Meritocratic beliefs continue to be widely accepted in the United States; nonetheless, upward mobility is out of reach for many American women due to pervasive barriers to accessing decent work. The present study aims to explore American women's work aspirations and beliefs in the American Dream (the premise that no matter where people come from, with hard work, they can achieve prosperity) in light of the gap between this notion and the social inequalities in their working lives. We conducted semistructured interviews with 17 American women from diverse racial, educational, and work backgrounds to examine these women's work aspirations and beliefs on the American Dream. Qualitative content analysis yielded 3 domains: (a) aspiring for work that fulfills essential human needs, (b) multilayered influences on women's work aspirations, and (c) making sense of work aspirations in relation to beliefs on the American Dream. Our findings highlight the importance of relationships and systemic factors in shaping women's work aspirations. In addition, women's beliefs on the American Dream reflect complex interactions between endorsing meritocratic beliefs and their personal experiences. Implications for counseling psychology theory, research, and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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对女性工作理想和精英管理信念的定性探索。

精英信仰在美国继续被广泛接受；尽管如此，由于获得体面工作的普遍障碍，对许多美国女性来说，向上流动是遥不可及的。本研究旨在探讨美国女性在美国梦中的工作愿望和信念（前提是，无论人们来自哪里，通过努力工作，他们都可以实现繁荣）与这一观念之间的差距与她们所处的社会不平等之间的差距。工作生活。我们对来自不同种族、教育和工作背景的 17 名美国女性进行了半结构化访谈，以检查这些女性对美国梦的工作抱负和信念。定性内容分析产生了 3 个领域：(a) 渴望满足人类基本需求的工作，(b) 对女性工作愿望的多层次影响，(c) 理解与美国梦信念相关的工作抱负。我们的研究结果强调了人际关系和系统性因素在塑造女性工作愿望方面的重要性。此外，女性对美国梦的信仰反映了认可精英信仰与其个人经历之间复杂的相互作用。讨论了对咨询心理学理论、研究和实践的影响。（PsycINFO 数据库记录 (c) 2019 APA，保留所有权利）。讨论了对咨询心理学理论、研究和实践的影响。（PsycINFO 数据库记录 (c) 2019 APA，保留所有权利）。讨论了对咨询心理学理论、研究和实践的影响。（PsycINFO 数据库记录 (c) 2019 APA，保留所有权利）。