A Ken has worked for U.S. Steel for the past eighteen years as a mechanic in the rolling mill. The mill is closing, but at 43 years of age, Ken is too young to retire. U.S. Steel has agreed to retrain Ken, as well as other laborers in the plant as a computer operator. Such an arrangement is an example of ________ mobility.

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Here is the question restated: A Ken has worked for U.S. Steel for the past eighteen years as a mechanic in the rolling mill. The mill is closing, but at 43 years of age, Ken is too young to retire. U.S. Steel has agreed to retrain Ken, as well as other laborers in the plant as a computer operator. Such an arrangement is an example of ________ mobility.

Option 1: structural
- Why this fits: Structural mobility refers to changes in social status that result from organizational or economic changes in society or within an industry, such as a company shifting from one set of jobs to another (e.g., moving workers into different roles due to plant retooling). The retraining to become a computer operator due to the plant’s closure is exactly a change brought about by the structure of the organization and its needs, not by the individual changing positions on their own through internal movement alone.
- Why it could be confusing: This option aligns with the idea of a change driven by the structural transformation of the workplace, which is distinct from personal advancement or movement across generations.

Option 2: intergenerational
- Why this is not correct: Intergenerational mobility involves changes in social status from one generation to the next, such as a child attaining a higher or lower status than their parent. Ken’s shift is happening within his own career, not across generations, so this label doesn’t apply.
- Misconception addressed: It confuses within-career shifts with shifts across generations, which are different concepts in stratification research.

Option 3: intragenerational
- Why this is not correct: Intramembers of the same generation experience mobility when an individual improves or declines in status within their own lifetime. However, the key feature here is that the adjustment is due to a structural change in the organization (plant closure) that reallocates people into new roles, which is more characteristic of structural mobility than merely personal internal movement.
- Misconception addressed: It would apply if Ken’s position changed due to his own initiative or within his career trajectory without external structural changes.

Option 4: exchange
- Why this is not correct: Exchange mobility refers to individuals moving up or down in status by trading positions with someone else at the same time (a direct swap). The scenario describes retraining to a new role due to organizational needs, not a bilateral swap of positions between individuals.
- Misconception addressed: It mischaracterizes the mechanism of the move as a direct peer exchange rather than a structural redeployment driven by the company’s reorganization.

In summary, the retraining in response to the plant closure reflects a shift driven by the organization’s structural change, placing it under structural mobility rather than intergenerational, intragenerational, or exchange mobility.

SMC 2025 Wnt - SOCIOL 1 (1488) - Introduction to Sociology (O) Quiz #3 - Modules 5 &6 Social Inequalities

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