Stratification

use this sociological imagination to analyze a hypothetical life history. While reading "Janice's" autobiography, look for the portions of the story that illustrate concepts or theories related to social stratification. You must identify at least 10. Write a paragraph about each of the 10 items you find. For each stratification concept or theory you detect in the life history, make sure to include the specific quote that illustrates the stratification issue, as well as the item's definition. Janice's Autobiography: I was born on August 5, 1972 in a small town outside St. Paul, Minnesota. I grew up with my three brothers, my mom, and my father in a small two-bedroom house in the country. It wasn't much fun having to share one room with three boys (especially when I got into my teenage years), but my family really couldn't afford a bigger house. Mom and dad were good with managing money, but our annual income wasn't ever much over $25,000. We didn't buy designer clothes, fancy sports cars, or anything like that, but we got by just fine until about the mid 1980s. There was a big recession in the eighties. Because of the recession, my dad lost his job at the factory and we started making a lot less money. To cover expenses, dad had to sell his old truck, mom got a part-time job at the local diner, and we even got food stamps for a short while. Dad was out of steady work for almost two years and during that time our income sank to less than $20,000 a year, sometimes a lot less. It was a tough time. Dad always blamed Reagan for giving lots of tax cuts to the wealthy but not helping out the little guy. He always said the workers were getting the shaft and they didn't even realize it! Fortunately, my dad finally found a good job at a new factory and things got back to normal. Shortly thereafter, I decided to head to college at the University of Minnesota. I got some loan money and a good academic scholarship, which made my folks proud. I remember my mom said that it just goes to show that if you work hard enough at something, you can get ahead in this world. Talk about working hard! Some of those college courses were no joke, but I managed to get myself a business degree in four years (give or take an extra semester - wink, wink). I remember how thrilled I was to officially be named a college graduate. It was definitely one of the most exciting moments in my life. Shortly thereafter, I went out on the open market looking for jobs. Being young and naïve, I thought I would get the first job I applied for. And why not? I think the most qualified and capable people get the best positions in this society, or at least they should. However, I had a lot of trouble getting my foot in the door at certain businesses because I'm a woman. Some people think women should only work as secretaries and homemakers, not managers or consultants. After searching around for a few months, though, I did manage to find a job in the marketing department at a computer research firm in Minneapolis, a company I'm still working for today. The company designs computer programs and components, sends them over to countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to be manufactured on the cheap, and then markets them to the U.S. and Europe for a big domestic profit. The company is very successful. At this point in my life, I'm a high-level manager at the computer firm. I make about $80,000 annually now, which gives me the money to enjoy hobbies like sailing, the opera, and, my favorite, dining out. When I look back on my life from here, it seems hardly possible that the daughter of factory workers could be so economically successful.