This article discusses how two welfare education programs construct workforce success. Discourse about success in these programs falls into two basic camps: an individual-based selfmotivation perspective and an external, structural, socioeconomic perspective. Although the individualistic perspective adhered to by the programs came into conflict with structural problems faced by students, the programs ultimately chose to uphold a perspective that reinforces the American myth of success that has been prevalent in the United States since the 17th century.
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