Chapter 4 – Discussion and Conclusion
4.2 Conclusion
Culture is the key element to this thesis, but it is also important to research the societal elements that potentially make it difficult for minorities and women to succeed in America.
I chose to focus on mobility, mobility and education, racism, IQ-theory, barriers to entry and inequality. Mobility and mobility and education focused on the presence of economic mobility in America and whether or not education affects mobility. There is mobility in America today, and education does affect it. Generally education plays a great role in how well one succeeds in American society, which also ties in with the traditional definition of the American Dream. If you work hard you will succeed. This still rings true today, but I have also shown a more contemporary version of the American Dream where instant gratification in the form of reality shows and easy money is making headway. This version of the American Dream is very new, but will most likely not entirely replace the original definition, as this is still a huge part of the backbone of American life.
Finally one can conclude that there is no clear cut answer to the research question, but the thesis has shown that culture does affect individual advancement a great deal. It is not without importance or consequence where you come from culturally, or whether or not you know how to use your ‘tool kit’ as Ann Swidler defined it. Culture is by no means an exact science, and it has been truly interesting to look into how much culture may affect individual advancement. It is impossible to conclude anything other than culture matters a great deal, which is impossible to measure, but it does not stand alone in determining how well a person does in life. It does, however, affect individual advancement in US society today.
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