A 3 generational study on Women

   
     Sue C. Whisler and Susan J. Eklund, authors of "Women's Ambitions: A Three-Generational Study." published in Psychology of Women Quarterly, created a study to describe the nature of women's ambitions across three generations of women within families, to assess the perceptions of factors influencing their ambitions." Some anti-feminists have suggested that women only want to get married and have families. Whisler found this to be false, in Whisler's study she found in a sample of 30 women, 86% "desired to have a vocation of some kind and to feel competent. They were anxious to achieve beyond the role of homemaker." However, she did realize in her study that most of the women actually did not favor one more than the other. She found that these women wanted both a career and a family and expected their husbands to share equal responsibility for child rearing. Her findings resemble Baruch, et al, showing evidence that women who were most satisfied with their lives were those who gained mastery through their jobs and careers and received pleasure from their families.
   
      Here is our wake up call! Be a positive influence on our girls choices when it comes to career paths. Support college ambitions or career advancement, tell them they can do it! They can have both a family and a career. I understand it takes a village to raise a child but I think it's time to hold the bar higher for everyone when it comes to the young women today. As parents and leaders we should expect our daughters to live up to their own potential all while aiding in raising their families. I think it is a huge leap that women are coming out of college with the expectations that their husbands will be sharing responsibility in child rearing. Men need to live up to this as well. With a healthy balance of parenting both parents can succeed with little sacrifices. Every marriage is different and every couple has choices. Some women may have wanted to be a stay at home mom their whole life and that is fine.
     I understand that there are economic factors with women and their ambitions but we can actually already see change in societal attitudes when it comes to ambition in women. (No woman in 2015 should have to miss out on college because of economic reasons but that is a whole different blog on a whole different day.) Get ready world here we come!!