Social inequalities exist in smoking-attributable mortality rates of males. Change in these social inequalities in the past two decades in developed countries remains uncertain. This study was conducted in Canada, France, Poland, and Switzerland to quantify differences in smoking-attributable mortality rates, at ages 35-69 years, among different social strata in recent years and to examine the changes in social inequalities in these rates between 1986 and 2001. Analyses included 377,878 deaths from a total population of 13,482,210 males of these four countries. Smoking-attributable mortality rates reduced in all strata over the comparative time periods, in all countries, except France. This work specifically focuses to fill the gap in knowledge about whether tobacco control has reached the poor or lower social strata in developed countries. This study will enable follow up research including quantification of effects of the specific tobacco control policies in each country.

Social inequalities exist in smoking-attributable mortality rates of males. Change in these social inequalities in the past two decades in developed countries remains uncertain. This study was conducted in Canada, France, Poland, and Switzerland to quantify differences in smoking-attributable mortality rates, at ages 35-69 years, among different social strata in recent years and to examine the changes in social inequalities in these rates between 1986 and 2001. Analyses included 377,878 deaths from a total population of 13,482,210 males of these four countries. Smoking-attributable mortality rates reduced in all strata over the comparative time periods, in all countries, except France. This work specifically focuses to fill the gap in knowledge about whether tobacco control has reached the poor or lower social strata in developed countries. This study will enable follow up research including quantification of effects of the specific tobacco control policies in each country.

Thesis advisor: Ruth McRoy / Creating gender equality in situations of perceived organization exclusion-inclusion (OEI-the degree to which individuals feel a part of critical organizational processes such as access to information and influencing decision making processes) is a critical social and organizational justice concern (Mor Barak, 2011). Given the lack of understanding about gender differences in OEI, this study investigated this issue, as well as, the determinants of OEI, and the sources of gender differences in OEI across multiple worksites in different countries. Job status, work- and family-role investments, perception of work-family culture and gender-role beliefs were hypothesized as the main determinants and sources of gender differences in OEI. Data collected by the Sloan Center on Aging and Work for the Generations of Talent Study (GOT) in 2010-2011 were used to investigate the gender differences in OEI. Bivariate statistics, multivariate fixed effects models, and Blinder-Oaxaca regression decomposition analyses were used to test the hypotheses. Findings suggest that women's sense of OEI is significantly lower than that of men. This difference, although smaller, remains statistically significant after accounting for job status, work- and family-role investments, perception of work-family culture, gender-role beliefs, worksite variances, and control variables (age, race/ethnicity, optimism). Of these factors, job status and work-role investment differences between men and women are the greatest sources of the gender gap in OEI. No support was found for the influence of gender differences in family-role investments, gender-role beliefs, and perception of work-family culture on the gender OEI gap. Finally, women's more optimistic outlook on life, compared to men, attenuated the gender OEI gap. Guided by these findings, potential policy and/or practice interventions should be aimed at advancing greater gender equity in job status and supporting women's work-role investments. However, interventions aimed at changing women's work attitudes should not promote conformity to gendered organizational norms. Future research should aim to better understand the relationship between contextual factors and gender differences in OEI, and to examine the role of positive psychological characteristics (e.g. optimism) in OEI and the consequences of gender differences in OEI. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

It is suggested that people’s perceptions that they are inevitably tied to the social systems within which they operate motivate them to justify these systems. Evidence is obtained across four experimental studies using a variety of different methods. All studies test the basic proposition that increasing inevitability – that is, making a system seem either more difficult to escape or more unlikely to change – increases motivated rationalization. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate this basic phenomenon, using a known measure of system justification. Studies 3 and 4, in addition to conceptually replicating this phenomenon via different paradigms, provide support for a motivational (as opposed to purely cognitive-inferential) account, and mediational and moderational evidence for my proposed mechanism, respectively. The implications of these results – for the refinement of system justification theory – are discussed.

It is suggested that people’s perceptions that they are inevitably tied to the social systems within which they operate motivate them to justify these systems. Evidence is obtained across four experimental studies using a variety of different methods. All studies test the basic proposition that increasing inevitability – that is, making a system seem either more difficult to escape or more unlikely to change – increases motivated rationalization. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate this basic phenomenon, using a known measure of system justification. Studies 3 and 4, in addition to conceptually replicating this phenomenon via different paradigms, provide support for a motivational (as opposed to purely cognitive-inferential) account, and mediational and moderational evidence for my proposed mechanism, respectively. The implications of these results – for the refinement of system justification theory – are discussed.

This thesis considers the extent to which the hegemonic, socially and economically hierarchical principles of private enterprise were channelled through school-business links. School-business links take many forms, and the one I have highlighted is a neo-vocationalist programme which was aimed at rendering low-achieving senior secondary students 'employable'. In the process, the importance of private enterprise as generators of wealth is emphasised, while that of labour is overlooked. That is, the interests of employers are paramount in the programme, while those of the students are marginalised. In my discussion and conclusion, I find that the programme can be seen to be exploitative, because the rhetoric that legitimates it obscures the ways in which the interests of unequal social classes are met in an hierarchically differential fashion.

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of perceived service quality provided by banks on young adults’ perceptions of general societal and context-specific inequality, and negative emotions. Four laboratory experiments are designed and conducted to test these relationships. Results show increased context-specific inequality perceptions and negative affects on receiving lower quality service. Societal income inequality perceptions influenced preferences and recommendation likelihood for credit unions through attitudes towards them. A key role of knowledge about credit unions was found—whereby individuals with greater awareness provided more favorable evaluations for credit unions. Information received from friends was also trusted more than through ads. Theoretically, this research draws connections between literatures on service quality, social inequality, and information processing. Results found here have practical implications for both the functioning of banks as well as that of credit unions.

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This dissertation discusses a current niche in sociological literature: technology and interaction rituals in elementary schools. In particular, it examines the relationship between classroom interactions and the increasing available new forms of technologies (i.e. iPads, robotics kits, Smart boards) that are finding their way into schools. In doing so, I consider what new interactions and digital tools might mean for student engagement in what has now become known as the “21st century classroom”. Two pivotal sociological theories are utilized in this project: 1) Collins (2004) interaction ritual (IR) theory and 2) Bourdieu’s (1974; 1986) concept of cultural capital. Both are valuable in understanding how the introduction of digital tools in mainstream schools can influence or change interactions between and among students and teachers in classrooms, how they may impact student engagement gaps. Traditionally speaking, schools have long valued and rewarded certain types of interactions—student obedience alongside teacher authority, an orderly and compliant classroom, emphasis on more traditional teaching and so forth. Student engagement was not necessarily a point of interest, as was having a systematic classroom. However, perhaps technology is beginning to change those valuations, and create new types of classroom interactions that are unique to the 21st century—classrooms that have a more student-centered pedagogy, whereby teachers work in tandem with students to engross them in the learning process, and where student engagement is more much valued. If this is true, this may be a sign of some new emerging types of IRs that are beginning to surface in the presence of technology. Collins' (2004) theory of IR focuses on the emotional input and feedback of individuals that transpire in interactions among actors, which in the case of classrooms, consist of teachers and students. The theory holds that interactions produce or deplete “emotional energy” of participants depending on many key factors (physical co-presence, exclusivity of group, mutual focus/mood, bodily synchronization). A successful ritual is one in which participants have a mutual focus on a particular “symbol” or “emblem” unique to that group. Through this research, I propose that technology can serve as that “emblem” to group membership, and as a result, can facilitate new kinds of IR. “Cultural capital”, in comparison, is usually considered to be a collection of symbolic elements such as skills, tastes, clothing, materials, credentials and so on that one acquires by being a member of a particular social class. In education, cultural capital can refer to having valued sets of skills and knowledge that are aligned with school rewards. Traditionally, this usually meant a middle-upper class advantage in schooling, as students of more affluent families were able to learn valued kinds of skill sets to help them achieve better in school. However, with the advent of new technologies, I question whether notions of cultural capital have changed as a result, and whether possessing a digital skillset is in and of itself, a new type of valued capital. Can new technologies produce more equalizing experiences for students of varying SES backgrounds? To explore the possibility of digital tools in classrooms creating new sets of rituals with new kinds of valued cultural capital, this study adopts a qualitative methodology, consisting of elementary classroom observations, interviews, and focus groups with teachers and students in ten school boards across Ontario, Canada. My research discusses three integrated themes. I begin by asking first, how have technologies transformed the ways in which students and teachers interact with, and amongst each other? By providing a new medium for both teacher pedagogy and student learning, this has major implications for classroom engagement. Secondly, I explore the possibility that one unintended consequence of using digital resources (compared to more traditional print media), has been a reduction in home-based inequalities, and a more “even playing field” for students of varying SES. With the ease, accessibility, and affordability of technology today, students in vary capacities are exposed to new valued skillsets. Lastly, I consider how technology can be a type of “leveler” for different kinds of students, which can allow them to participate and facilitate new types of ritual inclusions. I focus both on gendered interactions and exchanges between students with special needs as examples. The exploration of these three themes guides my research on the use of educational technologies across classrooms. These have important implications for sociologists, educational researchers, and policy-makers alike. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

For 17 years, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Public Law 104-199, 110 U.S. Statutes at Large 2419 (1996), prevented same-sex couples from enjoying the same federal benefits granted to heteronormative married couples. Among these benefits, the inability to provide immigration sponsorship for foreign-born spouses was particularly burdensome for bi-national same-sex couples. In this dissertation, marriage inequality serves as the backdrop for an investigation of bi-national same-sex couples’ dilemmas, strategies, and ultimate outcomes during and after the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Section 3 of DOMA. With the use of semi-structured interviews, I collected data from 30 individuals in bi-national same-sex relationships who were together before and after the United States v. Windsor decision. My intent is to both document their experiences and to advance scholarship in the areas of social inequality and social change.