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Contemporary American Culture. VUS.14. Increased participation of women in the labor force. Women are an increasingly large percentage of the American work force There are many working mothers today The courts have played an important role in providing women with opportunities.
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Increased participation of women in the labor force • Women are an increasingly large percentage of the American work force • There are many working mothers today • The courts have played an important role in providing women with opportunities
Women are working in non-traditional jobs • Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman to serve on the US Supreme Court • Sally Ride was the first female astronaut in the US
Issues of working women • Created a need for affordable day-care • equitable pay • “pink collar” ghetto--low prestige, low paying jobs • “glass ceiling”--perception that career advancement for women is not equal to men
Immigration • New and increasing immigration to the US has been taking place from many diverse countries, especially Asian and Latin American countries
Reasons for immigration-- • political freedom • economic opportunity • Effects of Immigration-- • Bilingual education/ English as a Second Language (ESOL) • Effects public policy (Cuban Americans and their effect on US policy to Cuba • politics and voting
Contributions of Immigrants • popularity of ethnic food, music and the arts from various parts of the world • immigrants also play a major role in the work force
Technology • In the early 1960s, President Kennedy pledged increased support for the US space program. The race to the moon continued through the 1960s. US astronaut John Glenn was the first to orbit the Earth.
In 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first person to step onto the moon’s surface. He proclaimed, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Over the past three decades improved technology and media have brought about better access to communication and information for rural areas, businesses, and individual consumers. As a result, many more Americans have access to global information and viewpoints
Examples of technological advances • Cable TV/ 24-hour news (CNN) • personal computers • cellular phones • world wide web
Changes in work/school/healthcare • Telecomuting -distance learning • growth in white collar careers • breakthroughs in medical research, including the development of the vaccine for polio by Dr. Jonas Salk