Income Inequality In Canada

Income Inequality is the unequal distribution of wealth; it is pertinent to understand how the sample participants come to explain the unequal distribution of wealth in a country that works under the ideology that it is a representative democracy. From the sample group examined, the explanation for income inequality in Canada are the lack of opportunities in post-secondary education and employment. Majority of participants were aware of the wealth disparity in Canada. The ability to gain access to resources such as post-secondary education and money is viewed as a key to upward social mobility.

“Getting a job after university is like winning the lottery, it’s so hard to get your foot in the door,” said participant three. There was a major

It is the masculine ideals and norms that are privileged over others in society. The participant also noted that if she wanted to be in leadership position it would be a challenge considering that the higher up in rank you go in any career there will be more males. To lead as female and a woman, would require a change in the way you behave and speak but at the same, “you have to cater to people around you, you can’t be threatening cause you’re a woman or you’ll be seen as bossy and overbearing,” said participant four. This communication barrier is the kind that is described in the Tannen excerpt, “[W]orkplaces that have had men in positions of power have already established male-style interactions as the norm.” What Tannen puts forward is that this miscommunication is what prevents women from moving forward in the workplace and positions of power. When you cannot move forward in the workplace that is something that can determine the massive unequal distribution of

“ I mean, you see Asian CFOs, just not that many CEOs. Personally, to be honest even I’d invest in a business with a Caucasian CEO if it came down to it,” remarked participant five. What participant number five is talking about is the “Bamboo Ceiling,” a term coined by a Jane Hyun in her book about Asians in the workplace. How the participant explained this was that the stereotypical Asian American qualities; humility, respectful, and deferential towards authority were not considered to be qualities that demonstrated leadership skills and instead demonstrated poor communication skills. These values do not translate across well in an North American setting, especially for employers. This can be compared to the Bourgois study, in which Puerto Rican men try to work in offices but the culture is too different, they feel disrespected. Their identity and accent is something to hide in the office setting. They way Puerto Ricans act in the workplace does not translate well across in the office setting. Naturally, for those in Harlem, cracking was the alternative because they could keep their street culture intact and gain an income from doing that job. Immigrants rarely get opportunities to be educated in the country they come to because they are too busy trying to get by. Participant six summarized in Cantonese, “It’s really the language barrier. If I could learn to speak English