One Last Time

     We've made it!!.....well...almost. It feels like just yesterday we were attempting to simply give the American Dream a definition. Now, here we are, ready to wrap up our final project and move onto our second semester of college. So far, I have found this project to be very interesting, as I have gained more insight on my chosen focus and have a solid understanding of what the dream is and how it is interpreted differently by every individual.

     My focus for this topic is the way that gender disparity in the United States hinders one's pursuit of the American Dream. Within this focus, I selected three sub-topics: politics, wages, and opportunities. My primary research began by selecting a chapter from White and Hanson's anthology, The American Dream in the 21st Century. I chose Sandra Hanson's chapter titled "Whose Dream? Gender and the American Dream". Hanson highlights numerous issues resulting for the widespread presence of gender disparity in America. Hanson first emphasizes the issues in the workforce, exclaiming that "occupations typically held by women provide lower wages" and adding that "men are paid more for what they do largely because they are men…woman needs an extra degree to receive the same earnings as a man” (80). Hanson's statements encouraged me to dig deeper into the ways that wage gaps and unjust tendencies in the workforce affect women's pursuit of the American Dream. Hanson also describes gender inequality in education, which limits females of their opportunities and freedom to become what they desire. Hanson notes the "“gendered education systems, gender tracking, & hidden curriculum...” (78), which prohibit women from their pursuit of a major that isn't seen as "feminine" by society. Finally, Hanson highlights gender differences in politics, presenting that "[a] large percent of women (relative to men) feel that the Democratic Party is more helpful" in assisting Americans' pursuit of the Dream (89). 

     I continued my research by examining multiple academic journals and discovered various ideals pertaining to the American Dream itself and more specifically to the my three sub-topics. First, in their article titled “Do Candidates Run as Women and Men or Democrats and Republicans? The Impact of Party and Sex on Issue Campaigns.”, professors of political science Kathleen Dolan and Timothy Lynch address the motives behind the seemingly purposeful influences
of politicians by examining the ways that political candidates shape their campaigns, and argue that politicians do not intentionally use their campaigns to appeal to a specific gender. 

Through “analyzing the impact of candidate sex and party on issue presentation in [their] ads” (528), Dolan and Lynch discovered that “women and men do not appear to campaign on issues where gender stereotypes might give them an advantage” (539). Next, p
olitical science professor Benjamin J. Newton discusses the vivid inequality seen in the differing wages of men and women in his article for the American Journal of Political Science titled “Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Local Gender‐Based Earnings Inequality and Women's Belief in the American Dream.” Newton argues that a correlation should exist between a woman’s salary and her attitude toward the American Dream. Newton discovered that women’s belief in meritocracy was indeed affected by their experienced wage inequality, as a larger wage gap correlated with a diminished belief that economic success was attainable (217). Newton’s findings confirm Hanson’s claim that men behold more optimism than women by revealing men’s unchanged beliefs in meritocracy despite the size of their local wage gap. Lastly, in her article titled “Programs for Undergraduate Women in Science and Engineering: Issues, Problems, and Solutions”, ADVANCE professor Mary Fox describes the gender disparity specifically seen in the academic fields of engineering and science and argues that such segregation prohibits women from acquiring opportunities and achieving independence. Fox analyzes science and engineering programs’ factors, issues, and attempted resolutions to uncover the reasoning behind the unnecessary gender discrimination present in these fields. As a result of obtaining the detailed program goals and the programs’ operational definitions of the problem, Fox found that gender issues primarily stem from "the ineffective structural orientation of the science and engineering programs" (76). Her journal article confirms Hanson’s claim that limitations of the American Dream are widespread throughout multiple fields of everyday life by illustrating the gendered education systems that divide males and females in areas of science and engineering.
     Ultimately, all of my research directed me to conclude that the presence of gender inequality throughout the nation defeats the purpose of the American Dream and limits the opportunities for women's success. Although Dolan and Lynch reveal that the division resulting from politics is not intentional and is simply manifested by society and its stereotypes, political candidates still acknowledge that such gender disparity exists, thus confirming Americans' beliefs. Although such politicians do not create the inequality, Americans sometimes feel that they allow it to continue, thus diminishing their optimism when a certain party or individual is in office. Likewise, Hanson's chapter and the articles of Newton and Fox all point in the direction that gender inequality has provided harm not only for individuals, but for the country as a whole.