Work Industry And Canadian Society 7th Edition By Harvey J. Krahn – Test Bank

Complete Test Bank With Answers

Sample Questions Posted Below

Chapter 5: Labour Markets: Opportunities and Inequality 

Multiple-Choice Questions 

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

1. Which of the following is most correct about labour markets?

a. Workers seek employers who offer the highest pay.

b. Employers place little emphasis on the experience and skills of potential workers.

c. Workers look to sell their labour to employers who need certain skills and experience. 

d. All workers have equal access to the primary labour market.

ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: p. 134 BLM: Remember

2. Which of the following is a basic assumption of human capital theory?

a. Investment in human capital pays off only for certain groups of workers.

b. Jobs with the highest rewards make the biggest economic contribution to society.

c. Only employers and workers are involved in the labour market, but not government.

d. Workers compete for jobs in two segregated labour markets.

ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: p. 135 BLM: Remember

3. After two years of being unable to find work as a journalist, Abdul went back to school and began an engineering degree. Upon graduating, he quickly found a high-paying and rewarding job in the field. Which of the following best accounts for Abdul’s successful experience?

a. Human capital theory.

b. Bourdieu’s conception of social capital.

c. Labour market segmentation theory.

d. Gender-role socialization.

ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: p. 135 BLM: Higher Order

4. Which of the following have been demonstrated by studies of educational opportunity in Canada?

a. Men are more likely than women to pursue higher education.

b. Youth from high-income families are more likely to attend university.

c. The educational attainment of parents has little impact on the university participation of their children.

d. In general, rural youth are as likely to participate in university education than urban youth.

ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: pp. 138–140 BLM: Higher Order

5. Which of the following is most correct about Krahn’s (2009) findings on family socioeconomic status (SES) and higher education? 

a. SES differences in postsecondary educational attainment were significant.

b. SES had little impact on higher education attainment.

c. Young people have similar educational aspirations regardless of their family SES.

d. Over time, the SES gap in access to higher education has widened.

ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: p. 140 BLM: Remember

6. Which of the following is the best example of how cultural capital operates in the education system?

a. Family socioeconomic status has little impact on the cultural capital that students bring to school.

b. Schools are neutral institutions where cultural capital has little impact.

c. Cultural capital is acquired by students in school.

d. Typically, schools reward the language, beliefs, and behaviours of the more powerful groups in society.

ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: pp. 141–142 BLM: Remember

7. Which of the following is correct about Pierre Bourdieu’s discussion of “cultural capital?” 

a. It suggests that industrial capitalism will not be successful in some cultures. 

b. It extends human capital theory to make it more applicable to different cultures. 

c. It provided Durkheim with many of his ideas about the division of labour. 

d. It helps explain why children from more affluent families do better in school.

ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: pp. 141–142 BLM: Higher Order

8. Which of the following have been demonstrated by status attainment research? 

a. The amount of education individuals possess has little impact on the status of the jobs they hold later in life.

b. Canadian society is a meritocracy.

c. Women are less likely than men to translate their educational attainment into higher paying jobs.

d. Immigrants experience the same upward job mobility as Canadian-born workers, as long as they have similar education levels.

ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: pp. 142–144 BLM: Higher Order

9. After graduating from university, Sadia travelled abroad with her friend Joan for a year. When she came back to Canada, Sadia quickly accepted a well-paying job at Joan’s father’s company. Which of the following best describes Sadia’s labour market opportunity?

a. Economic capital.

b. Cultural capital.

c. Human capital.

d. Social capital.

ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: p. 143 BLM: Higher Order

10. Which of the following is a central principle of labour market segmentation theory?

a. Labour market outcomes are almost always meritorious. 

b. There is no single, open labour market in any economy. 

c. Education is really the only factor that matters in determining who gets better jobs. 

d. Globalization has led to better jobs disappearing in western industrialized economies. 

ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: p. 144 BLM: Higher Order

11. Which of the following is a central principle of the dual economy perspective on labour markets?

a. Capitalist economies are dominated by a few large and powerful companies.

b. The service sector and primary sector are most important to the economy. 

c. The periphery sector is comprised of a few large companies.

d. The secondary labour market is found in the core sector.

ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: p. 145 BLM: Remember

12. Which of the following terms best describes the well-developed training systems and career paths for employees found within major private- and public-sector work organizations?

a. Primary labour market. 

b. Bureaucratic job ghetto. 

c. Professional enclave. 

d. Internal labour market. 

ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: p. 147 BLM: Remember

13. Randall Collins’s term market closure best describes which of the following?

a. The extent to which professional groups can create their own market for their services.

b. The barrier between the primary and secondary labour markets.

c. The ability of professional groups to restrict others from doing their type of work.

d. The economic activity that halts once stock markets close.

ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: pp. 148–149 BLM: Remember

14. Which of the following characteristics might allow an occupational group to begin calling itself a profession? 

a. Strategies and mechanism for controlling who can and cannot work in the field.

b. Training requirements that include at least some postsecondary education.

c. Enough members to represent at least 10 percent of the workforce.

d. Members practising in a wide range of different countries.

ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: pp. 148–149 BLM: Higher Order

15. Which of the following have been demonstrated by studies of the labour market experiences of immigrants to Canada?

a. On average, immigrants to Canada have less education than Canadian-born workers. 

b. The educational credentials of immigrants are highly valued in Canada. 

c. Compared to several decades ago, it is taking immigrants longer to “catch up” with Canadian-born workers with equivalent education. 

d. Female immigrants are having greater difficulty finding satisfactory employment in Canada, but this is not the case for male immigrants.

ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: p. 153 BLM: Higher Order

16. In 2006, about 10 percent of native-born Canadians with university degrees were working in sales and services jobs with low education requirements. Which of the following is correct with respect to recently immigrated women with degrees working in sales and service in 2006?

a. About 10 percent worked in these jobs.

b. About 40 percent worked in these jobs.

c. About 80 percent worked in these jobs.

d. About 15 percent worked in these jobs.

ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: p. 153 BLM: Remember

17. Which of the following is correct about the labour force participation of Aboriginal Canadians?

a. In general, their employment and unemployment rates are comparable to non-Aboriginal Canadians.

b. Aboriginal Canadians who live in urban centres do not experience discrimination and prejudice among employers.

c. Geographic location limits access to good jobs for many Aboriginal Canadians.

d. On average, Aboriginal Canadians are as likely as other Canadians to have acquired credentials that translate into better jobs.

ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: pp. 155–157 BLM: Higher Order

18. Which of the following is most correct about labour market segmentation?

a. It may be taking a different form as the labour market becomes more polarized. 

b. It has been declining since the 1980s when corporate downsizing became popular. 

c. It occurs mainly because of inadequate skills and training among Canadian workers. 

d. It can only be reduced by further investments in human capital by individual workers. 

ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: pp. 160–162 BLM: Higher Order

19. Which of the following best exemplifies current patterns of labour market polarization?

a. An increase in highly skilled temporary foreign workers.

b. Emergence of a knowledge economy with more “creative” work.

c. Shrinking of the primary labour market.

d. Downsizing of the goods-producing sector.

ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: pp. 160–162 BLM: Remember

20. The prevalence of “underemployment” in the Canadian workplace demonstrates which of the following?

a. Workers are choosing to take jobs that don’t utilize their skills and education.

b. Workers should continue to invest in their human capital.

c. There is a shortage of skilled labour.

d. There may be a shortage of “good” jobs available. 

ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: pp. 165–166 BLM: Remember

Short Answer Questions

21. Briefly define cultural capital, with a few examples. How does it relate to socioeconomic status?

REF: pp. 140–142

22. In a few sentences, outline the dual economies perspective on labour markets. Provide examples of occupations found in the core and periphery sectors.

REF: pp. 145–146

23. In a few sentences, outline the labour market situation of Aboriginal Canadians. Suggest some reasons for any differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians you might describe.  

REF: pp. 155–157

24. In general, what are the labour market experiences of people with disabilities in Canada, compared to the rest of the population?

REF: pp. 157–158

Essay Questions 

25. What is labour market segmentation? Which groups of workers are most negatively affected by such segmentation? What can be done to reverse the trend toward greater labour market polarization?

Suggested student response: Students should outline labour market segmentation theory (e.g., the implications of having a primary and secondary labour market, barriers between the two markets). With respect to access, students may touch on the role of labour market shelters, internal labour markets, and unions. A good response should highlight the difficulty that women and visible minorities have had accessing “good” primary labour market jobs. In terms of reversing the trend toward greater labour market polarization, students may outline the role of public policy (particularly involving education), anti-discrimination laws, and unions (pp. 164–166).

26. Julie is a 30-year-old first-generation Filipina Canadian. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from a well-respected university, yet has recently been forced to take a barista job at a local café. Use the human capital and labour market segmentation theories to analyze Julie’s labour market position. Which perspective do you find more convincing? Why?

Suggested student response: Students should compare and contrast the basic tenets of human capital and labour market segmentation theories and apply them to this case study. A human capital perspective would suggest that Julie needs to go back to school and further invest in human capital, while a labour market segmentation approach would highlight the growth of the secondary labour market (particularly lower-tier services), and barriers to movement into primary labour markets. The gendered nature of labour market segmentation is also important to discuss. 

27. As noted in Chapter 3, Canada’s population is becoming increasingly diverse. With immigrants now coming to Canada from many different countries, how is access to primary labour market jobs being affected? What issues does this trend toward greater population diversity create for employers, the government, and workers themselves? 

Suggested student response: Students should outline the differences between the primary and secondary labour markets, and address the challenges that recent immigrants and visible minorities experience when trying to access primary labour market jobs (pp. 153–154). Students may discuss discrimination and systemic discrimination, as well as the potential roles of education, employment equity policies, and anti-discrimination laws to improve the market experiences of these individuals.

28. See Discussion Questions at the end of Chapter 5 for additional ideas for examination essay questions.