The Impact of Education
By: Jessica Georgievski
Why Do Canadians Work?
The Importance of Education
The Link Between Education and Employment
These continuously growing cost for education will limit the number of people who can afford to learn the skills needed to enter higher-paying professions, and the divide between the "haves" and "have-nots" will continue to increase. Government funding of post-secondary has reduced which means the schools must find alternative sources of income (CBC, 2011). As a result, tuition fees are increasing.
Challenges
The Impact of Globalization
Theories, Perspectives and Methodologies
George Herbert Mead's "I" and "Me" theory is about how we view and present ourselves in social situations. Mead believes the mind is defined through a set of mental processes. People observe gestures from others and react according to what they observe. Through employment, a person understands himself or herself in the context of the workplace. The person's actions, after they happen, become part of who they are. To understand the individual, the context of the work environment must also be understood. Therefore, to understand a person, it is important to understand his/her environment as it is always influencing an individual's identity.
Charles Cooley's Looking-Glass Self theory is used as an explanation on how identity and personality were created through social interaction. The three main components are: envisioning how we appear to others, envisioning the judgement of that appearance, and developing our sense of self. Returning to the theory that employment defines a person, Cooley's theory can be applied to this. An unemployed person looks to see the social reactions of people in his/her environment to help modify his/her behavior. For example, a person may seek to find a steady income to meet social expectations.
Max Weber theorized that identity is defined through the work we perform. Weber noticed the great change in the organization of society in regards to work. People worked to develop trade and enterprises while increasing personal wealth and investment. An example is reflected in the cyclical nature of workplace advancement. Earning more money may lead to elevated spending on lifestyle as an individual feels entitlement of these luxuries.
Karl Marx's theory of Value and Alienation was the idea that the value of a commodity is related to the cost of production necessary to produce or obtain it. The more manufacturing involved in producing an item, the greater labor cost to produce it. Specialized labor is refined to promote maximum output from workers. The more highly skilled a worker is, the higher the income, the greater the importance in the community, and thus the more social status that person has within the greater society. With title and position come social benefits and the social belief that the person is more valuable compared to the general population. Marx's theory was based on the belief a person's entire fate was determined by his/her social class position.
According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, physiological needs must be met, so that individuals are able to focus on attaining safety needs such as job security, health benefits, and health care. When these needs are met, an individual may focus on other important needs.
Festinger's Social Comparison theory states that individuals routinely compare themselves with others when they are unable to judge their status and abilities on their own. This can blur the line between necessities and luxuries as individuals begin to define their identity in terms of the items they own. Those without the education and employment are unable to keep up or afford this lifestyle.
A growing trend in Canadian households is the large number of young adults who remain in the parental home during their post-secondary education or return to it after their studies are completed. This growing group known as fledgling adults is recognized for their difficulty leaving the parental home. The young adults who, for various social, economic, and/or emotional reasons, choose to stay in the parental home. The reasons may be due to increasing cost of living in our society and the inability to develop financial independence.
Research Analysis
Impact of Education on Individuals
Much of the beneļ¬t of higher education applies to individual students and their families. For example, average earnings increase measurably with higher levels of education. Over their working lives, typical college graduates earn about 73 percent more than typical high school graduates, and those with advanced degrees earn two to three times as much as high school graduates. Higher educated people are less likely to be unemployed and less likely to live in poverty. Higher education improves quality of life in many different ways. For example, in addition to increasing the material standards of living, there is less risk of poverty, less psychological implications of unemployment. There are proven benefits that adults with higher levels of education are more likely to engage in volunteer work, to vote, and to do positive things such as donate blood. As well as children of highly educated adults are more likely to read and often have higher cognitive skill levels and contain better concentration skills.