Introduction
In our contemporary societies there are a number of issues of which different people may have different experiences. These experiences in many times strongly affects the individual’s understanding, reasoning, action about the particular issue in contention In this work two issues of great influence and relevance to our societies are discussed. The sociological concepts of education and feminism have had diverse effects and experiences on different groups of people as well as individuals (Ferguson, p.52).
Main Body
Education whether formal or informal learning is present in almost every society organized by individuals who are members of a particular group, community, states and nation. Education in our societies is adversely affected by many issues such as gender, technology, family background, culture, language, social institutions. All these issues are in many settings different hence reflecting diversified influence on education. In this societal setup education institutions represented various relations such as between learner and teacher, peer group, boys and girls, different social background, values with respect to culture and religion (Howard, p.23).
These relations in many occasions played a critical role in determining the behavior, performance of students, academic staff and non-academic personnel. Students from different social backgrounds would socialize and this resulted to adoption of some values and characters considered moral or immoral by the society. In addition the influence of various backgrounds also affected the performance of many students. In the event of copying and orienting oneself to the other cultures could lead to wastage of time, neglect of academic work, ignorance, laziness and eventually failure. Some could find it difficult to pursue education in an environment where his or her cultural and religious values are compromised ( Andersen, p.125).
Gender issues were hotly debated in this society where educating the males was given much priority over education to girls. Girls were considered as lesser beings who were subject to male dominance and superiority. Many parents put more efforts to educate the male child neglecting the girl child. This unfairness led to many females not to be equipped with the fundamentals such as education and it equally led to a marvelous challenge to empower them socially, politically and economically. The concept of education meant to overcome the inequalities in society was greatly violated. Educational institutions were to play the perspective of structural functionalism where they were to maintain the status-quo of the society through incorporating common consensus among the new member (children) of the society. In addition they also regulated the behavior of learners to accept the general values through curriculum and sorting them for future market/ jobs (Ferguson, p.458).
Feminism was also a hotly debated issue where in this society women were considered as not able to compete with men hence allowed to perform house activities. The jobs available to men were challenging positions with potential for advancement while surprisingly those considered for women were typically low-paying. Women were systematically excluded from opportunities in the work place and there were barriers that prevented women from seeking careers that led to better pay (Andersen, p.406).
In this society there were movements pushing for women’s liberation and greater masses of people worked to attain advancement of women. These issues involved the passage of anti-discrimination laws in the workplace, voting rights, economic independence, property ownership rights, equal opportunities for education and a greater awareness of rape and domestic violence. These movements have done a critical work in sensitizing the society to have a place for women and considerable changes have resulted from these efforts. However there some who are yet to change their perceptions regarding women’s ability and opportunities. For instance the argument that, for women to survive within a competitive workplace, they have to sacrifice their personal lives either by choosing not to have families or by spending very limited time with their families (Ferguson, p. 537).
Conclusion
Different societies have different perceptions of the many issues that are of contention in the cotemporary world. This leads to different experiences for many hence the diversified strong positions held by different people with regards to cultural, social, religious, economical and political issues. People’s way of behaviors in every aspect is strongly affected by the past experiences, the environment in which one grows and the influence of other societal setups (Howard, p.510).
Works cited
- Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard F. Taylor. 2007 (5th ed.). Sociology: The Essentials. United States: Wadsworth.
- Ferguson, Susan J. (ed.). 2008 (5th ed.). Mapping the Social Landscape: Readings in Sociology. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.