Self-confidence sets millennial women apart
To coincide with International Women’s Day, new research shows today’s career woman is more ambitious than ever, writes
WHEN A computer advised a young Michelle Dickinson to be a fish farmer when she grew up, she did the only sensible thing: she grew up to be a bio engineer – albeit unintentionally.
‘‘I found that totally by accident at a university open day,’’ Dickinson says.
The self-starter went on to found New Zealand’s first nanomechanical research laboratory after gaining a PhD from Rutgers University in the United States.
Now she holds down a senior lecturer position at the University of Auckland’s engineering department, writes her own science blog, Nano Girl, and squeezes in regular television appearances.
According to new research by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Dickinson is the type of woman more women want to be like, with millennial women – those born between 1980 and 1995 – more ambitious than any other generation. ‘‘Nano Girl’’: Michelle Dickinson is a perfect example of a millennial woman.
The survey of nearly 9000 women from 75 countries found more are highly educated, are entering the workforce in unprecedented numbers and have ‘‘entirely new career mindsets’’.
But the research comes as data from the New Zealand Income Survey showed pay packets in New Zealand are still uneven with the hourly wage difference between men and women reported to be 14 per cent, or $4 an hour, which Green Party women’s spokeswoman Jan Logie slammed as ‘‘absolutely shameful’’.
‘‘If the hourly-income gap continues to decrease at this snail’s pace, pay equity won’t be achieved until 2134,’’ she said.
‘‘Our daughters, granddaughters, great-grand-daughters and even our great-great-granddaughters will all live with the knowledge that, in New Zealand, their work is not as valued as their male colleagues. How is this ‘‘good enough’’ in the land where women were first given the right to vote?’’
Dickinson admitted it wasn’t
Nearly half of New Zealand millennials believed they could reach senior positions in their work compared to just 19 per cent in Germany
Almost a quarter (23 per cent) were the primary earner in their relationship
Competitive wages and financial incentives rated as the most attractive employer trait by New Zealand women
per cent of New Zealand women wanted to work outside the country during their career
Women were more likely to leave their job because of a lack of work life balance, than for starting a family money that attracted her to her career, but the work-life balance that allowed her to travel, teach others and ‘‘make a difference’’.
While on paper Dickinson appears to be the ultimate millennial girl, she said she never set out to ‘‘career climb’’.
The difference between hers and her mother’s generation of career women is simply confidence in their capabilities, she said.
‘‘We don’t have as much pressure to get married and have children early, which allows us to develop our skills and spend time figuring out where we want our careers to go.
‘‘Success is one of those things that means different things to different people and society seems to have determined financial gain and power as words that define success . . .
‘‘My idea of success is very different to that. To me being successful in life means lying on my death bed with a smile on my face and not having any ‘I wish I had done more’ sentences.’’