November 7, 2007 10:42 AM

Redefining a successful life - Gen Y style
Posted by Diane Danielsonat 10:42 AM

Got the heads up from The Huffington Post about a new Wellesley College survey on recent graduate expectations, which seems to be summed up by the following quote from the blog post:  To "have it all" these women are willing to sacrifice a little bit of everything.

As with all surveys of new grads, those of us who have "been there, done that" will chide them for being naive (about the economy, divorce, the ability to even find a significant other with whom to raise a child, elder-care needs, lack of daycare, etc.).  However, we didn't resolve those problems, did we?  So, who knows maybe they will.  Especially if they can convince the young men to agree with them.

Here are some tidbits from the survey:

1. To "have it all" these women are willing to sacrifice a little bit of everything. They envision a life plan in which they combine work and family while letting go of hardcore notions of success. They no longer feel forced to choose between becoming the top honcho and PTA mom of the year.
2. Interestingly, if money were not an issue 42 percent of the women surveyed thought they might be a stay-at-home mom at some point in their life. Money weighs heavily on this generation and staying at home is seen as a luxury, not a prescription.
3. Even though there has been article after study after salacious news program broadcasting the difficulties women face re-entering the workforce, these young women have strong expectations about how they will be able to become mothers and careerists.
4. These women would also be happy working part time and splitting childcare more evenly with spouses. This younger generation expects both men and women to be involved in parenting. Even without the guarantee of a top salary, most of the women expect to share childrearing and return to the labor force.
5. This home formula may be the key to the gender revolution that stalled at the threshold of the family door. While countries such as Spain have social policies requiring men to become active dads, young U.S. women are at least discussing the possibility of househusbands or partners sharing the family responsibilities.
6. Considering these work plans, it is not surprising that most of the young women think that parental leaves should be for six months to a year. If that were the case, then stay-at-home parenting might become a normal part of a work path rather than a terminating factor. It would also make the work/family juggle less stressful if all parents left paid work to care for their children.
7. While these young women may be accepting of present career ladders and expect to find individual ways to move ahead, they surprisingly imagine their children cared for in public settings. The nanny solution is not theirs. While working full-time they would like to place their youngest child in an after school program. These young women do not want to patch together care giving solutions; they want a seamless approach to raising children. Young women want their communities to play a significant role in meeting the demands of raising kids and continued employment.

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