The dynamics of opportunity in America: A working framework

Abstract

Since its founding, America has been seen as a land of opportunity, where an individual with skills who was willing to work hard could achieve success and expect his children to do even better. Today we live in turbulent times: A tsunami of change is washing over us, driven by forces operating at multiple levels that have not only led to almost unprecedented inequalities in income and wealth, but also have dramatically restructured the economy and changed the landscape of work. Having sufficient amounts of relevant human and social capital are more critical than ever—and too many Americans are finding they are not equipped to succeed as workers and citizens. Growing inequities in access to opportunities to develop needed capital, strongly linked to socioeconomic status should be cause for grave concern. This chapter presents a framework—gates, gaps, and gradients—that can facilitate understanding of both the dynamics governing the distribution of access to opportunity across the developmental lifespan and the implications of those dynamics for intragenerational and intergenerational mobility. Further, it indicates in broad strokes how this nation can begin to broaden opportunity in order to revitalize the American Dream for the twenty-first century.