I'm old school.  I earned my degree in Computer Science when few women were in the field.  My cohorts and I were focused on climbing the ladder to the senior ranks and breaking the glass ceiling.

Sometimes it was a concrete ceiling.  It did not deter us.  We are a determined bunch.

As we broke through the ceilings we proudly proclaimed that we we setting standards and paving the way for our children.  The new generation of women would find mentors and coaches along with lessons learned on the way to the top.

We though that is what they wanted as well.  

We felt that all of our hard work would pay off when our progeny entered the workforce and found the road map that we laid out for them.  It felt good.

Imagine my surprise when I recently read an article that indicates that many of today's young women are not interested.  They are forging their own path and it is not the one we envisioned.

A recent USA Today article by Anita Bruzzese put this way "Many professionals are tired of clawing their way to the top and are rethinking priorities."

In the article she cited Jane Seymour, Editor of More magazine "We're sliding backwards."

Some of the things that really got me is that two of three women reported that "they would prefer to have more free time than a bigger paycheck.  And two out of three said they would be willing to accept less money for more flexibility."

They said, "It's not worth it to have heart attack jobs."  You know what?  I get it.

We raised the new generation of women, and they experienced first hand how much we sacrificed to break through the glass ceiling.  

I consider it a quality of life choice.  The price for a certain quality of life is high.  The path to generating top level salaries is littered with sacrificed personal life.  

Many senior executive women travel often and the tragic secret is that often they only see the airport, a meeting room, and another airport.  It is not as glamarous as it appears.

In the article Anita mentions that "the trend of women opting out of high-pressure jobs will continue."  I agree.  

I often have the new generation of women in my classes and the vast majority are committed to their personal life.  This is not to say that they are uninterested in having a career.  This is the most highly educated generation in American history.

They are committed to both a personal life and a career.  They focus on what means the most to them and they know they have the right to decide what their priorities are.


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