March 11, 1998
The second mid-term exam for this course will be on Wednesday, March
11, in class (TL-12). You are responsible for Chapters 4-6 of the
textbook and Parts 4-6 of the reader, as well as any additional material
covered in class since the 1st mid-term exam. The exam will consist of 20
multiple choice questions and one essay, and is worth 35% of your total
grade. Three of the following essay questions will be on the exam, and you
will be asked to answer one of them. In your essay, you will be
expected to make reference to at least two of the assigned articles
in the reader. A portion of the essay marking will be based on
style/grammar/spelling.
1. In brief, how do human capital and labour market segmentation
theories differ in their explanations of labour market inequality? How
effectively do these alternative theories account for past and present
inequalities in the Canadian labour market?
2. Briefly discuss some of the key differences between the employment
situations of women and men in Canada today. How have these patterns been
changing? What single factor or set of factors might, in your opinion,
have the greatest impact on further reducing these differences? Why?
3. Over the past decade or two, many more women have been moving into
the professions of medicine, dentistry, and law than into engineering.
Why might this be? What could be done to encourage more women to become
engineers and to remain in the profession?
4. To what extent do "human resource development,” Japanese management,
and other recent approaches to management solve some of the problems of
bureaucracy and deal with the problem of gaining compliance from workers?
5. Critically discuss the following statement, with reference to the
changes in management theory/ideology we have observed in North America
over the past century: “Worker participation in decision-making is
neither desirable from the point of management nor is it desired by
workers themselves.”