Study guides › P/S › Sociology
Race, Ethnicity, Gender & Discrimination
This chapter covers how race, ethnicity, and gender are socially defined, how prejudice differs from discrimination, how discrimination operates in institutions and neighborhoods, and how societies respond to immigration. You will classify scenarios using precise vocabulary.
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What this chapter covers
- Race, Ethnicity, Prejudice & Discrimination. The MCAT loves paired terms here. Separate belief from behavior and biology from social meaning, then apply them to a scenario.
- Institutional Discrimination & Segregation. Discrimination can occur without any biased person in the room. Learn to spot policies with unequal effects.
- Gender, Intersectionality, Power & Privilege. Gender terms are tested as scenarios (glass ceiling, second shift) and as theorist attributions, especially Crenshaw and intersectionality.
- Immigration & Patterns of Assimilation. Intergroup relations range from genocide to amalgamation. Learn the continuum and match each pattern to a policy or example.
Key points to know
- Race: socially constructed; ethnicity: shared culture and ancestry
- Minority status is defined by lack of power, not by numbers
- Institutional discrimination is built into policies and structures
- Indirect institutional discrimination: neutral rule, unequal effect
- Sex = biological; gender = social
- Intersectionality: Crenshaw; second shift: Hochschild
- Push factors drive people out; pull factors draw them in
- Continuum: genocide, expulsion, segregation, pluralism, assimilation, amalgamation
Try a practice question
Which statement correctly distinguishes prejudice from discrimination?
- Prejudice is a behavior and discrimination is an attitude
- Prejudice is an attitude and discrimination is a behavior
- Both are behaviors, but only discrimination is illegal
- Prejudice affects only minorities
Show the answer
B. Prejudice is a prejudgment or attitude, whereas discrimination is unequal treatment. The first choice reverses them.
Common questions
What does this chapter cover?
Race, Ethnicity, Gender & Discrimination covers Race, Ethnicity, Prejudice & Discrimination, Institutional Discrimination & Segregation, Gender, Intersectionality, Power & Privilege, Immigration & Patterns of Assimilation.
What should I know first?
Race: socially constructed; ethnicity: shared culture and ancestry Minority status is defined by lack of power, not by numbers Institutional discrimination is built into policies and structures
21 original practice questions accompany this chapter in the app. Spaced review brings missed ideas back at the right time; it helps memory but cannot promise you will not miss an idea again.