"Woman without Class" Reading Response

I was assigned pages 77-83. In this section it talks about the vocational career path that discriminates students in school systems. Advisors will look at the students and put them into whatever path they see fit. Once in the vocational path, students get so far behind and are unable to catchup if they decide to choose a different path. Most of the women on this path will receive low paying clerical or retail jobs. In this section the author also describes the differences in the junior college track and the 4 year university track. The 4 year university track is definitely the hardest and requires lots of work. In the JC track, you have to work but you can also slack off a little bit too. In the vocational track students only go to class when it is convenient, they will show up on test day not knowing that they even have a test, and they are put into the easiest classes, which the author describes as business and nutrition type classes. The teachers try to motivate their students as much as possible, but that is hard to do when the teachers know they wont be going anywhere after high school. The parents are also less motivated when it comes to their children in the working class. They still care about their child's education, but they have no knowledge of SAT prep, college prep and how applications work for college. They also can't afford the years of college it takes to get a good degree so they send their children to junior college thinking it is the same thing, but its not.

The author does a good job presenting her points. The author provides direct quotes and conversations from the chicas. I liked how the author also interviewed the teachers too to get their prospective on things. It gives two sides to the story. Many of the things both the teacher and the students say match up so you can see the similarities. The author also shows the relationship the parents have with the students and where the parents push the students. The students are pushed into whatever the parents had previously done but are held to a higher level of achievement. I only got to read a small section of the book, so I think the author has much more to say about the other classes, which was the only hole I saw.

I think some students need the vocational track, just so they can have a high school degree instead of dropping out. I don't think that the tracks should be determined by racial or class status. I could see many latinos in my old high school on the vocational track because that is where the advisor told them to go. I know this because I played soccer with them. Luckily for them we had an excellent vocational track because our auto and welding classes were top in the state, but other schools are not as fortunate. I would like to see more stories like the one presented in the reading of the girl who joined the MESA student group. She was put on a higher track because of it and now she is applying for a 4 year college.

"It might have meant that for boys... but for girls, a high school education does not guarantee economic security."    

This quote is describing the jobs men are more likely to get with only a college degree than women are. Warehouse and heavy lifting jobs are in high demand and are mostly held by men. These jobs only require a high school degree. Jobs women can get are generally retail and childcare. These jobs are not as high of demand and pay less. This has been true ever since the industrial revolution. I feel like this describes our working class society today, and it is not fair towards women. Many women are forced to work two jobs just to support a family. I do not have a solution to this problem but in needs to be addressed.