Introduction In 2009, former President Barack Obama proclaimed that “America cannot lead in the 21st century unless we have the best educated, most competitive workforce in the world”. To many in today's society including Barack Obama, a promising future results from an education at an elite postsecondary school. Others, such as Jeffrey Hart, Professor Emeritus of English at Dartmouth College states elite colleges are deceitful and not focused on giving students a proper education. According to Elizabeth M. Lee, professor, and author at Hamilton college, elite institutions are, “Private, selective, or highly selective colleges and universities that have high costs of attendance and typically lengthy histories serving predominantly upper …show more content…
Massey, a professor of Sociology at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University those of Native American, African-American, and Latin American descent are more likely to have lower incomes than White and Asian Americans. This includes those who currently attend or have graduated elite colleges. These results bring up an important question, why are the majority of different races grouped together in terms of income when each individual has the ability to work for themselves regardless of anything? The American Psychological Association states, “Discrimination and marginalization can serve as a hindrance to upward mobility for ethnic and racial minorities seeking to escape poverty.” Those of Latin American, African American, and Native American descent feel at a disadvantage because of the predominantly white individual's opinions. This in turn negatively affects the minorities socioeconomic futures through the handicap of discrimination even if they do obtain a degree from an elite postsecondary …show more content…
In America, women have been pushing for equality since 1776 when Abigail Adams asked her husband, John Adams, to “remember the ladies” during the creation of the Declaration of Independence. Since then, many feminist movements have occurred in an attempt to bring equality to all. Even with all these efforts, in the twenty-first century, a woman with the same qualifications and education as her male counterpart would be denied a job in favor of the male applicant. Additionally, if the female was chosen for the job, she would most likely be making less than her male counterpart. Moreover, the higher a female attempts to climb in terms of social hierarchy and higher job prospects, the more a glass ceiling becomes apparent. A glass ceiling implies that one's gender or race creates more disadvantages to an individual the higher they climb the social hierarchy.Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn, both professors of economics at Cornell University, state in a review on gender wage gaps, ”...changes in labor force selectivity, changes in gender differences in unmeasured characteristics and in labor market discrimination, and changes in the favorableness of demand shifts each may have contributed to the slowing convergence of the unexplained gender pay