Culture is a term of collectiveness that describes trends many people in the same environment tend to share. Culture also tends to exclude people who do not fit into these pre-existing trends causing it to have less collective qualities. Even though individuals make up a culture, they may not fit into the trends of one which can be harmful to their individuality. Now that a deeper understanding of culture is established we can break it down into the parts that make up a culture. Individuality as it pertains to a culture can be hard to define since a culture is made up of people who have commonalities. With that being said one’s identity is sometimes lost in the sea of commonalities when one is involved in a specific culture. Homogeneity plays …show more content…
By being an “individual” there is no one who posses the exact same qualities you do meaning you can bring differences to a culture which will make it more diverse. Karen Ho’s “Biographies of Hegemony” delves into the culture of Wall Street and how the harmful cultural norms negatively impacts the individual identities of many. While Ho analyzes the origins of this culture and how it spreads across many IVY League Universities she also describes the steps many people take to fit into these “elite” cultures which leads to them compromising their individuality to fit into a homogenous culture. By providing insight on how people who will never meet these expectations of Wall Street are treated unfairly Ho shows us that there is essentially no way to breach the normals presented by such an elite culture. The expectations or preconceived notions about the type of people who work on Wall Street make it difficult for individuality to thrive in that environment. Through Ho’s exploration of the culture of Wall Street she recognizes the lack of individuality when she included a quote from a Harvard undergraduate who stated “Could it be at all possible that the culture of success at Harvard drives people to skip right over the most important part of cognition - getting to know themselves and what they want and need....”(Siegel 2003) By including this in her analysis she is …show more content…
In relations to individuality, homogeneity can be a big hinderance to the growth of an individual. To have a uniform culture there must be some sense of homogeneity to unify the individuals in a specific culture but too much homogeneity can create a hostile environment that makes it difficult for diversity to survive. Wall Street culture specifically is comprised of former IVY League, white males which would be the crux of homogeneity. Because of this, anyone who is not a former IVY League student or a white male are perceived as different and made feel like they do not belong in the culture. “... I just really have problems with the idea of us recruiting at historically black colleges… Well I have a problem with that. If they’re smart and they’re turning down one of the top institutions… then I think that shows poor judgement.” This was said to a black Spelman graduate who worked at an investment bank surrounded by IVY League students. This statement shows how difficult it is to be seen as apart of a culture that you may be completely different from. Even though she made it into a position in the investment bank she was susceptible to the scrutiny that came with not getting into her position the traditional way. This can make it difficult for anyone to break out of the stigmas placed on them. Even if the person is apart of the culture they strive to be in
“Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have faith in the people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them”. This quote perfectly conveys Karen Ho’s perceptive that is present, in her article “Biographies of Hegemony”. In her article, she provides another understanding of intelligence. She uses the case of Wall Street workers and their personal and educational backgrounds to make her case. “Implicit in this transformation from undergraduate to investment banker is Wall Street's notion that if students do not choose Wall street postgraduation, they are somehow “less smart”, as smartness is defined by continued aggressive striving to perpetuate elite status” (Ho 18). Ho’s conception of the educational system has been narrowed down to the social norms that society places. Smartness is merely associated with individuals who go to the best Ivy League Schools, medical schools, law schools, and etc. If a student is attending such institute they
How does one define what culture is? Culture is defined as the system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that the members of society use to cope with, their world and with one another - transmitted from generation through learning. This is particularly meaning a pattern of behavior shared by a society or group of people; with many things making up a society’s ‘way of life’ such as language, foods etc. Culture is something that molds people into who they are today. It influences how people handle a variety of situations, process information and how they interact with others. However, there are events when one’s own culture does not play a significant role in the decisions that they make or how they see the world. Despite
Sims, Serbrenia J. Diversifying Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A New Higher Education Paradigm. Westport: Greenwood P, 1994.
Another major theme we see in her ethnography is that Wall Street, first used for the communities wellbeing, is now profit oriented. Recruitment is the very first part of becoming an investment banker. The typical profile of these new recruits is very privileged, elite university graduates who are primarily Euro-American. Although there are some African Americans, Asian Americans, and women found on Wall Street, Ho sees that the higher you climb, the less diverse it tends to get (Ho, 78). Firms pull from 5-10 of the most elite universities such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and so on and it is these new recruits that are seen as the best and the brightest with the most “smartness”.
whether or not these are the type of people we want working at our company” (180). Through these experiences it is evident that Wall Street neglects to acknowledge the individual smartness and judge a person’s smartness based on the institution they attend. By learning the small particularities of people’s experiences it becomes clear that smallness does not play a role in deciding a person’s fate in Wall Street. The smallness is simply unacknowledged which restricts the most deserved people from a position in investment banking. When Ho dives into the roots of the recruiting process, she finds that the investment bankers choose people by judging a book by its cover. The majority of investment bankers on Wall Street are white males, with a select few minorities and women. Naturally at recruitment events for future employee prospects, they search for the people who have dashing appearances, intimate performances and a “wow” factor. Wall Street's idea of “smartness” is coming off as smart and not actually possessing intelligence. These actions create a bias system where people are not properly interviewed for a position on Wall Street that they deserve but may never have the opportunity to
In “It Takes a Tribe” by David Berreby, he claims that humans are born with the urge to belong, and our experiences in life subconsciously shape who we are, placing us in groups. Berreby first provides examples of stereotyping and states how judging groups is a serious problem today, comparing it to prejudice and racism (par. 1-2). He moves forward to discuss how easily humans adapt to their surroundings and how this causes us to be placed inside these “exclusive” groups (par. 4-5). Berreby uses “college loyalty” and “school spirit” as examples of this, showing that colleges are the perfect place to study this behavior as they are strong comparisons to this behavior in the rest of the world (par. 8-9). Berreby also shares that “us” vs. “them”
This notion of success limits creative innovation of thought and pressures people achieve a careers that they may be interest in (grammar problem?). Ho explores this idea in her essay (qtd Peterson 2002) “It’s been common knowledge that many of [Princeton] undergraduates join the financial realm every year, creating a kind of lighthearted, self-deprecating joke about becoming I-bankers and once hopeful novelists heading to Wall Street” (170). The environment around those students was able to force them to change their career options based on what is considered successful by their peers. Despite This idea of success being narrow and not inclusive to everyone, some students felt the need to give up on their dreams and give in to the pressure. This pressure is not exclusive to elite institutions, society as a whole experiences this pressure when trying to pursue a lesser value endeavors. Davidson explores the idea of exclusivity that is created by society when she says “This is the lesson of attention blindness yet again: If you measure narrowly, you see results just as narrowly. In other words, the more standardized our assessment, the more kids fail” (61). The standardized tests that the educational system uses narrows itself to specific skills and talents that society considers important. It limited what students can achieve based on the talents that they acquire. Artistic talents do not have the same value compared to conventional studies. Similarly, elite institutions like princeton and harvard, have also narrowed down what careers are considered successful or worth pursuing. Ho describes this phenomena in her essay “I found not only that most bankers came from a few elite institutions, but also that most undergraduate and even many graduate students assumed that the only “suitable” destinations for life after Princeton-the only sectors
It may be disappointing to realize we are the kind of person who we do not like in others; however, it is more disconcerting to realize we are not the kind of person that we believe we should be or are. We think we are smart, optimistic, popular or possess greatness, but later we perceive that we are not that good. Unwittingly, and without rational thought, “Wall Street smartness is, in a sense, ‘generic’ and it is precisely this notion of elitism so pervasive as to be commonplace, smartness so sweeping as to become generic, that reinforces Wall Street’s claims of extraordinariness” (Ho 184). Wall Street does not realize the negative influence of focusing only on credentials. In fact, they do not care. This hiring process has become a tradition for them. Even though they may overlook potentially qualified employees, they do not want to recognize that their system is imperfect; it is easier to blame inadequate candidates, claiming that they should have studied harder to get into a better university. If Wall Street insists their system works, they will continue to lose opportunities to groom talent. Being rejected by Wall Street is not the time to implement a defensive “immune system” to console oneself. It is the chance to recognize our status and to be who we want to be. We face our shortcomings, admit that we still need to work harder or change in order to be the person we want to be. Even though this is
Culture by definition is the set of shared attitudes, values, goals and practices, as well as customary beliefs, social forms and material traits that characterize a racial, religious or ...
What is culture? Many people ask themselves this question every day. The more you think about it the more confusing it is. Sometimes you start leaning to a culture and then people tell you you’re wrong
In the process of helping them, one can see one’s self as they see someone else. When others have reached selflessness, they will move on to help others that are suffering. And with that, the need to find “self” will come to an end, eventually ending all of the suffering. Karen Ho points out how hegemony dominates the world, especially on Wall Street, and how there is no uniformity. Undergraduates that attend universities such as Harvard and Princeton usually end up with a degree in business and obtain a successful career on Wall Street.
Culture is a set of beliefs, values and attitudes that a person inherits from a society or a group that they are in and they learn how to view the world and how to behave, these principles can then be passed down from generation to generation so that the culture that has been inherited can live on for
What is meant by the word culture? Culture, according to Websters Dictionary, is the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. These patterns, traits, and products are considere...
Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects and behavior. It includes the ideas, value, customs and artifacts of a group of people (Schaefer, 2002). Culture is a pattern of human activities and the symbols that give these activities significance. It is what people eat, how they dress, beliefs they hold and activities they engage in. It is the totality of the way of life evolved by a people in their attempts to meet the challenges of living in their environment, which gives order and meaning to their social, political, economic, aesthetic and religious norms and modes of organization thus distinguishing people from their neighbors.
The term “culture” refers to the complex accumulation of knowledge, folklore, language, rules, rituals, habits, lifestyles, attitudes, beliefs, and customs that link and provide a general identity to a group of people. Cultures take a long time to develop. There are many things that establish identity give meaning to life, define what one becomes, and how one should behave.