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This paper investigates the changing nature of the American Dream and identifies major issues facing young Americans. The authors present an overview of major issues facing rising American citizens and provide three Problem-Based Learning (PBL) scenarios that are designed to help students develop their future and to identify what their American Dream will likely be in these changing times.
INTRODUCTION
The concept of the American Dream has changed since the discovery of America. In today's environment, which is characterized by economic, social and political insecurities, new discussions arise regarding the changing nature of our country. Increasingly, U.S. citizens are re-considering the purpose of the America our forefathers envisioned. While a recounting of U.S. history is beyond the scope of this paper, it is useful to identify some major issues facing Americans today and to provide scenarios that encourage students to identify their own American dream. Internal and external factors related to a workable definition of the American dream serve to assist American "dreamers" in their quest. The following themes and trends inform our understanding: 1) Opportunity Recognition, 2) Pedagogy in Entrepreneurship, 3) Venture Creation, 4) Entrepreneurship across the Curriculum, 5) Experiential Learning, 6) Skills, Traits, Motives, and Values, and 7) Cognitive Processes of Entrepreneurs.
It is crucial that the youth of today realize the significance of the American Dream and the role that it can play in their aspirations and hopes for the future (Clouse, 2012). Ours is a land of opportunity and dreams, a land of optimism and confidence. Nowhere is this better represented than in the field of entrepreneurship. All educators should seek to inspire the hope of a better life in the students we encounter, and entrepreneurship may hold the key not only to prosperity, but even to economic survival in these increasingly perilous times. More and more, we know that young graduates must look to themselves as their own employer as they face the prospect of high unemployment in traditional job markets. The Associated Press confirms this alarming fact. Weissman (2012) states that around 1.5 million, almost 54 percent of people 25 years of age and less, who also held bachelor's degrees, were either unemployed or underemployed. This compares with the year 2000, in which the rate was 41 percent.