Connecting Our Generations
Idealism of Our Youth
Our Shared Passion
Wisdom of Our Seniors
Marilyn Bombac, PhD
Generations of Leaders
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Celebrating Our History
Building on Our Successes
Identifying Our Strengths
Understanding Life Stages and Transitions
Respecting Individual Choices
Creating Workable Processes
Celebrating Our AAUW History
• Began in 1881 with 17 educated women
• 1885—First research study: “Health Statistics of
Women College Graduates”
• 1938— “College Women’s Wages”
• 1944 – “Monetary Plans for United Nations”
• 1968 – “This Beleaguered Earth”
• 1991 – “Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging
America”
Building on Our Successes
• Gender Equity in Education and Workplace
– Women have gone from a small minority on college
campuses to the majority of the student body
• Title IX – 40 years old – Never mentions “athletics”
– During 2009-10 , 41% of high school athletes—more than
3million students—were women
• It’s My Vote: I Will Be Heard
• National Conf. for College Women Student Leaders
Identifying Our Strengths
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Respected Professionals
Empowering Women Since 1881
Leading Voice for Women and Girls
Conducting Groundbreaking Research
165,000 Members and Supporters
1,000 Local Branches; 800 C/U Partners
$4.3M Fellowships/Grants for 278 women, 2012-13
Non-Partisan; Non-Profit
Life Stages and Transitions
Life Stages and Transitions
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Childhood
Adolescence
Early Adulthood
Midlife
Mature Adulthood
Life Stages and Transitions
• Childhood
– First 10 Years of Life – “The Magic Decade”
– Fantastic, Elastic Brain
• Adolescence
– Prefrontal Cortex (Planning/Decision Making)
• Not fully developed
– Amygdala (Emotions)
• Swells to twice its size
Life Stages and Transitions
• Early Adulthood (20s-30s)
– Researchers have devoted less attention to this stage of
life than any other stage
• Characteristics:
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Healthiest time of life
Transition from home to self-sufficiency
Choosing a life’s work/partner
Loneliest, disorganized period of the life span
Line between childhood and adulthood is fuzzier
Life Stages and Transitions
• Midlife (40s-50s)
– Family Changes
• “Empty Nest”
• Aging Parents
– Reassessing Roles
• Traditional vs. Career
– Menopause
• Margaret Mead said, “The most creative force in the world is the
woman with postmenopausal zest”
Life Stages and Transitions
• Mature Adulthood (60s+)
– Time of life when seeds planted at earlier stages of
development come to fruition
• Many people spend the first half of their lives making the last half
miserable
– Key to successful aging – capacity to give back
– Erik Erikson’s word “generativity”
• Nurturing/caring for future generations
• Teaching, Referring, Coaching and Mentoring
Let’s Meet Our
Generational Sisters
Life Stages and Transitions
Anne Doyle “Powering Up” Categories
• “Pioneering Interlopers” (Mature Adulthood)
• Primarily Traditionalists (born before WWII) and the Baby
Boomers (born 1946-1964)
• Cultural message: “No, you can’t”
• Societal Impacts
• The Civil Rights Movement
• The Women’s Movement
• The Pill and Roe v. Wade
Life Stages and Transitions
Doyle’s “Powering Up” Categories (continued)
• “Influential Insiders” (Midlife)
• Tend to be Generation Xs (born 1965-1980)
• Cultural message “Maybe you can”
• Societal Impacts
• Title IX, passed in 1972
• Landmark Lawsuits
• “The Mommy Track” and “Opting Out” (late 1980s)
Life Stages and Transitions
Doyle’s “Powering Up” Categories (continued)
• “I’ll Do-It-My-Way Innovators” (Early Adulthood)
• Part of the huge Millennial or Generation Y wave (born
1981-1995) just beginning to make its mark
• Cultural message “Yes, you can!”
• Societal Impacts
• Technology; Social Networking
• Ethnic and Multicultural America
• Oversexualization of Women
Strengths and Perceptions
“Mature Adulthood”
• Strengths
– Dress to Impress
– Sense of Sisterhood
– Desire to Give Back
• Critical Perceptions
– Not Team Players
– Too Tough
– Not Supportive of Work/Life Balance
Strengths and Perceptions
“Midlife”
• Strengths
– Diplomacy (able to work w/men as peers)
– Assertive
– Comfortable in their own skin
• Critical Perceptions
– Separate themselves from trailblazing older sisters
– Reluctant to lead change
– Believe they’re smarter, savvier than their older sisters
Strengths and Perceptions
“Early Adulthood”
• Strengths
– Technology Skills
– Mentoring and Connecting with Other Women
– Global World View
• Critical Perceptions
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Big Ambition; No Perseverance
Unable to Handle Criticism; “Just Quit”
Naïve About Gender Barriers
Don’t Dress for Success
Respecting Individual Choices
• Develop your own style
• Help others to develop their own style
• A Fully Evolved Leader Needs:
– The Courage of an “Interloper”
– The Influential Savvy of an “Insider”
– The Sense of Unlimited Possibility of an “Innovator”
• African Proverb: “If you wish to go quickly, go alone.
If you wish to go far, go together”
Creating Workable Processes
• State Projects
• Branch Recruiting
Creating Workable Processes
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AAUW-Nebraska’s Strategic Planning Process
Begin with the end in mind
Face reality – the honest truth
Focus on the issues
Ask the hard questions
Engage trusted partners
Work on common goals
Actively participate in creating real solutions
Creating Workable Processes
Attract
Join
Engage
Transition