today’s society. Dr. Jaff Bosdet was born on November 4, 1986. She is from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. She has a Master of Arts in International Relations from Harvard University, a BA in Psychology, diplomas and studies in Political Science and Criminology from the National University in San Diego. Diplomas in Leadership from Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Monterrey. In March 2014, she received an honorary doctorate degree by the American Cultural Institute in Mexico; and in October 2014 she obtained an honorary doctorate by the Analytical Constructivist University of Mexico. In 2016, the World University Committee gave her a medal for ‘Academic Excellence’. (14 minutes)
Step Two: Conduct a face-to-face interview with one (1) person – an adult over the age of 35 years old or older who is currently employed in professional or upper-management position. In the interview, ask the interviewee the following questions:
(Please Note: The interviewee you have selected for this paper must be 35 years old or older AND please provide a false name for the individual in your paper to protect his/her confidentiality).
Information to collect and interview questions to ask your selected person:
Briefly provide demographics about your selected interviewee (i.e. how do you know this person/met this person for this interviewee, family background, ethnicity, age, gender, etc.).
Ask about and make a list of all of the credentials that the person interviewed has accumulated in his/her lifetime.
Then, sorting through the numbers of degrees, certifications, and licenses, ask this professional and/or upper manager how much of the training that led to those credentials is significantly related to the work that he/she is currently doing.
Inquire how much it cost them (e.g., tuition, fees, and expenses), roughly, (estimated), to acquire all of the credentials that he/she has accumulated in his/her lifetime, even if he/she is not currently using them.
Ask your interviewee how he/she learned about the importance of obtaining an advanced education. Was it based societal or individualized pressures or both?
(POST the responses from the interviewee directly into your Reaction Paper [may be helpful to list each question with the response next to it]). REMINDER – POSTING THE ABOVE QUESTIONS IN YOUR PAPER DOES NOT COUNT TOWARDS THE 600+ WORDS MINIMUM REQUIRED FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT).

Step Three: Complete the final discussion questions:

From a functionalist perspective (this theory was studied in Week 1 in this course-CLICK here to go to Week 1) just how functional are credentials for ensuring that the most highly qualified people fill the most important jobs in society today?
Lastly, from a conflict perspective, (this theory was studied in Week 1 in this course-CLICK here to go to Week 1) who benefits from and profits by the “credentializing” of society?

Formatting For Each Reflection Paper

Papers will be graded on both content—the depth and breadth of the course information you apply in your analyses and on form (Completing all steps of the assignment [including answering all Discussion Questions listed also])—and the clarity of the work you present in terms of grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Students are expected to connect the readings, concepts, and issues within these reflection papers because each assignment’s main purpose is to help students improve their ability to think clearly and critically, and to explore and introspect about issues that were probably never discussed before.

Each paper will be typed with a minimum of (at least) 600 words which is equivalent to a written “hard copy paper” assignment that presents as a maximum of 2 pages in length ONLY if typed on a Word Document [12-point font (Times New Roman only) and “1” margins] – It is recommended that students type these papers on a Word document to meet this requirement and then cut and paste accordingly as noted below] in the submission box for each assignment via the CANVAS portal.

Also, it is highly recommended that you save your work on an alternative source (i.e. USB drive, cloud) until the completion of this course to avoid having to rewrite assignments that did not post upon submission by the student. This is approximately a minimum of 600 words if using a Word Count tool. (Can use Wordcounter at wordcounter.net). [Click on blue link].

PLEASE NOTE: WHEN YOU COPY AND PASTE THIS ASSIGNMENT FROM A WORD/GOOGLE DOCUMENT – THE FORMATTING WILL NOT MATCH – AS THE SUBMISSION BOX IS A HTML EDITOR. SUBMISSION WILL STILL BE ACCEPTED AS LONG AS OTHER ASSIGNMENT CRITERION IS MET (i.e. All questions answered), INCLUDING MINIMUM WORD COUNT. Students will be contacted individually via the INBOX on the CANVAS portal for this course if the instructor is unable to view submitted assignment via the CANVAS platform for this course.

No handwritten assignments will be accepted. No late papers will be accepted unless prior approval is received from the instructor.

All assignments must be completed independently (i.e. these are not group or partner assignments).

Proper grammar and spelling is required in all written responses. Text abbreviations are not acceptable and assignments with such abbreviations will not be graded.

The due dates and times for these written assignments may vary. See course calendar and announcements for changes.

All late submissions will be subject to a point penalty (if accepted). For Reflection Papers – a ten (10)-point deduction will be applied for accepted late assignments at the discretion of the instructor.

For these assignments (Reflection Papers): Type directly or paste (from a Word document) your assignment into the submission box located in the assignment in the CANVAS system and click on submit as this serves as a pledge that this is your original work before you submit your project.

Please see Course Syllabus for the school’s policy regarding the act of plagiarism by a student. Plagiarism is the act of using another persons’ work as his/her own without properly giving credit where credit is due to the original author(s).

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