John Pease

Income and Stratification Ideology: Beliefs About the American Opportunity Structure

When ideologies are stated as normative and general tenets, they tend to be accepted. This study hypothesized (1) that in an industrial community, the acceptance of the ideology of opportunity would decrease when its tenets were viewed as specific situations confronting persons of unequal economic rank, and (2) that endorsement of the tenets, expressed either in general or in situational terms, would be withheld more often by lower-income people than by those from higher-income strata. Confirmation of the hypotheses suggests that ideological adherence is greatest among those who profit most from the reiteration of the ideolgy.

Professor mom: Woman's work in a man's world

This essay identifies parallels between the traits assigned to gender work roles and the teaching/research division of labor at research universities. The character and definition of undergraduate teaching at research universities is very similar to what has often been described as “womens work.”

Want Ads and Jobs for the Poor: A Glaring Mismatch

This study tested the claim that newspaper help-wanted sections list enough jobs for all who want work. We counted jobs listed in The Washington Posts help-wanted section, sorting them by skill, education, and experience to identify those available to the unemployed poor. Then we asked employers how many people had applied. Only 13% of all vacancies and only 8% of all full-time vacancies offered work for the unemployed poor. Although these menial jobs paid low wages and rarefy offered fringe benefits, they received an average of 21 applications and were quickly filled. The tight labor market for menial jobs portends great difficulty in securing paid employment for people now being evicted from the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program.