Connecting Our Generations

1. Connecting Our Generations Idealism of Our Youth Our Shared Passion Wisdom of Our Seniors Marilyn Bombac, PhD

2. Generations of Leaders • Celebrating Our History • Building on Our Successes • Identifying Our Strengths • Understanding Life Stages and Transitions • Respecting Individual Choices • Creating Workable Processes

3. 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”

4. 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

5. Identifying Our Strengths • 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

6. Life Stages and Transitions

7. Life Stages and Transitions • Childhood • Adolescence • Early Adulthood • Midlife • Mature Adulthood

8. 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

9. Life Stages and Transitions • Early Adulthood (20s-30s) • Researchers have devoted less attention to this stage of life than any other stage • Characteristics: • 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

10. 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”

11. 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

12. Let’s Meet Our Generational Sisters

13. 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

14. 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)

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. Strengths and Perceptions“Early Adulthood” • Strengths • Technology Skills • Mentoring and Connecting with Other Women • Global World View • Critical Perceptions • Big Ambition; No Perseverance • Unable to Handle Criticism; “Just Quit” • Naïve About Gender Barriers • Don’t Dress for Success

19. 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”

20. Creating Workable Processes • State Projects • Branch Recruiting

21. Creating Workable Processes 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

22. Creating Workable Processes