Labour Studies
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Course Introduction
Labour Studies is an interdisciplinary field that explores the world of work, the dynamics between employers and employees, and the social, economic, and political factors that shape labor markets. This course introduces students to key topics such as the history of labor movements, employment relations, labor law and policy, collective bargaining, and workplace rights. By examining issues like globalization, inequality, technological change, and the role of unions, students gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing workers today. Through theoretical frameworks and real-world case studies, Labour Studies equips students with the analytical tools to critically assess contemporary labor issues and their impact on society.
Recommended Textbook
Work Industry and Canadian Society 7th Edition by Harvey Krahn
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375 Verified Questions
375 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Historical Perspectives on Work 1700-1950s
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Q1) In one or two sentences for each, describe one of the main contributions to the sociology of work made by Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, and Max Weber.
Answer: Adam Smith is known for his contribution to the sociology of work through his concept of the division of labor, which emphasized the efficiency and productivity gains that come from breaking down tasks into specialized roles. Karl Marx's main contribution was his analysis of the capitalist system and its impact on the alienation of workers from their labor and the exploitation of labor by the bourgeoisie. Émile Durkheim focused on the concept of mechanical and organic solidarity in the workplace, highlighting the shift from traditional, collective forms of solidarity to more individualized, specialized forms in modern industrial societies. Max Weber's main contribution was his theory of rationalization and the impact of bureaucracy on the organization of work, emphasizing the role of rational-legal authority and the increasing rationalization of economic and social life.
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Chapter 2: Contemporary Debates on Work 1950s to Present Day
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Q1) Imagine you are a historian living in the year 2115 and you are tasked to study the major socioeconomic changes that shaped work at the beginning of the 21st century. Outline the most important changes, and explain which you think had the largest impacts for society, as well as for the day-to-day experiences of work by individuals. Answer: <b>Suggested student response</b>: This question is quite open-ended. In terms of socioeconomic changes, students should define and outline industrial restructuring, deindustrialization, and neo-liberalism. Regarding impacts, students could point to the rise of interactive service work (and emotional labour), as well as mobile workers and mobile work, and other impacts they might identify.
Q2) Which of the following is the best example of the negative impacts of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)?
A) The increase of employment-related geographic mobility within Canada. B) Mexican migrants who participate in transnational families while working away from home.
C) Highly skilled workers leaving Canada for higher paying work in the United States or Mexico.
D) The rise of low-wage factory production in Mexico.
Answer: D
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Chapter 3: Canadian Employment Trends
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Q1) Youth labour force participation rates declined significantly in the 1990s. Which of the following is the best explanation for this decline?
A) More young people enrolled in postsecondary education because of limited job prospects.
B) A stronger economy allowed parents to support their children financially for a longer period of time.
C) Larger proportions of young people found themselves underqualified for available jobs.
D) Young people were becoming lazier and more apathetic in this period.
Answer: A
Q2) From which of the following sources are monthly unemployment rates obtained?
A) The national census.
B) The Labour Force Survey.
C) A monthly survey of employers, asking if they have had difficulty hiring workers.
D) The National Household Survey.
Answer: B
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5
Chapter
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Q1) Which of the following is correct about self-employment in Canada?
A) More people were self-employed in 2012 than in the mid-20th century.
B) Self-employment in the secondary and service sectors has increased over the past few decades.
C) There are more self-employed employers than own-account self-employed.
D) Women are more likely to be self-employed than men.
Q2) Briefly outline historical trends in self-employment in Canada. Distinguish between self-employed employers and own-account self-employment.
Q3) Approximately what proportion of employed Canadians worked part-time in 2012?
A) About 5 percent.
B) About 20 percent.
C) About 40 percent.
D) About 50 percent.
Q4) Based on the trends you have read about in Chapters 3 and 4, describe what you see as the most pressing issues facing Canadian employers and workers for the next few decades to come?
Q5) Briefly outline how unemployment rates vary by gender, age, and region in Canada.
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Page 6
Chapter 5: Labour Markets: Opportunities and Inequality
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Q1) 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.
Q2) In a few sentences, outline the dual economies perspective on labour markets. Provide examples of occupations found in the core and periphery sectors.
Q3) Briefly define cultural capital, with a few examples. How does it relate to socioeconomic status?
Q4) 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.
Q5) 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?
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Chapter 6: Gender and Paid Employment
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Q1) Rosabeth Moss Kanter's main argument about gender inequality in organizations can be best described by which of the following?
A) Men and women employed in similar occupations in an organization will react in different ways to their job conditions.
B) There is a biological basis for gender inequality in organizations.
C) There is little gender inequality in modern organizations.
D) An individual's position within an organization influences his or her attitudes and behaviour.
Q2) What has the government, as well as employers, done to work toward gender equality in the workplace in Canada? How successful have their initiatives been? In your opinion, what further steps does each group need to take in the future?
Q3) The term female job ghettos best describes which of the following?
A) Occupations with low pay but good employment benefits.
B) Lower-status work found in undesirable geographic locations.
C) Work that offers low pay and few opportunities for career advancement.
D) Occupations that women are naturally better suited for than men.
Q4) In a few sentences, describe the "family wage ideology." What have been some of its lasting effects?
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Page 8
Chapter 7: Household, Family, and Caring Work
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Q1) The term outsourced family refers to which of the following?
A) The practice of recruiting spouses from overseas.
B) The marketization of household and family work.
C) Parents paying children to do weekly household and family work.
D) The practice of friends and neighbours taking turns caring for each other's children.
Q2) The term separate spheres describes which of the following?
A) The concentration of men in resource extraction occupations and women in service occupations.
B) The suggestion that women perform carework and men perform household work.
C) The separation of yard work and housework.
D) The idea that women work in the household and men work outside of the household for pay.
Q3) Research on work-family conflict and job satisfaction demonstrates which of the following?
A) There is little connection between conflict and satisfaction.
B) High satisfaction can decrease family-to-work conflict.
C) Low satisfaction can increase family-to-work conflict.
D) In general, high conflict is linked to reduced satisfaction.
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9
Chapter 8: Organizing and Managing Work
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Q1) Which of the following work settings would be most likely to employ the practices of Taylorism?
A) Telephone call centre.
B) Law firm.
C) Radio station.
D) University department.
Q2) Briefly describe human relations theory and outline one of its major criticisms.
Q3) Which of the following was demonstrated by the Hawthorne Studies?
A) Good working conditions (e.g., better lighting) lead to higher worker productivity.
B) The results of social experiments may be confounded by subjects' awareness of being part of a study.
C) The type of technology used in a workplace can affect workers' productivity.
D) Female employees are just as motivated to work hard as male employees.
Q4) Describe a work organization that you are familiar with and address how it utilizes elements of scientific management or human relations theory, or both. In your opinion, do these practices work well in this organization? Why or why not?
Q5) Explain Gerhard Lenski's theory of social inequality. What role does technology play in this theory?
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Chapter 9: In Search of New Managerial Paradigms
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Q1) Six central themes can be identified when reviewing the variety of new managerial paradigms that have emerged in the past several decades. In a sentence or two for each, identify and explain at least three of these themes.
Q2) Piore and Sabel described what they saw as the future of manufacturing and called it "flexible specialization." Which of the following social theorists would likely have agreed that this is the direction we are heading?
A) Karl Marx.
B) Max Weber.
C) Adam Smith.
D) Daniel Bell.
Q3) Attempts to convince employees to identify with the "organizational culture" of their company are most similar to which of the following management approaches?
A) Scientific management.
B) Human relations management.
C) Social and cultural capital management.
D) Industrial betterment.
Q4) Briefly define and give an example of each: pay flexibility, functional flexibility, and numerical flexibility.
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Chapter 10: Conflict and Control in the Workplace
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Q1) Karl Marx argued that, in capitalist society, work had become a commodity. In a few sentences, explain what he meant by this.
Q2) Which of the following terms is used to describe regulation of the labour process through coercive or paternalistic methods?
A) Technical control.
B) Bureaucratic control.
C) Responsible autonomy.
D) Simple control.
Q3) In a sentence or two for each, define technological determinism, economic determinism, and social determinism.
Q4) Which of the following definitions of a type of management control is correct?
A) "Bureaucratic control" involves the use of government laws and regulations.
B) "Responsible autonomy" involves workers regulating themselves.
C) "Technical control" is almost impossible in assembly-line manufacturing.
D) "Electronic control" might be effective, but is illegal in Canada and the United States.
Q5) In a sentence or two for each, define simple control, technical control, and bureaucratic control.
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Unions and Industrial Relations
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Q1) Feminist scholars have contributed which of the following insights about Canadian unions?
A) Women began to become active unionists once they started working in the same occupations as men.
B) Despite growing female membership in unions, women have still never held key leadership positions.
C) While company managers have often exhibited patriarchal attitudes, male union members have generally not done so.
D) There is a long history of collective action in predominantly female occupations.
Q2) Which of the following is a unique feature of the labour movement in Quebec?
A) Many contemporary unions were originally organized by the Roman Catholic Church.
B) A much lower degree of centralized bargaining than elsewhere in Canada.
C) Despite a high level of nationalism in Quebec, unions in the province have avoided getting involved in debates about separatism and sovereignty.
D) The willingness of unions to accept provincial legislation allowing strike-breaking by employers.
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13
Chapter 12: Alternative Approaches to Economic Organization
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Q1) Outline the differences and similarities between worker buyouts and producer co-operatives, and discuss the barriers each of these alternative approaches to economic organization might face. In your opinion, which, if any, of these approaches would have the greatest chance of being successful in your community? Explain why.
Q2) The history of attempts to reduce workplace health and safety risks in Canada supports which of the following generalizations?
A) Canada has really not moved beyond an "administrative model of regulation."
B) There has been very little improvement over time in accident and fatality rates.
C) "No fault compensation systems" are basically ineffective.
D) The "internal responsibility system" encourages workers and management to work together to reduce risks.
Q3) Which of the following is a defining principle of producer co-operatives, compared to other types of worker ownership?
A) Governments must be involved, in order to be successful.
B) Unions must be included in all decisions made.
C) Each co-op member owns one share only, and non-members cannot own shares.
D) They are not allowed to grow beyond a certain size, 25 members, for example.
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Page 14
Chapter 13: Work Values and Work Orientations
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Q1) Briefly discuss some of the manifest and latent functions of work. Make reference to research on unemployment which helps us understand the latent functions.
Q2) Which of the following best defines the concept "work orientations"?
A) The meaning attached to work in a particular society.
B) The meaning attached to work by the dominant elites within a society.
C) The aspects of work that a particular individual does not enjoy.
D) The meaning attached to work by particular individuals within a society.
Q3) Martin Luther, a 16th-century Protestant leader, used the concept of a "calling" to describe which of the following beliefs?
A) Industriousness and hard work in one's job, no matter how good or bad it is, is the way to fulfill God's will.
B) Some occupations (priest and farmer, for example) are better than others such as merchant, since they contribute directly to the good of society.
C) Men should work outside the home while women should do caring work in the home.
D) Social class differences in society are natural, and should be accepted.
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Chapter 14: Job Satisfaction, Alienation, and Work-Related Stress
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Q1) According to Karasek's theory of job stress, which of the following working conditions would be most likely to cause high stress?
A) Low job demands and little social support.
B) High job demands and low employee morale.
C) Low job demands and poor supervision.
D) High job demands and little employee control.
Q2) Which of the following is the best summary of research on the relationship between job satisfaction and worker productivity?
A) The relationship is found in only some work settings (high-complexity jobs, for example).
B) Research consistently shows that more satisfied workers are also more productive.
C) The relationship is much weaker in workplaces where unions are present.
D) The relationship exists for middle-aged and older workers, but not young workers.
Q3) Based on what you have read in Chapter 14, describe the type of job that you think you would find most satisfying. Outline the theory or theories that support your position.
Q4) Briefly outline Karasek's "demand-control" model of workplace stress.
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Page 16