¶ … skills sets needed to be successful in the market place and whether discrimination of poverty, gender, and race may impede one's chances
There are those who argue along the lines of "if you will it, you can do it," and that as long as you present something that people need and you show them that you are the one who can best help them get it, you can be successful no matter what your external limitations.
On the other hand, there is a significant amount of social scientists that say that impeding factors such as poverty are real and stop you from getting where you want to be. The rags to riches story is a myth that happens infrequently to rare individuals. Much more common is the reality that states that money, class, and, to a lesser extent, gender are the factors that get you to, or impede you from your career destination.
I believe that there is merit to that line of thinking. I also believe, however, that given today's unprecedented opportunities particularly that of the Internet where one can communicate on a global level, one can transcend limitations of specific country and context and be enabled to achieve one's goals on a level and scope that one was unable to in the past. Today, as long as you have the ability to provide someone with something that they need and as long as you show them they need it and that you alone are the one to supply it, opportunities exist that may -- with plenty of luck - raise you out of debilitating circumstances and help you become more successful.
It is a reality of life that a certain percentage of the population are born on a silver platter and become successful far more readily than can others who are not born with these circumstances. A Jack Kennedy, for instance, was helped by his mogul rich father to become president of the United States. A Bill Gates got to where he was due to his mother's contacts and influence. And Trump the same. The poor become poorer and the wealthy become richer due to life circumstances that already placed them on a disadvantageous footing and shaped their future.
Take poverty, for instance:...
They are given poorer education, if at all, surrounded by crime and ghetto conditions that cramp their potential and stunt their brain.
Moreover, it is well-known that poverty can also affect individuals psychologically. Children growing up in poverty have far higher rates of academic failure and mental as well as physical health problems, aside from the fact that they have limited exposure to developmental stimulation and greater exposure to stress in both the physical and psychosocial environments. This breeds problems such as aggression and hyperactivity as well as chronic health problems and adversity that only serve to aggravate social-emotional problems and one's consequent self-esteem / confidence level and expectations of success, competence, or self-efficacy (Dearing, 2008). Aggravating the situation is the fact that environmental conditions have a neurological impact. An impoverished and stressful childhood negatively impacts the brain in countless ways, not least being one's ability for learning and for memory. Disadvantaged environments can withhold the necessary stimulation that is so needed for enhanced development. (Farah, Noble, & Hurt, n.d.)
Given all these elements, then, there is little wonder that poverty is an ongoing cycle with its persistence almost guaranteed by social factors. Surmounting that to achieve career success seems almost miraculous. Give too the fact that employers judge and discriminate based on one's socioeconomic assets and achieving vocational success becomes little more than a dream for those hindered by poverty. The same goes for other external factors such as gender, race, and class. These are unalterable factors and, unfortunately, there will always be people who are bigoted, and, despite all the rules and regulations forbidding it, assess you in terms of extrinsic factors and base your job chances, or lack of them, on the basis of unalterable characteristics.
Regulations exist such as not hiring a woman on the grounds that she has…
