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Inspiring Tomorrow's Women: An Avon Report Based on Avon's "Tomorrow's

Entrepreneurs" Research

Article · February 2011

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Inspiring Tomorrow’s Women: An Avon Report
Based on Avon’s “Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs” Research

By Dr. T. Alexandra Beauregard

Department of Management, London School of Economics

Foreword: Why did Avon UK commission this study?

In its 125th year, Avon Products, Inc., the world‟s leading direct selling company
with 6.2 million micro-entrepreneurs across the globe, has commissioned the “Avon
Inspiring Tomorrow‟s Women Report”. The report aims to explore the inspiration for
entrepreneurship amongst the next generation of women and map the business
ownership trends that will inform the future economic landscape.

Executive summary

Falstaff: I will not lend thee a penny.

Pistol: Why, then, the world's mine oyster, which I with sword will open.
- Shakespeare‟s The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act II, Scene II

In the harsh light of today‟s economic realities, young women are well aware of the
challenges that face them, and are prepared to meet those challenges head-on. If
the world is where we seek our fortune, then this is the „world is my oyster‟
generation. With hard work and determination, the next generation of female
entrepreneurs will prise open the shell of the economic downturn and extract the
pearl of satisfying work combined with a meaningful family life.

The key insights gleaned from Avon‟s Tomorrow‟s Entrepreneurs research are:

Young people are very aware that the economic downturn jeopardises their chances
of securing employment, and are prepared to work hard and make sacrifices to
compensate.
 The majority of both women and men consider going to university a
worthwhile investment, even if it requires them to go into debt.
 Young women especially are prepared to work two jobs at once in order to
make their way in the world.

This next generation of workers displays an overwhelming spirit of

entrepreneurialism: in response to poor labour market prospects, young women and
men intend to go into business for themselves.

1
  Young women are set to nearly double the existing number of female
entrepreneurs over the next few decades - as long as government advice is
readily available and targeted at this emerging group.
 Given the existing contribution of women-owned businesses to national
income growth, this explosion of female business owners may represent a key
driver of future economic growth in the UK.

Parents are important role models for today‟s youth, influencing their career plans
and educational aspirations.
 Having an entrepreneurial family member inspires young people to want to go
into business for themselves.
 Parents who serve as career models shape their children‟s desire to attend
university and to incur debt if necessary to do so.
 Women‟s positive working experiences can inspire their sons to reject old-
fashioned expectations for a male-female division of labour.

Paid work represents an important source of identity and satisfaction for young
women and men, as does family.
 Young women and men place a high value on both work and family,
suggesting that they are not prepared to sacrifice one for the other.
 Young women and men demonstrate greater similarities in values than
previous generations have shown, which may produce more egalitarian
outcomes in the workplace and at home in the years to come.

Young women and men want to combine work and family, and a large majority
believe that doing so will make them better workers, better partners and better
parents.
 Young women acknowledge that work may interfere with family life, but they
are especially confident that employment will also enrich their family lives.
 Young men anticipate similar levels of work-family conflict as women,
indicating that in future, this will no longer be perceived as a “women‟s
issue”.

Young men want to become more actively involved in family life.

 If current intentions translate themselves into future reality, the number of
men working part-time hours and being at home for their children when they
return from school will nearly double.

2
Introduction: The next generation of workers

The cohort born between 1980 and 2000 has variously been called „Generation Y‟,
„Generation Me‟, or „Millennials‟. These young people are often characterised by both
the research literature and the popular media as being more leisure-driven, valuing
paid employment less, and having a weaker work ethic than the Baby Boomer
generation before them.i This generational shift in values has been attributed to the
employment experiences of the Baby Boomers; watching their parents work long
hours only to undergo corporate downsizing, frequent layoffs, and high divorce
rates, young people are cautious about undergoing these same pitfalls, and
reportedly choose “making a life” over “making a living”. ii,iii

Research appears to support this proposition. A recent survey of over 60,000

American undergraduate students found that when asked to rank the job
characteristics of an ideal entry-level employer, young people placed work-life
balance at the top of the list, above other factors such as salary and meaningful
work.iv Similarly, a study of over 23,000 Canadian undergraduate students found
that Millennials were keen to build a fulfilling life outside of work, while also placing
importance on developing job-related skills and establishing career momentum.2

Is this also the case for the next generation of UK workers? Much of the research on
Millennials has been conducted in North America, or solely among university
students or young professionals rather than school-leavers. This obviously gives us
an unbalanced perspective of young people‟s views. A rare UK-based study,
conducted in 2008 among 2,500 young people, concluded that those born after the
early 1980s were rejecting their parents‟ work values and were determined to carve
out more leisure time for themselves; salary and status were not high priorities for
these individuals, with a preference for extended leaves of absence for charity work
or travel being reported instead.v

Avon‟s “Tomorrow‟s Entrepreneurs” research, on which this report is based,

surveyed over 2,000 people in the UK aged between 16 and 24 years. Respondents
were asked about their work and family values, their plans for further education and
employment, and how the economic downturn has influenced their expectations for
the future. The findings indicate that young people are highly committed both to
family life and to work, and are facing the challenges of the age of austerity head
on, with a determination to create their own opportunities for meaningful work
through entrepreneurial activity.

3
Section 1: Work and family values

Avon‟s “Tomorrow‟s Entrepreneurs” research asked young people to evaluate the

degree to which they see work, and family, as important to their sense of identity
and to their overall satisfaction with life. The results show that young women and
young men view both work and family as very important to them. While women
report significantly higher scores for the importance of the work role and of the
family role, both men and women exhibit very high levels of each: 87% overall
consider work and/or a career important (85% of men, and 90% of women), and
90% of respondents view family as important (87% of men, and 92% of women).
The majority of young people – 56% - consider their parents to be role models in
terms of work and career, demonstrating the significance of current family members
to young people‟s aspirations, in addition to their plans for future partners and
children of their own. There is one small indication of continued gender role
socialisation; men are significantly less likely than women to rate family as „very
important‟ in the grand scheme of things, with 69% of men doing so vs. 78% of
women. However, the study‟s findings indicate that overall, young women and
young men are equally committed to both domains, work and family. This
demonstrates a noteworthy shift away from the traditional gendered division of
spheres, where women‟s priority was the home, and men‟s priority was the
workplacevi, and provides an indication that greater equality in the workplace and in
the home may be achieved by this generation of young people.

Also evident is an interesting bifurcation of responses to items measuring the extent

to which young people are willing to commit personal resources to assure success in
the work role, or to develop the work role. While work role commitment is high
amongst both women and men and average scores are very similar, men report
significantly higher levels of agreement with the more „extreme‟ items (“I expect to
make as many sacrifices as are necessary in order to advance my work / career”; “I
expect to devote whatever time and energy it takes to move up in my job”),
whereas women express significantly higher levels of agreement with the items that
feature a more balanced, rational wording, indicating career drive and determination
but not to the point of taking an „all or nothing‟ approach (“I value being involved in
a career and expect to devote the time and effort needed to develop it”; “I expect to
devote a significant amount of my time to building my career and developing the
skills necessary to advance”). This may reflect societal expectations for men to
prioritize the work role and to demonstrate their masculinity by achieving success in
the workplace6; despite sweeping changes in traditional gender roles over the past
few decades, young men may continue to perceive social pressure to prove
themselves as „breadwinners‟.

4
Section 2: Impact of the recession on career and education plans

Coming of age in the current economic downturn poses considerable challenges to

young people in terms of accessing higher education and employment opportunities.
The youth unemployment rate has now reached 20.3%, and the total number of
adults under 25 who are out of work is moving close to the 1 million mark. vii With
the Educational Maintenance Allowance being abolished, and the Future Jobs Fund
closing in March, young people are understandably concerned about their prospects
for the future. A sizeable majority of both women and men are worried about finding
employment, and are prepared to work two jobs at the same time in order to make
ends meet. An overall 36% of respondents indicate a willingness to work unpaid for
up to six months in order to better their chances of finding employment.

A striking finding is that women are noticeably more concerned than men about
their job prospects. Fully 76% of women believe the job market is saturated and
that they will experience, or are currently experiencing, difficulties in finding a job,
compared to 63% of men. Young men may be underestimating the risk they face;
according to analysis from the Institute for Public Policy Research, young men fare
worse than young women in the current labour market, with 22% of male graduates
unemployed compared to just 13% of their female counterparts, and 27% of young
men with GCSEs or equivalent qualifications unable to secure employment,
compared to 21% of young women with the same qualifications.viii In Avon‟s
“Tomorrow‟s Entrepreneurs” research, statistically significant differences also exist in
how women and men plan to deal with difficulties in finding work. More men (38%)
are prepared to seek employment abroad than women (33%), whereas more
women (61%) are willing to work two jobs at once in order to pay their way than
are men (52%).

In contrast, young women and men have similar aspirations with regard to pursuing
higher education, and hold similar beliefs regarding the utility of a university degree
in today‟s job market. Despite 41% of respondents reporting that their role models
didn‟t go to university, 65% of young people participating in the study report that
they intend to achieve a degree in order to further their chances of finding a job,
and 53% are of the opinion that incurring debt in order to go to university is a
worthwhile investment. In light of evidence that unemployment rates among
individuals aged 16-24 years are highest for those with no qualifications 8, this
represents a sensible strategy in today‟s economy despite rising tuition fees.

5
Factors predicting education plans, in order of strength of relationship between
predictor and outcome

Intentions to achieve university Readiness to incur debt for

degree tuition fees

1 Lower, rather than higher, levels 1 Willingness to commit personal

of agreement that “my role resources to the work role
models didn‟t go to university”
2 Younger, rather than older, age 2 Lower, rather than higher, levels of
agreement that “my role models
didn‟t go to university”
3 Importance of work to one‟s 3 Identification of parents as career
identity and life satisfaction models
4 Willingness to commit personal 4 Importance of family to one‟s
resources to the work role identity and life satisfaction
5 Importance of family to one‟s 5 Younger, rather than older, age
identity and life satisfaction
6 Identification of parents as career
models

Young people who are more likely to agree that their role models didn‟t go to
university are less inclined to go to university themselves, or to believe that it is
worth getting into debt in order to achieve a degree. Those closer to 24 than to 16
years of age are also less likely to express interest in achieving a degree and in
acquiring debt to do so. Work role values play a key role in influencing young
people‟s attitudes toward pursuing higher education; individuals who feel that work
is a vital source of self-identity and satisfaction, and who indicate high levels of
willingness to put in the time and effort required to succeed in their work, emerge as
being more interested in attending university and achieving a degree. Family also
proves itself a key motivator of plans for higher education; women and men who
believe that family is a major source of self-identity and satisfaction, and who agree
that their parents serve as their career role models, express stronger intentions to
achieve a degree and are more likely to perceive that incurring debt in order to
attend university is a worthwhile investment.

6
Section 3: Attitudes toward self-employment

Self-employment is revealed to be an attractive option for this next generation of

workers; 61% of the young people participating in this study express an interest in
setting up their own business in the future. This interest applies to both male and
female respondents, with 64% of the men and 60% of the women reporting an
interest in going into business for themselves. Given that nearly three-quarters of all
currently self-employed people in the UK are menix, the findings of Avon‟s
“Tomorrow‟s Entrepreneurs” research predict a massive shift in the composition of
tomorrow‟s entrepreneurs, with women taking on a much greater proportion of the
self-employed workforce.

There is a strong perception among respondents that the job market is saturated
and that earning opportunities need to be self-created, with 56% of young people
expressing agreement with this viewpoint and no statistically significant gender
differences in evidence. Women and men also agree (58% overall) that self-
employment provides one with the chance to build a life outside of work.

Gender-based differences in attitudes toward self-employment can be seen with

regard to the earning potential of entrepreneurship and government assistance with
creating new businesses. Although 35% of men subscribe to the belief that the
quickest way to earn good money is by setting up one‟s own business, only 23% of
women feel the same way. A similar gap is found between men‟s and women‟s
perceptions of the adequacy of government advice for setting up one‟s own
business; 40% of men perceive that sufficient advice is available, but only 28% of
women agree that this is the case.

Women and self-employment

Entrepreneurship is often depicted as a masculine activity.x,xi Consequently, women

frequently perceive the entrepreneurial environment as being inhospitable. xii In a
recent study of 17 nations, women perceived the entrepreneurial environment as
less favourable than did men, and as a result, were less likely to go into business for
themselves.xiii We see an echo of this result in Avon‟s “Tomorrow‟s Entrepreneurs”
research; women are significantly less likely to agree that there is sufficient advice
available from the government to set up their own business in the future, and men‟s
intentions to pursue entrepreneurial activity are significantly higher than women‟s.

Despite this masculine norm for entrepreneurship, women-owned businesses

represent the fastest growth segment of privately held firms, and female business
owners are increasingly key contributors to the UK‟s economic growth. xiv,xv Although
women remain less likely than men to start a business, the gender difference in
business start-ups is decreasing.13,xvi The next generation of entrepreneurs surveyed
for this report can be expected to narrow the gender-based gap in entrepreneurship
still further, especially if government resources to assist nascent entrepreneurs can
be targeted more closely at young women.

7
Factors predicting interest in self-employment, in order of strength of relationship
between predictor and outcome

Men Women

1 Perception of entrepreneurship as 1 Saturation of job market

allowing one to build a life outside
of work
2 Saturation of job market
necessitates creation of own
earning opportunities
3 Importance of work to one‟s
identity and life satisfaction
4 Family members who are/were
entrepreneurs
5 Perception of entrepreneurship as
quickest way to earn good money
6 Willingness to work two jobs at
once
necessitates creation of own
earning opportunities
2 Perception of entrepreneurship as
allowing one to build a life outside
of work
3 Family members who are/were
entrepreneurs
4 Importance of family to one‟s
identity and life satisfaction
5 Importance of work to one‟s
identity and life satisfaction
6 Age

Influence of role models

People‟s decisions about whether or not to become self-employed have been linked
to a number of different factors, including demographic characteristics, personality
traits, cognitive biases, and social networks.16,xvii,xviii,xix Amongst these predictors, one
of the most critical factors shaping entrepreneurs appears to be having an
entrepreneurial parent.xx,xxi In Avon‟s “Tomorrow‟s Entrepreneurs” research, having
family members who were in business for themselves either at present or in the past
emerges as a significant predictor of young people‟s propensity to express an
interest in self-employment, both for women and for men.

Social learning theory can help to explain this phenomenon. When parents or other
family members role model a particular behaviour, such as engaging in self-
employment, children use informal observations of this behaviour to develop their
cognitions regarding educational and vocational aspirations. The experience of family
members thus shapes young people‟s expectations of their capability to become self-
employed, and their evaluations of which personal skills and abilities are necessary
to perform effectively as an entrepreneur.xxii

Influence of work and family role values

Family-related motives for self-employment have also been found in the research
literature. A desire for greater balance between work and one‟s personal life, as well
as a desire for flexibility in meeting family demands and responsibilities, have
frequently been linked to a greater propensity for starting up one‟s own
business.xxiii,xxiv,xxv,xxvi,xxvii These motives have tended to be stronger for women than

8
for men, which is presumably due to the fact that women continue to devote longer
hours than men to household work and childcare.xxviii,xxix This gap does appear to be
narrowing, however, with younger men performing greater quantities of housework
and spending more time with their children than was the case for their fathers‟
generation.xxx
The findings of Avon‟s “Tomorrow‟s Entrepreneurs” research show some evidence of
this shift, with both women and men‟s intentions of pursuing self-employment being
significantly predicted by their perceptions of entrepreneurship as offering the
opportunity to build a life outside of work. Notably, however, the importance of the
family role predicts increased interest in self-employment only for women. In
addition, men who report greater intentions to incorporate their future family in their
career plans (e.g., finding work that does not require long hours or involve travel
that takes one away from home) are less likely to be interested in pursuing self-
employment. This indicates that men may continue to perceive self-employment as
an intensive form of work that is incompatible with high levels of participation in
family life, not recognising its potential for crafting a job to suit one‟s changing
needs and lifestyle priorities.

The importance of the work role, as a central value influencing self-identity and
satisfaction, is a significant predictor of both men‟s and women‟s interest in pursuing
self-employment. Young people who want interesting and exciting work, who wish
to build a name and reputation for themselves through their work and to be
successful in what they do, who want a job in which they can achieve something of
significance, and who expect their work to be a key source of life satisfaction are
more likely to report a desire to go into business for themselves. Drawing upon the
existing research literature, we can postulate that by observing the employment
experiences of the current workforce, riddled with layoffs and organisational
restructurings, young people may have concluded that the best opportunities for
meaningful and satisfying work do not reside in being employed by unreliable
others, but in working for oneself.

For men, those with a work ethic strong enough to foster a willingness to hold down
two jobs at once are more likely to want to pursue entrepreneurial activity. They
may be envisioning a situation in which they combine employment and self-
employment, at least until the self-generated venture becomes profitable enough to
take precedence. The perception of entrepreneurship as the fastest route to earning
a good living surfaces as a key predictor of interest in self-employment for men, but
not for women. In general, men tend to report placing a higher value on salary and
financial benefits than do women.xxxi,xxxii

The impact of the economic downturn can also be seen in these results. One of the
strongest predictors of a propensity for self-employment, for both women and men,
is the view that the job market is currently saturated and that one therefore needs
to create one‟s own earning opportunities.

9
Section 4: Attitudes toward flexible working

Work-life balance and work-family conflict are highly debated topics these days, with
the government planning to extend the right to request flexible working to all
workers in 2012xxxiii and employers‟ interest groups protesting that in the current
economic situation, family-friendly policies represent unnecessary costs to
businesses.xxxiv Amid widespread perceptions that combining a successful career with
a satisfying family life is difficult and that working parents who take up family-
friendly policies may do so at the expense of their career progression xxxv, the recent
Fairness in Families Index found that the UK ranks in the bottom 4 of 21 OECD
countries with regard to its ability to support equal parenting through government
policies.xxxvi

These figures paint a gloomy picture of the current work-life balance landscape in
the UK. Are young people aware of these issues, and are their expectations for
combining work and family adversely affected? The results of Avon‟s “Tomorrow‟s
Entrepreneurs” research suggest that while young men and women are aware of the
potential difficulties they face in balancing paid work with family life, they are
confident that participation in both domains will enrich their lives and lead to
satisfying outcomes.

In contrast to previous research findings indicating that working women report

higher levels of work-family conflictxxxvii and that among undergraduate students,
women anticipate significantly higher levels of work-family conflict than their male
counterpartsxxxviii, there are no differences in anticipated work-family conflict
between the young women and men in Avon‟s “Tomorrow‟s Entrepreneurs”
research. While half the respondents are of the opinion that in future, their personal
or family lives will probably interfere with their jobs, a greater number (57%) expect
that their work will interfere with their family or personal lives. This reflects an
astute observation of the working world; in virtually every study measuring both
types of conflict, workers report higher levels of work interfering with family than
they do family interfering with work.37

Encouragingly, young people‟s expectations for positive outcomes deriving from the
combination of work and family are much higher than those for problematic ones.
Fully 68% of respondents expect that their family or personal lives will help them to
be a better worker, demonstrating an intuitive understanding of the premise
underpinning work-family enrichment theory – that resources from one domain can
be carried over into the other, and thus experiences, skills, and opportunities gained
or developed at home (or at work) can make participation at work (or at home)
easier.xxxix A considerable majority of both young women and young men also expect
that in future, the jobs they do will probably enrich their personal or family lives, but
here we see that significantly more young women are of this opinion (71%) than
young men (65%). This is a welcome sign that young women are not subjecting
themselves to outdated – and incorrect - assumptions that maternal employment is
detrimental to young children‟s development, but can actually benefit all members of
the family.xl

10
Avon‟s “Tomorrow‟s Entrepreneurs” research asked young people about the extent
to which their career plans will take into account any family responsibilities they
might have in the future by, for instance, choosing work that allows for part-time
hours, that does not require travel away from home, that allows an individual to be
at home when children return from school, and that does not produce exhaustion or
stress from managing both work and family commitments. Young women are
significantly more likely than young men to report intentions to incorporate their
future family into their career plans. The differences are primarily in young women‟s
propensity to choose part-time work hours after having children (46% of women
reporting an intention to do so, vs. 28% of men), and to want to be at home when
their children return from school (43% of women, vs. 34% of men).

These results are not particularly surprising, given the challenges men face in
today‟s organisations when attempting to take a more active role in family life.
Working mothers are more likely than working fathers to effect changes to their
work schedules in order to accommodate family responsibilitiesxli, in part because
men are rarely regarded as primary caregivers for children, and so their desire to
take time away from work for family reasons can be seen as an indulgence by
employers or clients.xlii There is ample research to suggest that men, more than
women, fear that taking leave or reducing their work hours could irreparably
damage their careers.xliii,xliv In addition, men‟s earnings are generally higher than
women‟sxlv, and therefore reducing work hours or taking low-paid or unpaid leave
often has a more detrimental effect on overall family income. As a result of these
career and financial concerns, men tend to work longer hoursxlvi and are less likely to
work part-time or take parental leave36,45,xlvii, or use other family friendly policies.41
However, what is encouraging is that a third of the young men surveyed in Avon‟s
“Tomorrow‟s Entrepreneurs” research do report a desire to choose jobs that allow
them to be at home when their children return from school, and nearly 30% of
young men would like to work part-time after the birth of their children. With only
16.6% of men working part-time at present9, this represents a major shift toward a
more egalitarian involvement in family life.

Factors predicting intentions to incorporate future family in career plans

1 Importance of family to one‟s identity and life satisfaction

2 Lower, rather than higher, willingness to commit personal resources
to the work role
3 Anticipated family-to-work conflict
4 Older, rather than younger, age
5 Anticipated work-to-family enrichment

The factors predicting young people‟s intentions to take their future family
responsibilities into account when planning their careers are largely the same for
both women and men. Individuals who assign higher importance to the family role
are more likely to want to arrange their careers to accommodate their family
commitments, as are those who anticipate greater levels of family interference with

11
their work in the future; in this instance, arranging work to accommodate family can
be seen as a proactive measure to reduce the amount of family-to-work conflict that
will be experienced. Age also plays a role, with individuals who are closer to 24 years
than to 16 years reporting greater intentions to incorporate future family in their
career plans. Taking a life cycle approach to work-family planning, we can expect
that as young men and women approach their mid-twenties, the prospect of having
a partner and children of one‟s own becomes less abstract; as the likelihood of
balancing work and a family becomes more proximate, so do the logistics of doing
so, and one is prompted to make more detailed plans for the future. Young women
and men who have higher expectations that their work experiences will enrich their
personal or family lives also express more interest in arranging their work to suit
their family needs; this may reflect a desire to ensure that work contributes to,
rather than detracts from, a fulfilling family life.

There is only one difference in predictors between men and women. Although
maternal satisfaction with employment is not a significant predictor for women‟s
intentions to incorporate their future family in career plans, stronger beliefs that
their mothers found working to be a satisfying experience predict increased
intentions for men to take account of potential family responsibilities when making
job-related plans for the future. Perhaps young men who have observed their
mothers deriving fulfilment from paid work are more eager to facilitate a similar
situation in their own future families, in which their future partners can enjoy
satisfying work lives due in part to increased participation by men in family life. This
demonstrates once again the relevance of parental role models to young people‟s
aspirations and expectations for the future, and shows that positive experiences of
maternal employment may encourage young men to reject old-fashioned
expectations for women to run the household while men focus on paid work.

12
Conclusion: A generation of hard-working, family-friendly entrepreneurs

Contrary to the popular media‟s portrayal of young people as „slackers‟ with a weak
work ethicxlviii,xlix,l, the findings of Avon‟s “Tomorrow‟s Entrepreneurs” research show
quite the opposite: faced with tough times ahead, the next generation of the labour
force is determined to carve out their own career opportunities, and their attitudes
toward work are overwhelmingly positive. Consistent with previous research2,4, these
young women and men also demonstrate a strong commitment to family, and a
conviction that combining employment and a meaningful personal life can be
accomplished and can result in real benefits both to the workplace and to family life.
For young women, the signs are that they may enjoy greater equality in the
entrepreneurial workplace and in the home than previous generations have
experienced. The world truly may be their oyster.

13
Notes
i
Twenge, J. M. (2010). A review of the empirical evidence on generational differences in work attitudes.
Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), 201-210.
ii
Ng, E. S. W., Schweitzer, L., & Lyons, S. T. (2010). New generation, great expectations: A field study of the
Millennial generation. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), 281-292.
iii Zhang, Y., Straub, C., & Kusyk, S. (2007). Making a life or making a living? Cross-cultural comparisons of

business students’ work and life values in Canada and France. Cross Cultural Management: An
International Journal, 14, 174–195.
iv Gerdes, L. (2009, September 3). Bad economy hasn't changed Gen Y's desire for work/life balance. Business

Week. Retrieved December 16, 2010 from

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/blogs/first_jobs/archives/2009/09/bad_economy_has.html.
v Asthana, A. (2008, May 25). They don’t live for work… they work to live. The Observer. Retrieved December

16, 2010 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/may/25/workandcareers.worklifebalance.

vi Eagly, A. H., Wood, W. and Diekman, A. B. (2000). Social role theory of sex differences and similarities: A

current appraisal. In Eckes, T. and Trautman, H. M. (Eds.), The developmental social psychology of
gender (pp. 123-173). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
vii Weardon, G. (2011, January 19). Youth unemployment hits record high. The Guardian. Retrieved January 19,

2011 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jan/19/youth-unemployment-heads-towards-1-

million
viii Institute for Public Policy Research (2010, January 20). Recession leaves almost half young black people

unemployed, finds ippr. Retrieved January 19, 2011 from http://www.ippr.org/pressreleases/?id=3846.

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