Study Says Young Women Aren’t Ambitious; We Sigh And Get Back To Work

A new study claims that nearly 50% of Millennial women question whether personal sacrifice is worth the reward of professional success. Of the 1,000 women surveyed, only 15% expressed a desire to be the number-one person in charge of a company, and 76% are concerned about their ability to balance personal and professional goals.

So, what are the personal goals that allegedly concern Millennial women? Obviously, baby making — in fact, personal goals relating to creating a family are the only ones mentioned in this study's infographic. We'd really like to know what other personal goals Millennial women have, as we like to think of life as more than just a choice between going to work and popping out kids. Having strong friendships, time for self-care, and being able to pursue interests outside of work seem like important personal goals to the Millennial women around here. While said women do worry about having to sacrifice those parts of their lives while spending long hours at the office, as for whether or not it's "worth the reward" in the long term, well, they don't really know yet: After all, they were only born in 1980-1992 (like the sample surveyed for this study).

As for this study's title claim that Millennial women are "redefining ambition in the workplace," it sounds a whole lot like what's being redefined is the glass ceiling. That is, it would appear that many young women would like it to be lower so they don't have to worry so much about being leaders at work (and instead can focus on being leaders in the home). Which is great for some people, for sure. But, we like to think that child rearing and professional success are not mutually exclusive. It's 2013, after all. (ZenoGroup.)