Girls of Generations X, Y, Z
Girls of Generation X, born in the 1960s and the 1970s, were the first to fully take advantage of the new women's emancipation movement. They took up new educational and employment opportunities that shifted life priorities and expectations and created a new social generation.
But did this generation also manage to fully realize the opportunities? A comparative analysis of the long-term outcomes in the lives of Gen X Australians and Canadians shows that the promise that educational achievement would lead to improved employment has not been met for women of this generation. On the contrary, this generation has experienced a re-traditionalising of life patterns and mental and physical health have emerged as significant issues. Professor Wyn predicts that women in subsequent generations (Y and Z) will also struggle to achieve their goals. This can only change if public policies acknowledge the importance of the interrelationships between education, work, family and wellbeing.
Professor Johanna Wyn is Director of the University of Melbourne’s Youth Research Centre. Her work focuses on the education, training and work experiences of young people and on their well-being. She contributes to conceptual debates within the sociology of youth and to policy and program development within education. Her books include Rethinking Youth (1997); Youth and Society: exploring the social dynamics of youth(2004) and Youth Health and Welfare: the cultural politics of health and education (2009).
Jantina Tammes and the Jantina Tammes Chair
After admitting Aletta Jacobs as the first female student in 1871, the University of Groningen appointed Dr. Marie Loke in 1907 as the first female lector in the Netherlands. After this, appointing the first female professor was just a matter of time. Indeed, in 1911 Dr. Jantina Tammes (1871-1947) was the first woman in the Netherlands to be nominated for such a position. It took until 1919 before she was appointed as professor. Jantina Tammes was famous for her research in biology, more specifically in genetics and botany.
Professor Johanna Wyn is the 9th Jantina Tammes Professor at the University of Groningen (Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences). The Jantina Tammes Chair has been established in order to enable female visiting professors to do research with colleagues here, in the field of gender studies. Every Jantina Tammes Professor teaches classes for one semester, and gives a public lecture at the end.
Interesting links
Melbourne Graduate School of Education Johanna Wyn
RUG Jantina Tammes