WUNRN
USA - STATE RESEARCH SHOWS MANY
YOUNG WOMEN FEEL ILL-EQUIPPED FOR
CHALLENGES OF SCHOOL, WORK, CAREER,
ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE & ADULTHOOD
The US State of Vermont Works for Women released a report on at the Vermont State House in Montpelier, revealing that many young women across the state consider themselves ill-equipped and under-prepared for the challenges of school, work, career, economic independence, and adulthood.
The report, which incorporates national research and references best practices, is entitled, “ENOUGH SAID – Young Women Talk about School, Work and Becoming Adults: Why We Should Listen and What We Can Do.” It is the result of in-depth interviews, surveys, and listening to more than 210 young women and girls, ages 15-25, from 28 communities, Brattleboro to St. Johnsbury, the majority from families of limited financial means.
Download
the summary or the full
report, which examines how well we’re preparing young women, who are
twice as likely to live in poverty as their male counterparts, to make
informed, deliberate choices about education and work and to shoulder the
financial responsibilities of adulthood.
VWW Youth Advisory Council member Amanda Preston speaks the
press conference releasing “Enough Said.” (
The report provides
a qualitative snapshot of the current concerns that young women in Vermont
hold, which focused in these primary areas:
- lack of practical skills
related to personal finance
- fears around how to live
independently
- relational aggression
among female peers
- few personal allies or
networks to provide support
- minimal exposure to a
broad range of careers and professional female role models
- limited expectations for
work that taps into talent and passion
Responding to these findings, more than 25 business, government and community leaders from across the state have committed to participate in a newly formed Task Force on Young Women and the Economy, understanding the vital relationship between the work/career success of young women and the state’s economic potential.
Former Ambassador Linda Tarr-Whelan, of Burlington, a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos and author of the award-winning book, Women Lead the Way: Your Guide to Stepping Up to Leadership and Changing the World, will chair the task force. She will be assisted by vice chairs: Cary Brown, Executive Director, Vermont Commission on Women; Joyce Judy, President, Community College of Vermont; and Barbara Murphy, President, Johnson State College.
The task force will convene for the first time in late May with a clear six-month charge to develop a series of “commitments and partnerships.” More specifically, the group will identify effective efforts already in place; determine where combined and complimentary resources and expertise can address the needs articulated by these young women; and recommend strategic investments in programming, or changes in policy or priorities. The group’s commitments will be announced publicly in December 2013 before the start of the next legislative session.
“ENOUGH SAID has hit a nerve with both men and women in leadership roles across the state,” said Tiffany Bluemle, Executive Director, Vermont Works for Women, the task force convener, “and we look forward to working with the task force in the coming months. Our focus on young women shouldn’t be interpreted to suggest that boys or young men don’t face many of the same challenges. But the choices that young women make determine their future earning potential – and, as the report makes clear, women in Vermont and in the United States, across age and educational levels, are nearly twice as likely as men to live in poverty. Vermont will only reach its full economic potential if all Vermonters – including women and girls – can live up to theirs.”