institutional discrimination

Examples of institutional discrimination in the following topics:

• Institutional Prejudice or Discrimination

  • Institutionalized discrimination refers to discrimination embedded in the procedures, policies or objectives of large organizations.
  • These practices are embedded in the operating procedures, policies, laws, or objectives of large organizations, such as governments and corporations, financial institutions, public institutions and other large entities.
  • Though direct discrimination is illegal by United States law, many academics, activists, and advocacy organizations assert that indirect discrimination is still pervasive in many social institutions and daily social practices.
  • Institutionalized discrimination often exists within governments, though it can also occur in any other type of social institution, including religion, education and marriage.
  • Examine the legal cases that had an impact on institutional discrimination

• Homophobia

  • Homophobia, or the fear of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, is often the impetus for discrimination, which can be expressed through either institutional or informal means.
  • Institutional discrimination involves the state apparatus.
  • If homophobic discrimination is institutional, it means either that non-heterosexual sex acts are criminalized or that LGBTQ individuals are denied the same legal rights as heterosexuals.
  • Although non-heterosexual sex acts are legal in the United States, LGTBQ people still face institutional discrimination because they are not afforded the same rights as heterosexual couples.
  • Many instances of homophobia and discrimination occur by informal means.

• Discrimination Against Individuals

  • Controversial attempts have been made to redress negative effects of discrimination.
  • It may manifest on every level of social life, from minor disregard or intense hostility in interpersonal interactions to much larger instantiations in public institutions (also called structural or institutional discrimination), such as the segregatory practices prominent in the Jim Crow era of the Unites States (1870s-1960s).
  • Unfair discrimination usually follows the gender stereotypes held by a society.
  • Reverse discrimination may also be used to highlight the discrimination inherent in affirmative action programs.
  • Give an example of discrimination and reverse discrimination using examples of religious, gender, or racial prejudice

• Racism

  • Racism is the belief that different traits of racial groups are inherent and justify discrimination.
  • Racism is the belief that different inherent traits in racial groups justify discrimination.
  • The United Nations uses a definition of racist discrimination laid out in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination adopted in 1965:
  • Racism may be expressed individually and consciously, through explicit thoughts, feelings, or acts, or socially and unconsciously, through institutions that promote inequalities among races.
  • An example of structural racism can be seen in recent research on workplace discrimination.

• Gender Discrimination

  • Gender discrimination refers to prejudice or discrimination based on gender, as well as conditions that foster stereotypes of gender roles.
  • Gender discrimination, also known as sexism, refers to prejudice or discrimination based on sex and/or gender, as well as conditions or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on gender.
  • Sexist mindsets are frequently based on beliefs in traditional stereotypes of gender roles, and is thus built into many societal institutions.
  • There are several prominent ways in which gender discrimination continues to play a role in modern society.
  • Many also argue that the objectification of women, such as in pornography, also constitutes a form of gender discrimination.

• Legislation Protecting against Discrimination

  • Discrimination—treating specific groups of people unequally—is unethical behavior and is prohibited by several pieces of U.S. legislation.
  • Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on his or her membership—or perceived membership—in a certain group or category.
  • It can involve someone acting or behaving in a certain way toward a certain group of people, or it can involve a person or institution restricting members of one group from opportunities or privileges that are available to another group.
  • Several pieces of legislation protect groups and individuals from discrimination in the United States.
  • Outline the legislative framework in the United States that actively protects employees against discrimination in the workplace

• Variability within data

  • We consider a study investigating gender discrimination in the 1970s, which is set in the context of personnel decisions within a bank.
  • The research question we hope to answer is, "Are females unfairly discriminated against in promotion decisions made by male managers?
  • The participants in this study are 48 male bank supervisors attending a management institute at the University of North Carolina in 1972.
  • However, we cannot be sure if the observed difference represents discrimination or is just from random chance.
  • This video discusses a study from the 1970's that investigates the topic of gender discrimination, and it applies a randomization approach to determine whether the data provide strong evidence that there really was discrimination observed in the study.

• Job Discrimination

  • Despite legal protections, job discrimination against women still exists in the workplace.
  • However, inequalities in the workplace typically refer to institutional barriers placed in the way of professional success for women.
  • Beyond sexual harassment, the most obvious instance of inequality in the workplace is wage discrimination.
  • List the forms of discrimination that women may face on the job

• Minorities

  • This is especially true in situations where the institutions of the dominant culture initiate programs to assimilate or integrate minority cultures.
  • An example of a minority population discriminating against a majority population is seen in the racial apartheid that existed until just recently in South Africa.
  • South Africans of European descent (the minority) discriminated against the majority African population (the majority).
  • Additional examples of minorities discriminating against majorities include two instances of colonial rule:
  • Racial discrimination is and has been official government policy in many countries.

• Women as a Minority

  • Underlying this unequal treatment of women is sexism, which is discrimination based on sex -- in the context of a patriarchal society, discrimination against women in particular.
  • Discrimination against women is evident in a number of different spheres of society, whether political, legal, economic, or familial.
  • It should be noted that gender discrimination also ties in with race and class discrimination -- a concept known as "intersectionality," first named by feminist sociologist Kimberlé Crenshaw.
  • In economics, the term "glass ceiling" refers to institutional barriers that prevent minorities and women from advancing beyond a certain point in the corporate world, despite their qualifications and successes.
  • In 1979, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) for legal implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.