We as a society are very judgmental. We respect people and
accept them as “citizens” when they are employed. The problem
with that is that we do not respect people who are not employed or
whose reasons for employment we might question. We blame people for not having jobs, but we also do not offer opportunities for people to prove themselves capable of having those jobs. This is one aspect of what
Newman names the “employment barrier.” One example in “Getting
a Job in the Inner City” was people's ideas of teenage employment.
Newman presented the general expectation that teenagers may waste
their earnings (on shoes, for example). However, the working
teenagers mentioned specifically in this article actually
supplemented their parents' incomes and provided basic necessities to
the family.
One asset Newman mentions is
networking. People already employed may make you aware of open
positions, help you apply, or even refer you to their employers.
Moreover, Newman says, you may do the same for your unemployed
friends once you have established yourself in a stable job. This can
be very valuable, but one aspect Newman does not mention is a lack of
good networks. This can make networking another aspect of the
employment barrier. An example is if I were to apply for a position
with Memphis Pizza Cafe. I am not a good candidate for any position,
because I do not have experience in the food service industry. I do,
however, have a friend, Matt, who also works at Memphis Pizza Cafe.
He says he will refer me. However, because his last referral was
fired from Memphis Pizza Cafe, Matt's referrals are no longer
valuable to his employer, and I do not get the job. My network, in
this example, actually disabled me from becoming employed.
The
“employment barrier” is both personal and fragile, and, for
people with very low social capital, the employment barrier is
impenetrable.
Aubrey, I think we are beginning to think similarly (probably because we spend 3 hours in Clough 102). Before perusing the posts, here's what I had written.
ReplyDeleteNewman seemed have done some very extensive interviews and asked a lot of great questions throughout the process. This is the first time we have really gotten into depth about the formal economy of the ghetto (what exists of it, anyway). Newman, surprisingly though, has a lot to offer. Section 2 of Chapter 3, “Finding a Way In,” elaborates on the divide between the middle class and the impoverished. Those job-hunting in a saturated market clearly fall closer to Anderson’s “Decent” category and thus face threats from their community for assimilating too much to middle-class white culture. Many might live a dual life “code-switching” between the street vernacular of their neighborhood and the appropriately respectful language of corporate America. The successful job-hunters really must pay close attention to “how you dress, how you speak, how you present yourself” (74). Even then, the prospect of getting a job is slim to none.
That’s where the need for social capital comes in. During the latter half of Chapter 3, I was in constant reflection about the breakdown of social capital by the relocation of public housing residents through Section 8 and the Hope VI program. In the words of Newman about Latoya “the mere fact that she is connected to so many people who have jobs at all gives Latoya advantages in a competitive marketplace” (79). When these inner city residents are put in a new social setting, they become disconnected with reliable sources of information. Their new neighbors are unlikely to offer referrals due to limited trust in the relocated persons’ character. Also, referrals are hard enough to come by in the first place because long-standing workers do not want to risk losing respect at a botched recommendation. Newman makes a nice case for the importance of who you know. Researchers of the effects of HOPE VI should look to her for theoretical support for their evaluations on relocation (the Rhodes evaluation team, for example).
As you said, the employment barrier is quite fragile, though we are lucky as William on pg 81 point out. Rhodes is an upward mobility social capital driven institution. Having Rhodes College on our resume alone will probably ring some bells of credibility with potential employers, let alone the fact that so many distinguished leaders in America are Rhodes grads.