The Humanion UK Online Daily: National International Universal News Learning and Society Newspaper

Sociology

Sociology Arkive Year Alpha and Beta

2015-16 and 2016-17

Society has neither structure nor shape nor there are dignitaries such as President or Chair or Prime Minister or Chancellor; it is, therefore, as open, as shapeless but as real as the Universe itself, which contains everything and enables their very existence within the bounds of its own laws that are invisibly at work without fail. The Universe can simply be seen as the expression of liberty and so can society be seen as mirroring this. From that liberty of the Universe and Society we seek the laws that set the perimeter of that expression of liberty which concerns humanity so that we find the shape, size and contents of equality and then go about seeking to achieve that equality for without equality liberty does and cannot exist. And because we have not achieved equality we find all societies in the world are doing nothing but bleeding for the wounded liberty and thus, gasping equality with it because it cannot be. One cannot exist without the other: if one is hurt both bleed. In ordinary everyday terms: liberty and equality can be said as being: soul-mates. Or the other way to look at liberty and equality is to say: no one can say where neurology begins and ends and cardiology ends or begins for both reach and cover the entire physiology: Liberty and Equality are like that so that it is impossible to separate them; neither can live alone nor separately. They are one as two or two as one. The purpose of sociology is to bring them both to life in one as one as two or two as one. The purpose of sociology is to bring them both to life: liberty and equality so that both exist equally, one being the other or being one together and in them humanity finds its home at homeostasis, which is now, thus, made of natural justice, where purpose and meaning are planted and harvested, through human endeavours of creativity, imagination, ingenuity and work. The Humanion.

At the British Sociological Association’s Work Employment and Society Conference 2018 in Belfast: September 12-14: Legislation on Increasing Flexible Working Has Failed: New Research Finds

|| September 13: 2018 || ά. Research presented at the British Sociological Association Conference in Belfast has found that there has been no significant overall increase in the number of employees working flexibly since the legislation came into effect in 2014. Researcher Ms Joanna Wilson from the University of Manchester analysed survey data from a sample of up to 24,736 UK employees. She found that when comparing the same people in 2010 and 2015, there was little change in the uptake of flexible working; those working flexible start and finish times, fewer hours or from home.

In 2010, 44.1% of all employees worked flexibly and by 2015 the figure was 44.3%. While there were small changes in some areas, such as, decreases in the use of term- time working and job shares and increases in the use of flexi-time and home working, with the exception of the increase in home working, these changes were not statistically significant. Ms Wilson said that the Conservative-Liberal Democrats coalition had brought in a statutory right for staff to request flexible working in June 2014. The British Sociological Association’s Work, Employment and Society Conference takes place on September 12-14 at the Europa Hotel, Belfast.

“The extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees, regardless of caring responsibilities, was aimed at increasing its use in the hope that this would lead to the creation of better paid and better quality flexible jobs, thus, helping close the gender pay gap.” she said.

“On the whole, the use of flexible working in the UK appears to have changed very little from 2010 to 2015 and there is no early evidence of an increase since the extension of the right to request legislation in 2014.” She said that the findings, might, reflect a limitation of the legislation, that employees must be employed for at least six months before having the right to request and that not all employees, might, in fact be aware of their right to request flexible working.

"Many employers, may, remain sceptical about the benefits of flexible working and under the legislation are able to refuse requests providing they have a valid business reason, such as, a burden of additional costs, an inability to reorganise work amongst existing staff or a detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand.

Barriers, such as, negative line manager attitudes and a cultural presumption against flexible working in organisations, may, also, exist to dissuade employees from submitting a flexible working application in the first place and those employees, who have applications approved, may, experience a stigma associated with working flexibly, which has been found to lead to limited career progression."

The research, also, found that: i: Part-time flexible work continues to be predominantly used by women, with little sign of change; ii: Flexi-time was more likely among employees in the largest firms, those working in a management role, those in the public sector and those educated to degree level and iii: Homeworking was less likely in the public sector compared to the private sector. It was, also, up to three times more likely to be used by those educated to degree level.

Ms Wilson used data from the Understanding Society survey, which is a nationally-representative study of the UK population containing information on various aspects of the respondents’ lives, including, working conditions. The survey is a rolling panel study, meaning that the same households participate in the survey each year.

The above focuses on the more formal use of flexible working, that which leads to changes in the employment contract as opposed to informal flexible working, where an employee, may, alter their working time or place on an ad hoc basis to accommodate medical appointments for example.:::ω.

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The Sociology of Why More Girls are Not Studying Mathematics and Physics: It is in the Culture of Misogyny in All Spheres of Society That Keeps on Beating and Tearing Down at the Confidence of Women

|| August 27: 2018: Rachel Cassidy: Sarah Cattan and Claire Crawford: IFS Writing || ά. The gender composition of those staying in education beyond school leaving age has been one of the most dramatic changes in education over the last 50 years: from a situation of significant under-representation, girls took 22% more A levels than boys this year and are over a third more likely to go to university. Indeed, these gaps are now so large that the under-representation of men in higher education, especially, those from poorer white families, has become a topic of significant policy interest in recent years.

Yet, against this backdrop of female success, there remain areas in which women are significantly under-represented. The A level results released last week confirmed that girls were still less likely to take science, technology, engineering and maths A levels than boys: despite receiving 55% of A levels overall this year, girls received just 43% of A levels awarded in STEM subjects. This is not the case for all STEM subjects: girls are just as likely as boys to take chemistry and more likely to take biology. The most striking gaps are in physics and maths: girls accounted for 39% of this year’s maths A levels, 28% of further maths A levels and just 22% of all physics A levels.

This matters because these A levels are important routes into studying STEM subjects at university and into STEM careers: an under-representation of women in maths and physics at A level leads to an under-representation of women in careers, that use these subjects. This is important for society, for example, some research suggests that workplace diversity can aid innovation. These choices, also, matter for the individuals themselves: having a maths A level appears to bring financial rewards in the labour market and both subjects can open doors to potentially lucrative university degrees.

For example, recent IFS research suggests that, compared to the average female graduate five years after graduation, women with a maths degree earn 13.4% more, those with an engineering degree earn 09.7% more and those with an economics degree, another subject in which girls are significantly under-represented and for which maths is often a gateway subject, earn 19.5% more.

The fact that fewer girls study maths and physics at A level is not because they are less well prepared: attainment in maths and physics GCSE is very similar for girls and boys. Moreover, the gender gap in the likelihood of taking maths and physics A level is very similar, if, we focus only on students, who achieved top grades at GCSE and so are likely to be the best prepared for A level study. For example, among pupils, who achieved grade A or A*, equivalent to grades 07-09 under the new system, in GCSE maths in 2010, 37% of girls compared to 51% of boys took maths A level. Among those, who achieved grade A or A* in GCSE physics, just 13% of girls compared to 39% of boys took physics A level.

So, why do so few girls choose to study maths and physics? As part of a pilot study for a new project investigating why girls are under-represented in maths and physics, funded by the STEM Skills Fund, we surveyed just under 300 girls across 40 schools, who were predicted to achieve at least grade 07, at least grade A, in either maths, physics or combined science at GCSE. We, also, surveyed their teachers. The aim was to understand what drives girls’ A level choices, including, why they, may or may not, opt for maths or physics. These findings were summarised in a recent IFS report.

The gender gap in maths and physics does not seem to arise because girls don’t find maths and physics interesting or because they don’t understand or value the prospects offered by a STEM career. So, what else is going on? Confidence seems to be a big part of the issue, particularly, when it comes to physics. We found that, despite their high predicted grades, about half of the girls in our sample agreed or strongly agreed with the statements ‘I, often, worry that it will be difficult for me in physics classes’ or ‘I worry I will get poor grades in physics’.

The figures were about half that for maths. Teachers, also, cited a lack of confidence as the biggest factor affecting the gender gap in pursuing STEM subjects to A level: 80% agreed or strongly agreed that ‘these girls are just as able but not as confident in their ability to learn STEM subjects as boys’. This chimes with research by the OECD and others, suggesting that a lack of confidence amongst girls, might be, an important determinant of gender differences in attainment in STEM subjects or the decision to pursue STEM careers.

Perhaps more challenging from a policy perspective is the fact that being one of the only girls in a physics class at school or university or indeed in a STEM job, seems to be a major factor putting off some girls. Two thirds of the girls we surveyed viewed STEM jobs as male dominated and a similar proportion of teachers agreed or strongly agreed that ‘these girls don’t want to feel discouraged from pursuing STEM subjects at A level because many of their female peers do not’. The fact that girls attending single-sex schools are more likely to study these subjects than girls in mixed-sex schools supports this idea.

This raises a tricky issue: if, girls’ hesitations about studying and working in male-dominated environments are an important determinant of their decision not to study maths or physics at A level, then interventions, that attempt to encourage one or two girls in a school to change their behaviour, may not, be enough. What, may be, required are interventions, which send a strong signal to girls that not just they but, also, a significant number of their peers, are being encouraged to pursue physics and maths. But even this alone, may not, be enough: after all, girls attending single sex schools are still less likely to take maths and physics than boys. So, what is likely to work? That is exactly what we hope to explore in future research.

: In this new observation and report, Rachel Cassidy, Post-doctoral Fellow, Sarah Cattan, Associate Director and Claire Crawford, Research Fellow, look in detail at the results of a study, conducted in partnership with the STEM Skills Fund, which seeks to understand the barriers that stop girls from taking maths and physics at A-level. The observation ‘Why don’t more girls study maths and physics?’ and report 'How can we increase girls’ uptake of maths and physics A-level?' were published online yesterday:

Caption: These are some of the economist-minds working at The New Economics Foundation: Here, Women outnumber men, for a change but the rest of the spectrum of the economic, business, finance and trade fileds women are still struggling as a minority at the lower down ranks! :::ω.

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The Sociology of Fear: How People View Crime Depends on the Politics of When They Were Growing Up

|| August 11: 2018: University of Southampton News || ά. A new study, published in the British Journal of Criminology, by Oxford University Press and supported by University of Southampton research, indicates that the different political periods in which people ‘came of age’ has an important influence on their perception of crime, even, decades later. For over forty years, researchers have sought to understand the causes and implications of people’s fear of crime. But to date, no studies have been able to take into account whether the political period in which a cohort grew up had a meaningful effect on their emotional responses to crime.

The political context the respondents grew up in during the ages of 15 to 25 is the time, when people form key opinions and are most sensitive to social events. Researchers analysed data on fear of crime and anti-social behaviour from the British Crime Survey in England and Wales spanning 30 years. In doing so, they were able to estimate the net effects of individual aging, the historical period in which the survey was conducted and the political generations the respondents belonged to. This study comes from a project, examining the long-term effects of Thatcherism on crime at the University of Sheffield, the University of Southampton and Sciences Po.

The researchers found a strong relationship between a respondent’s current crime fears and their political generation. For example, those, who grew up under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, 1979-1990 or John Major, 1990-1997, expressed the greatest level of worry about domestic burglary, the same generation, that witnessed a dramatic rise in property crime during the 1980s.

Meanwhile, the Wilson:Callaghan generation expressed the highest levels of worry about robbery and mugging, which was a key concern for politicians, policy makers and journalists at the time. Responses to anti-social behaviours tell a similar story. People, who grew up during the Blair and Brown governments, from the late 1990s to 2010, reported the highest level of concern about local problems, such as, vandalism, teenagers loitering and noisy neighbours; such problems were heavily emphasised and legislated against during this political period.

Professor Will Jennings, from the University of Southampton, said, “Our study finds that people's fear of crime is a function of their formative years. Generations experience crime and criminal justice policy agendas in different ways, often, shaped by the prevailing political and public debate around crime at the time.

The generation, that grew up in the 80s and 90s under the Thatcher and Major governments, also, a time of rapid rises in property crime, tend to be most concerned about burglary. The New Labour generation, that grew up under Blair and Brown, on the other hand, is more likely than other generations to be concerned about anti-social behaviour.”

Overall, this study shows that citizens have a greater propensity to fear the crimes, that were the focus of political debate during their youth and this effect persists into adulthood. The results show that crime fears can linger and that the processes by which people form their political values can cast a long-term influence on their attitude about crime.

“The pronouncements leading politicians make about crime can have a lasting impact on the crime fears of young adults. Political and popular debates about crime, that are prevalent in one’s youth appear to impact the fears those individuals report through adulthood and into middle age.” said one of the paper’s authors, Mr Stephen Farrall.

“In this respect, our narratives of crime and disorder tell us something important about the enduring influence of our political history and the stories we hear about crime.”

The Paper: Political Socialisation, Worry about Crime and paper Anti-social Behaviour: An Analysis of Age, Period and Cohort Effects’ is available online:::ω.

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Regine Humanics Foundation Begins Its Journey Today: The Humanion Is Now A Regine Humanics Foundation Publication

|| April 06: 2018 || ά. The Humanion was first published on September 24, 2015 and has been run, since that day, on a complete voluntary basis without any 'formal' or 'constituted' manner or form and, it was run on as a Human Enterprise, which is an idea of Humanics, in which, ownership is replaced by belongingship and, thus, in a Humanical Society, no one owns anything but everyone belongs to the whole as the whole belongs to everyone lawfully and equally and, it neither believes in nor makes money but human utilities, needs, aspirations, creativity, imagination and dreams are served without money, where everyone works and creates for all others as all others create and work for all others, thus, bringing in meaning and purpose to life along with it come natural justice, equality and liberty, that establish a true civilisation within the Rule of Law. And in one word, this system of human affairs management is called, Humanics and a society that runs itself in humanics is called a humanical society. Today, we have begun the process of 'constituting' this Human Enterprise, which does not exist in the current system, but the next closest thing to it, that exists in the UK Law is Social Enterprise. Therefore, today, Friday, April 06, 2018, we are beginning Regine Humanics Foundation, that is the 'Agency', that will lead, run, manage and develop everything, that The Humanion has been trying to do.

Regine Humanics Foundation is established by the Thinker, Author, Poet, Novelist, Playwright, Editor of The Humanion, Festival Director of London Poetry Festival and a Humanicsxian: hu: maa: neek: tian: One, that believes in, lives and exists by Humanics, Mr Munayem Mayenin, of London, England, United Kingdom. Mr Mayenin says, ''Humanics is a vision; people, may, call it, utopia, we, call it our Humanicsovicsopia; Humanics. Humanics is our philosophy, our faith, our conviction, our resolution, our way of existing, thinking, being and doing: to seek and try to do so in the determination that all we must do and be is to exist to advance the human condition. People, readers and agencies and organisations, from all across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and the whole of the United Kingdom and Australasia, Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, from all walks and strata of life, have supported our endeavours, supported The Humanion and The Humanion Team, who volunteered their time to run things, since the beginning of The Humanion and long before that, when other things, that are now part of The Foundation, were developing. Nothing has changed in terms of the nature and value of what we have been seeking to do.''

''But the founding of The Foundation brings it all in a solid foundation so that we can keep on building this 'vision' so that it keeps on going regardless of who come to take the vision-mission of The Foundation forward. The Foundation runs along with time and along with the flowing humanity. This is the dream, this is the vision, this the hope in founding this Foundation. And, in this, we hope and invite all our readers, supporters, well wishers and all agencies and organisations to support our endeavours to build something, a Human Enterprise, which we are in the process of registering as a Social Enterprise, as a Community Interest Company, working for the common good of the one and common humanity. No one makes or takes profit out of The Foundation, which now runs The Humanion and everything else, that is part of it. The Foundation, once registered, will have an Asset Lock, which means that in any event, should The Foundation dissolve itself, all its existing assets shall go to a similar Social Enterprise. Therefore, we invite everyone to support The Foundation, support The Humanion in whatever way they can. And, there are endless number of ways people and organisations can support The Foundation and The Humanion.'' ::: ω.

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For Stories Published in Sociology in || April || May || June || Sociology Arkive Q-Beta 2018

Humanical Perspective of Sociology

Imagine, a tiny village in the wide expanse of a valley of a mountain that overlooks two countries on its either side beneath almost an infinite sky hanging down with a display of wonderful skyscapes: open fields and valleys, rivers and lakes, hills and groves marking the map with nature's bounties. Through that tiny village go parallel a high way and a railway line linking the wider world to the village, stopping at the tiny railway station with white sign boards marking the station that is lamped with old Victorian lanterns. There is the station office and there is a tiny cafeteria served by a very old man of almost 90. There is a primary school, secondary school, which feed into colleges and universities that are in the wider world, two small markets, connected to the wider market and its chain, a mosque, a temple, a church, a pagoda, a synagogue, linked and connected to the wider spheres of faiths. There are playing fields, farmlands where people are living and going about their business of life. All this is connected to this: social interactions of people, among and between them through established rules and customs and through and by organisations, institutions and structures that they have developed to support them in living life which is to be able to imagine, create and live. To be useful to others as well as oneself and one's family and community. So the Station Master sells tickets, the Station Porter goes up and lights up those old Victorian Lanterns at dusk and puts them off when the trains stop for the day, the old man who did not have to work still gets up at three o'clock in the morning to open his cafe which his family asks him to stop doing but he does so that the people for the early dawn train would find warmth and can have a drink, the Doctor goes about seeing her patients, the chemist goes about offering medications to people, the religious persons go about doing their parts in the 'temples' mentioned, the primary and secondary school teachers go about teaching, the farmers and fishermen go about fishing, the cafes and restaurants go about serving people, the social, political and cultural spheres work on. The study of all this is to understand how this network of people and organisations and the culture that they help create work, develop and run on and this study is the domain of sociology which means it cannot be done properly unless it has an eye in the depth of understanding the political, economical and jurisprudential philosophy and the management systems that they have created that go towards creating and enabling that culture to which Sociology tries to offer its lights. On a humanical perspective sociology is a tool to understand the inner striving of humanity to create peace and stability through which life is supported, enabled and nurtured which means to achieve natural justice, liberty and equality for only which establishes the due process of law in which the rule of law is the 'nature' of society and the people who live in it being purposeful and useful to wider life while being able to support and develop their own, being at liberty, being at equality and protected by the same laws that protect everyone else equally and at all times. Munayem Mayenin: Editor: Posted on: November 14, 2015