Saturday, November 8, 2014
:
9:30 AM
Nambe (Convention Center)
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
Today, students in the U.S. are more interested in global issues. Social policy education also looks for models to integrate international content into its curriculum. This paper presents an example of utilizing comparative social welfare approach to help students gain a broader view of global social conditions, particularly in developing countries. We utilize the data from United Nations (UN) and the World Bank to examine social conditions in different parts of the world such as Asian countries, African countries, and well as Central and South American countries. We include the Human Development Index, created by the UN, to provide a general reference of socioeconomic development for a country. We focus on basic needs attainments and social opportunities for children and women. Indicators to measure basic needs attainment include life expectancy, infant mortality, and maternal mortality. Indicators to measure social opportunities are adult literacy, particularly female literacy, expected years of schooling, and female labor force participation. We select at least 15 countries in each region to create a global profile. The global profile demonstrates the challenges in meeting basic needs and enhancing social opportunities for children and women in many developing countries. We discuss how students can benefits from conducting comparative social welfare research and learning global social conditions.