According to an article in USA Today this week, a recent study from More Magazine found that 43% of the 500 women surveyed said they were less ambitious now than they were a decade ago.  

The survey went on to ask women in their mid-thirties to sixties about their plans to pursue promotions and jobs with more pay and more responsibility.  A whopping 73% said they did NOT want their boss' job, with 38% saying they simply didn't want to deal with the politics, pressure and stress that went with the territory.  

Only one quarter of the women said they were working toward a promotion.

The article goes on to talk about the lack of women in the corner office and political office.  And to bemoan the fact that women are just checking out of the workplace and the rat race and that makes us less likely to make the difference we need to make to the bottom lines of business and the economy.

So, let me get this straight.  Because we don't want the stressful jobs our bosses have, or to sit in corner offices that are often way out of touch with reality, or to participate in a political system mired in mud, we are less ambitious?  Or, less likely to make a difference in the world of work and life?

I beg to differ.  I think women are just as ambitious as ever, just not for the same things society thinks we should want or for the way things have always been done.

Women are getting more advanced degrees than ever before.  They are going into business for themselves at higher rates.  They are placing a greater priority on their families, their communities and themselves. They are raising money for causes they support.  And they are raising support for causes they believe in online and in line, but not necessarily according to the party line.

Let's face it.  We don't have to want what men have to be ambitious.  We have to want what we want and to go for it in whatever way and at whatever pace we feel good about.

This very discussion is why we created Jane Nation--a place for women to connect with each other and brands to talk about what we really want and to find a way to get it that is beneficial to all.  Sweeping statements and gross generalizations do not define Jane.  Each woman has a unique perspective to share.  And when those individual voices collect up into a single chorus aimed at making things better we can make real progress.  I hope you will join us.