I am not sure how old I was when I started to think seriously about what I wanted to do for a living. Some people know when they are very young and others, I suppose, never figure it out. I was a psychology major at the University of Florida, but switched to business after realizing the 4.0 necessary to get into a masters psych program was about as likely as the Red Sox winning a world series. Okay, I suppose it could have happened if I gave it 100 years. It was during a consumer behavior course with Professor William L. Wilkie that I realized marketing research provided a terrific blend of psychology and business, though it took more than 10 years and an MBA (at age 30) before I landed my first research job
Today, before hitting 30, about 1 in 2 Americans aspire to have a successful career, get married, and buy a house, not necessarily in that order.
But interestingly, older Americans (age 30+) and younger Americans (who haven’t yet reached age 30) set slightly different goals for their pre-30 years. Adults ages 18-29 place greater value on attending graduate school, making a lot of money, and traveling the world, much more than those in older cohorts. And having kids appears to be not nearly as big of a priority for this early time in their lives.
Also of note, while we have come far in closing the gender gap in education, it still may exist in our ambitions and aspirations.
My guess is that the age and the gender differences represent a changing of our times and our values. And while gender differences still do exist, the gap has likely closed significantly between men and women on their goals of career and family. Do you agree?
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