Atlantic: Today's 27 Yr Olds, in Charts

"What are today's young adults really like?" asks Jordan Weissman @ the Atlantic.

In the spring of 2002, the government's researchers began tracking a group of roughly 15,000 high school sophomores—most of whom would be roughly age 27 today—with the intention of following them through early adulthood.

In 2012, the government’s researchers handed their subjects an enormous survey about their lives in the real world. Here, I've pulled together the most interesting findings. (One important note: I've shorthanded this group as "today's 27-year-olds." But again, not all of the study participants are precisely that age.)

Below are a few of the charts Weissman developed from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002.

For more, see Highly Educated, Highly Indebted: The Lives of Today's 27-Year-Olds, in Charts.

Juggling Work and Family

Two recent articles, both by feminists, suggest contemporary feminism is struggling to find its way. In Female Ivy League Graduates Have a Duty to Stay in the Workforce, Keli Goff posits an extreme view, arguing women have a greater obligation to their gender, and those who wish to be wives and mothers should stay out of Ivy League schools entirely:

There's nothing wrong with someone saying that her dream is to become a full-time mother by 30. That is an admirable goal. What is not admirable is for her to take a slot at Yale Law School that could have gone to a young woman whose dream is to be in the Senate by age 40 and in the White House by age 50.

In Why Women Should Embrace the Good Enough Life, Elsa Walsh argues that the periodic "discussion about women and feminism, work and family" has become "a narrow conversation, centered largely on work, as though feminism is about nothing more than becoming a smart and productive employee and rising to the top."

Parenthood and family are much more central to our lives than this conversation lets on. The debate has become twisted and simplistic, as if we’re merely trying to figure out how women can become more like men. Instead, let’s ask: How can women have full lives, not just one squeezed around a career? It helps to take a longer view of a woman’s life...

Walsh offers a bit more conservative advice to her own daughter based on that longer view.

Forbes: Can 'Feminine' Women Make it To The Top?

Caroline Turner at Forbes explores the three forms of being feminine—looking feminine; acting girlish or seductive; and working and leading in feminine ways—and how each may or may not contribute to success in the business world.  She also links to a Stanford study with interesting insights...
 

The Post-Recession Job Search

How does a job seeker emerge successful in this post-recession job market? Careerguidetips.com tackles 6 ways the job search has changed and suggests adapted strategies to get hired. Tips to polish interview skills and resumes are also available at the website.

22-Year-Old 'Flip-Flop Cop'

"It's incredible how much stuff is out there," says 22-year-old Andrew Kaczynski, a student at St. John's University who is making a name for himself as this year's "flip-flop cop for the digital age," according to the Washington Times. His research—from "John McCain's entire 200-page 2008 opposition research file on Mr. Romney" to Ron Paul's video bragging "about putting out political newsletters, the same newsletters he recently disavowed because they contain controversial statements about race, AIDS and international conspiracy theories"—feeds his "political nerd" passion, launched his career, and keeps people honest.