Topic: Gender Pay Gap /(social work)
Paper details:
Critical thinking paper: You will select a topic from a list of social issues (Gender Pay Gap, Elder Poverty, Child
Poverty, Income Inequality). You will submit a five-page critical analysis of your social issue
Paper
Students are expected to write a five-page paper applying critical thinking to a selected social issue (Gender
Pay Gap, Income Inequality, Child Poverty, Elder Poverty). Students will sign up for a topic. In this assignment
students will demonstrate effective oral and written communication in analyzing a social problem and the
policies designed to address it, and should follow the critical thinking approach discussed in class and in the
Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking.
Specifically, the paper should provide a well-evidenced critical argument answering the following two
quesfions:
1) How have the historical ideologies described in Jimenez, Chapter 3, (US. Exceptionalism, individualism,
independence, Protestant Work Ethic, self-reliance, upward mobility, equal opportunity) influenced the extent
to which America has treated your selected topic (Gender Pay Gap, Income Inequality, Child Poverty, Elder
Poverty as a social problem, and the social policies designed to address it?
2) If we are to fulfill social work’s social justice mission, what sort of social policy approach (i.e. laws,
programs, budgetary allocations) is needed to address this social problem?
In the paper you should demonstrate your ability to distinguish, appraise, and integrate multiple sources of
knowledge, including research-based knowledge, and practice wisdom as you lay out your critical thinking
argument.
