Part (1)
Mike is divorced and has three children. The ex-couple lives two hours away from each other. His ex-wife is not working and has not remarried. He has not re-married either. They sold the house and are now renters and he has custody of the two boys in junior high school and she has custody of the pre-school girl. Mike has found a job with great benefits including comprehensive medical coverage and paid sick days. He works in the transportation department in a major hospital. His job includes transportation within the dietary division and transportation of patients. The hospital is consolidating. He is micro-managed every minute of the day. He is waiting daily for a possible downsizing/restructuring pink slip. His job is an hour and a half away from where he lives and in the opposite direction of his ex-wife’s apartment and he takes public transportation to work every day. He tells his boys to be happy in life and do not do things out of obligation. Analyze this case by taking this week’s reading(s) into account.
Use the reading and the Lecture Lessons/Notes as guides to respond to this scenario. What do we learn about the intersection of work and family life from this case? Is juggling work and family the same for all professions and for all workers? In addition, if one martial partner was a professional athlete and the other a successful artist and the family structure and dynamics were somewhat similar to the scenario above, would this impact on workplace performance for a professional athlete (the mother) and for a successful artist (the father)?
Part (2)
Below is a list of occupational titles commonly known to us. Please rank the occupations listed below by status from 1-9 (9 being the highest). It is possible to have one occupation have the same score as another occupation. After you have ranked the occupations, write down the criteria you used in order to generate your ranking. What is your rubric for rank ordering? How does chapter 11 talk about occupations and professions versus other types of work and or jobs/tasks? Which of the following occupations did your parents not want you to go into and why? How does society think about these types of work? Who is best suited for these jobs and why? Are any of these transitional jobs? How important is each of these to society and why?
(architects, chemical engineer, dentist, judge, physician, lap dancer, model, industrial engineer, musician, college professor, artist, high school English teacher, self-employer proprietor — in retail stores, elementary school teacher, photographer, foreman of machinery, life guard, postmaster, salaried manager in banking, clergyman/person, mail carrier, cashier, college president, secretary, stone mason, blacksmith, elevator operator, hair dresser, construction worker, janitor, coal laborers and mine operatives, fruit picker, prostitute, gift wrapper, sample perfume sprayer at Macy’s at the mall, shoe shine, bathroom attendant, slaughter house worker taking out the toe nails on cattle, chicken gutter, Broadway chorus dancer, and window washer)
How does society view these jobs, tasks, occupations, and or professions? Share this assignment and your answers with someone like a spouse, partner, friend, parent, sibling, co-worker, etc. and interview them and write up how they responded to your ranking and explain if they agreed with it.
