Analysis Of The Article ' Biographies Of Hegemony ' By Karen Ho

In “Preparing for a Career”, Derek Bok, president of Harvard Law School and author, argues how universities, more specifically liberal arts colleges, should include training for a certain occupation with regular college classes to better prepare a student for the real world after college. Considering that Bok has earned his degrees at some of the most well-known universities like Stanford University and Harvard, he has a better understanding at what students are missing and what they need to be successful. However, on the other hand, not many professors and students see or agree with Bok’s point of view. They do not agree that students need the vocational training during their years in a liberal arts college, even though students need both; an education that helps them become critical thinkers and skilled communicators as well as skilled workers in a certain career. So why not help students with their career along with their regular core courses?

While reading Ken Bain’s book “What the Best College Students Do” of the five different types of students he describes, I feel like I fall under the label of one having mediocre grades but achieving success. I make good grades, however I do not necessarily believe my grades always reflect my hard work, determination and effort put in, similar to his theory on false hope in standardized testing. Throughout my school career, I have consistently made A and B grades. I can remember only one C grade, which was a quarter grade, and very disappointing, but a lesson learned. At the same time though, and as Bain helped me realize through his text, grades are not everything and making a C is not something that is going to kill me; there is simply more to school than a letter grade. In fact he points out through most of the 1800s schools only used two grades, pass or fail. As seen nowadays, schools have since adopted the letter grade system.

In this chapter, James Lull begins by explaining what hegemony is, “the dominance that one social group holds over others” (Lull, 2015, p. 39). According to the text this is not through direct dominance, instead it is created through underlying politics and ideology. In politics, socially powerful people use their influence to convince those with less power that it is in their best interest to do what is actually in those who are socially powerful best interest. There is actually no benefit to the ladder at all, but through social dominance and persuasion is made to seem that it is.

Another area many people tend to aim to be successful in is the concept of the American Dream. It is thought that if you live in America you need to fulfill the goal of achieving the American Dream and if it is not achieved or not meant to be achieved then the life lived has been a failure. Older generations and even present generations want the younger generations to get good grades, have a ‘successful’ college life, get a professional job, get married, have kids, and buy a big, just because that is normal to everyone but some may choose to live their life not as vanilla. William Zinsser talks about how everyone just follows the social norm in order to be seen as successful, “Our advertisements and TV commercials are a hymn to material success, our magazines articles a toast to people who made it to the top... He is our national idol, and everybody else is our national fink” (Zinsser 601). Becoming a specific type of successful is being pushed onto teenagers who are still struggling to find out who they are and what they want to do. They may want to figure out a different way to become successful in their own independent way.

Success has been pondered over for centuries. How does one gain success? Is it worked for or is it only designated for a special few? Looking past the multitude of self help books that have been written, many like Malcolm Gladwell have begun to consider factors beyond just “working for it” as a contributor to success. One of these factors are cultural legacies. Though it is true that cultural legacies can be extremely powerful and that we should acknowledge them when considering someone’s success, it should be evident that the extent of power culture has is less than what Gladwell proposes. The place someone originated from has extremely influential effects on how that person thinks and acts, and in turn how they gain their success. The culture they grew up with becomes deeply rooted in their minds and results in different thought processes that shape the mindset they have while developing into an individual. However, Gladwell overestimates how powerful

Being admitted into college is a difficult process, one that requires students to be diligent in their studies, engage in a number of extracurricular activities, and overcome the everyday pressures and challenges that high-schoolers face across the country. Admittedly, not everyone in the United States is born with the same opportunities as socioeconomic factors as well as historic injustices have contributed to a society in which some people are far more likely to achieve upward mobility – of which, obtaining a college degree is a necessary part – than others. While there is need to rectify this reality,

More often than not, young students are taught to believe that they must go to a prestigious university to obtain a Bachelor’s degree or higher in order to have a fulfilling and satisfying career. This may hold true for some people, but others do not need to follow this same path. For students who choose a career that isn’t considered conventional or isn’t high in pay, they tend to be looked down upon which pressures them into choosing career paths that they do not have a passion for, or the skill set to actually accomplish which makes college a waste of time and money. While everyone should be encouraged to get an education beyond high school, people should be encouraged to get the education that is relevant and proper for them to make sure they are getting their money’s worth.

Karen Ho writes very a informing passage about Wall Street and the recruitment process in “The Biographies of Hegemony”. She speaks about the type of “families” Wall Streeters tend to form by only selecting specific types of people to work for them. An atomic family is composed of parents and their children and with aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. as the extended family. The “constructed family” created by Wall Street is similar to an atomic family to the extent that Wall Street itself poses as the parent of its children Harvard and Princeton and has the other Ivy League schools acting as their “extended family”. Just as an atomic family has trust, loyalty, and inclusion, Wall Street’s “family” has the same in order to succeed as a

“Misconception No.1: A liberal arts education is a luxury that most families can no longer afford. ‘Career-education’ is what we must now focus on.” (Ungar, 2010, pp.191) As Ungar has claimed, there is a recent misconception that a liberal arts education is no longer a necessity but luxury because it doesn’t provide an instant career launching education. With so many people having to a need to spend as little money as possible, they are determined to only spend money on preparation for their future career. For this reason they go to college only to take courses that are necessary for their future. “She is in college to take vocational training. She wants to write computer code. Start a business. Get a job in television. She uses college to take vocational courses that pertain to her career interest.” (Murray, 2008, pp.228) Murray explained the story of a girl who is in college solely for preparation for her career. Because of this, she isn’t interested in a liberal arts education. If the course doesn’t directly pertain to her desired career, she prefers not to take it.

Though both Davidson and Ho discuss several instances on how students are placed in a hierarchy and how success is primarily based off an intuition’s standards, the idea of democratization that Davidson presents conveys that a person’s identity involves more than just the standards of these institutions.

​"Education is the movement from darkness to light". In The Closing Of The American Mind, by Allan Bloom, Bloom argues that higher education has been drastically modified over the years and has ruined the psyche of today 's students. Once upon a time Americans dreamed of a better and brighter future, one that could transport them into a perfect utopia of societal bliss. Higher Education was the enthralling stepping stone for happiness. It inspired students to find their voice, while drawing from the past. It was a place where they could make mistakes and change their major once or twice. Today, higher education has become more about the career path and how it is more necessary than before. Higher education is no longer an adventure that allows the student to embark upon a journey of discovery and self-expression as it once was. This is due to the vigorous demands of the general society and how students today are required to maintain focus on a career that is valuable and not adventurous. Basically, we have lost touch with what makes this country so great; the impossible becoming reality. The creativity is gone. The belief that our imagination can grant us happiness if we work hard enough and believe is nonexistent. Higher education has separated the extraordinary and left us with dedicated, intelligent drones working towards the path that pays the most and will always have job security.

College is a stepping stone into the real world. Many students would agree they pursue a college degree to obtain more money in their career. However, this pursuit isn’t only because of money, but also led by the heart-felt desires of the students. Conversely, Harvey Bump comments “Only those who are independently wealthy can afford the luxury of developing their souls while in college. College education in 2015 must be job training”. There is no exclusiveness to students who want to follow what majors they’re interested in. Lynn O’Shaughnessy clarifies in her article, “8 Reasons Not to Get a Business Degree”, that parents pressure their children into selecting “practical majors” based on their perception of what the job market needs. Many

There are several qualities to have to be successful in college. These qualities can range from attending class to going above and beyond what’s expected. Success comes from the journey taken or the path chosen. Success also comes from being prepared. As a student, I must step up to the challenge and find the path to success along the way. Several ways I define success is to uphold academic integrity, have the ability to prioritize, and to motivate myself to stay on top of what needs to be accomplished.

One thing that varies faster than the gasoline price may be the debate around the value of a right path for a young adult— which major guarantees a smooth access to a decent job offer. According to the article, “Not All College Majors Are Created Equal”, the author, Michelle Singletary, indicates that college degrees are not the same based on the different majors. She starts her article with a question that she asked her college students, “What’s your major?” Singletary immediately determines her student’s future by the major that the student is choosing. Later in the article, she states her opinions on how majors have played a great important role in one’s career life by using different examples and statistics. Indeed, college majors are not

In “Biographies of Hegemony” by Karen Ho, she emphasizes that it is “only through the small and the everyday that we can understand the criteria of hegemony in all its particularity and contextuality” (168). To fully understand and evaluate someone or a group, people must look at the small qualities they have and the everyday stories each person has lived or seen. Smallness can be defined as certain experiences and individual characteristics that are overlooked, especially by big businesses and corporations such as Wall Street. By knowing a person down to their core and reviewing their small stories and individual experiences, people can begin to unravel and fully understand hegemony and how it came to be. Smallness tends to be overlooked and