Teen Girls on Business - Simmons College

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<strong>Teen</strong> <strong>Girls</strong> on Business: Are They Being Empowered?A range of perceptionsWhile most girls expect to work full time and support themselvesas adults, all girls of color report higher expectationsfor future financial responsibilities than White/Caucasiangirls. In addition, they are less likely to believe that havingchildren will interrupt their careers. As noted previously,girls of color in our study are more likely to come fromlower income areas, which may contribute significantly toexplaining these differences in expectations. Especially forgirls of Hispanic and African American identity, this higherpropensity towards financial security and independence islikely to stem from the economic reality of their upbringing.<strong>Girls</strong> of color in our focus groups provided evidence for this.Many girls described how they had seen their parents (sometimesfirst-generation immigrants) suffer economically.These girls were clear that they wanted, and to some extentwere expected by their families, to avoid the same hardships.100806040“That’s why I do what I can in school becauseI do not want to end up like (my parents).”Importance in Future Job - <strong>Girls</strong>, by Race/Ethnicity% Extremely or Very ImportantAfricanAmerican78% 80%77%66%Hispanic85%80%72% 71%-Latina High School GirlAsianAmerican67%64%57%51%White/Caucasian68%49%64%47%20Differing Career Goals and Attitudes<strong>Girls</strong> AfricanAmericanHispanicWill need to supportmyself and my familyAsianAmericanWhite/Caucasian85% 86% 83% 77%0Helping othersMaking the world a better placeBeing able to influence othersMaking lots of moneyWill mostly have a fulltime jobIf have children, willcontinue to work atmy job89% 79% 90% 80%38% 37% 36% 24%“My main goal is so stay focused.And I want to help people out, and beDriven by strong valuesWhile, not surprisingly, girls of color place greater importancethan White/Caucasian girls on “making lots ofmoney” in their future careers, they also place significantlyhigher importance on being able to help others, making theworld a better place, and influencing others. These themeswere reflected in focus groups where girls of color frequentlytalked about giving back, improving their own communities,and fighting social injustice and inequality. Other recentresearch on White/Caucasian and African American womenmanagers also supports these findings. 15like a political activist.”-Latina High School Girl15Bell E, Nkomo S. Our Separate Ways: Black and White Women and The Struggle ForProfessional Identity. Boston, MA: Boston Harvard School Press; 2001.13
<strong>Teen</strong> <strong>Girls</strong> on Business: Are They Being Empowered?“(My parents) do it because they have to.They don’t like what they do. I want to like whatI do. I don’t want to be stuck at something andthen hate it as much as they do.”-Latina High School Girl“I hope to be a lawyer . . . because I’ve alwayswanted to help people. And it’s like I saw thatas a way of helping other people . . .but I’m only going to have specific cases,like immigrant cases.”-Latina High School GirlEducational expectationsWhile girls in our study in general have strong educationalexpectations, there were some variations by racial and ethnicidentity. Asian American girls have the highest expectations,with 75% planning to attend graduate school.Hispanic girls have the least ambitious plans, with 41%planning on graduate school. However, 49% of Hispanicgirls do plan on attending undergraduate college. This is insharp contrast to their parents, 81% of whom have no, oronly some, college education. Despite these strong figures, it isclear that efforts need to be made to help girls of all racial andethnic backgrounds feel they have the ability, resources, andopportunities to participate in the highest levels of education.Highest Level of Education Planning to Complete – % Agree<strong>Girls</strong>AfricanAmericanHispanic AsianAmericanGraduate SchoolWhite/Caucasian56% 41% 75% 65%College41% 49% 23% 34%Other4% 10% 2% 1%Outside activities and jobsSimilarly, while girls in general are active participants andleaders in their schools and communities, and often holdjobs outside of school, there are significant differences whenwe examine the data across different ethnic and racialgroups. White/Caucasian and African American girls are themost likely groups to hold outside jobs, and Hispanics andAsian Americans are the least likely. In addition,White/Caucasian, Asian American, and African Americangirls are all very active participants in outside activities.Hispanic girls are substantially less likely to participate, withonly 38% belonging to one or more club, team, or socialgroup. Not surprisingly, this also results in Hispanic girlsholding significantly fewer leadership positions.14
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