The American Dream has its origins in the tenets of this country: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal: among these [equalities] are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."1 The notion that happiness must be pursued, is integral to American cultural thought and ultimately the collective American Dream. Realization of this dream and its physical manifestation, however, are the direct result of an expanding industrial economy beginning in the 1940s. A myriad factors influenced the possibility of expansion into new suburbs within commuting distance of growing cities. The creation of the interstate and the boom of the auto industry made easy transportation into and out of the city a reality. Heightened manufacturing spurred by World War II, the growth of the stock market, and wage growth made fleeing the dense urban center an economic possibility, and for many a desirable pursuit. Cities grew at alarming rates and became overcrowded as a result of the industrial job market Yet, industrial waste made city life untenable; pollution permeated the air and disease filled the overcrowded streets. The desire to leave grew quickly, but it was not yet possible for many working class families until the 1944 G.I. bill.2 The bill increased the possibility of suburban home ownership through subsidized housing mortgages and loans, affording returning veterans the opportunity to participate in attaining the dream.3 To keep up with demand, construction techniques drew on the mass production methods of the auto industry and built "model" homes that were easily constructible with speed and an economy of means.4 Easy access to a autonomous home and yard outside of the city shifted demographics, the American landscape, and cemented the suburban model as the predominant mode of the American home for an idealized nuclear family. / 0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

Studie- och yrkesvägledning i lägre åldrar har blivit ett allt mer aktuellt ämne på senare tid. Ämnet utgör grunden för denna studie, som syftar till att visa små barns egna perspektiv när det gäller deras upplevelse av karriär. Studien består av tio intervjuer med barn i 4-6 års ålder och resultatet visar att barnen har stor medvetenhet när det gäller karriär. Barnen kan berätta om vad ett arbete är, hur man får ett jobb, vilka som arbetar m.m., vilket analyseras utifrån begreppen self-concept, circumscription och images of occupations samt utifrån tidigare forskning. Några slutsatser som dras är att barnen till övervägande del kopplar arbete till föräldrarna, att de inte ser några begränsningar vad gäller könsroller samt att alla barnen anger realistiska yrkesaspirationer. / Career guidance and counselling at younger age has become an increasingly current topic lately. This forms the basis for this study, which aims to show small children‟s perspectives regarding the concept of career. The study consists of ten interviews with children 4-6 years of age, and the results show that the children have a great awareness of the concept of career. The children can describe what a job is, how to get a job, who is working, etc., which are analyzed from the concepts of self-concept, circumscription and images of occupations and based on previous research. Some conclusions drawn are that the children predominantly connects work to the parents, they do not see any limitations in terms of gender roles and all the children seem to have realistic work aspirations.

Syftet med studien är att få en bild av vad ungdomar i västra Sverige har för drömjobb samt vilka faktorer de upplever påverkar dem att nå det. Empirin i denna kvalitativa studie har samlats in genom fem fokusgruppsintervjuer med totalt 22 deltagare. Studien har utgått ifrån tredjeårselever på gymnasiet och deras tankar om framtiden med fokus på drömjobbet. Dessa ungdomar står inför val som kommer att ha betydelse i deras liv. Resultatet visar att ungdomarna i studien värdesätter trivsel högst i ett arbete, detta i kombination med en bra lön. De ville ha råd att kunna göra det de vill, fritiden och familjen värdesätts högt. Vad drömjobbet var varierade bland ungdomarna, några arbeten som nämndes var personalchef, psykolog, frisör och byggnadsingenjör. För att nå sina drömjobb ansåg de flesta att de behöver en utbildning. Något som ungdomarna upplevde kan hindra dem att nå drömjobbet är att de tar en paus i studerandet vilket kan leda till att de fastnar på en arbetsplats eller inte orkar ta tag i studierna igen. En anledning till att inte studera vidare direkt efter gymnasiet var att de inte visste vad de ville arbeta med. Många av ungdomarna nämnde att de ville arbeta med något som passar deras personlighet och att arbetet skall kännas meningsfullt för dem. / The purpose of this study is identify aspects of  young peoples’ in Western Sweden dream jobs looks and which describe the factors that respondents think will affect their ability to reach these dream jobs. This is a qualitative study, using information from five focus groups, involving 22 students. This study identified the various factors that youths in the third year in high school think are important when they think about their future employment. The young people described in this study are faced with decisions regarding education and employment that will have consequences throughout their lives. This study’s results show that the young participants described here value ​​the feeling of enjoying the social aspects of work as most important, along with a good salary. Respondents want to earn enough to afford to do what they like to do, and say that their spare time and family are highly valued. The descriptions of dream jobs vary widely, including personnel manager, psychologist, hairdresser and construction engineer. In order to obtain their dream jobs, most respondents believe that they need additional education. Some of the respondents feel that a break from studying can prevent them from reaching their dream jobs, as they feel that employment would be a hindrance to returning to school. On the other hand some of the respondents felt that a break between gymnasium and higher education might be a good idea, as they are not able to identify their dream job yet. Most respondents set high priorities on finding work that fits their own personalities and making sure that their work was meaningful for them.