Social Norms And Stereotypes Of White-Collar Work
There are social norms and stereotypes that surround certain types of work and the working conditions. The types of work include white-collared work and blue-collared work. White-collar work and blue-collar work is reshaping the way we think about their specific skills. According to the article “Managing White-Collar Work: An Operations-Oriented Survey,” by Hopp in 2009, he defines white-collar work as “salaried office workers” or “non-manual laborers”(Hopp, 2009, p. 2). They characterize white collar work as the “management” type and blue-collar work as “machining”(Hopp, 2009, p. 2). These are the certain characteristics that are associated with the type of work. White-collar work is commonly thought of as desk jobs, while blue-collar work
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For example, in the article “Stereotyping the Working Class,” Sherry Linkon states that blue-collar workers are viewed as “hard-working and low-wage workers without college education” (Linkon, 2009). They are viewed like such because often many blue-collar jobs do not require a college degree. Society assumes that because a degree is not required, manual workers are viewed as less intelligent than white-collar workers and we tend to underestimate their intellect. The image above portrays this idea (Keefe, 2013). As a nation, we have become preoccupied with intelligence and increasing our children's knowledge with online education tutors, so that they can get a better job. For example, Mike Rose, author of “The Mind At Work” states that we are trying to get ““smarter” workers into the new “smart” workplace” (Strauss, 2014). “Smart” workplace is considered to be white-collar jobs because of the amount of knowledge required. However, there is also a sufficient amount of knowledge and skills required for blue-collar jobs, yet society tends to depend on standard intelligence test scores to determining intelligence (Strauss, 2014). Test scores also determine whether a student will attend a high ranked college which affects the type of work they will receive. These standardized tests do not accurately portray the student’s understanding of knowledge. Therefore, the attitude between work and intelligence have caused many issues within our education, job training and social class
For example, in the article “Stereotyping the Working Class,” Sherry Linkon states that blue-collar workers are viewed as “hard-working and low-wage workers without college education” (Linkon, 2009). They are viewed like such because often many blue-collar jobs do not require a college degree. Society assumes that because a degree is not required, manual workers are viewed as less intelligent than white-collar workers and we tend to underestimate their intellect. The image above portrays this idea (Keefe, 2013). As a nation, we have become preoccupied with intelligence and increasing our children's knowledge with online education tutors, so that they can get a better job. For example, Mike Rose, author of “The Mind At Work” states that we are trying to get ““smarter” workers into the new “smart” workplace” (Strauss, 2014). “Smart” workplace is considered to be white-collar jobs because of the amount of knowledge required. However, there is also a sufficient amount of knowledge and skills required for blue-collar jobs, yet society tends to depend on standard intelligence test scores to determining intelligence (Strauss, 2014). Test scores also determine whether a student will attend a high ranked college which affects the type of work they will receive. These standardized tests do not accurately portray the student’s understanding of knowledge. Therefore, the attitude between work and intelligence have caused many issues within our education, job training and social class