Gen Y and the Blame Game

The New York Times’ Lisa Belkin—she who graced us with the oversimplifying phrase “opt-out”—is a good writer, and she frequently touches on subjects that I find personally compelling. This is largely because she’s one of the few mainstream media writers writing about the working life struggles that I face or will face, and which I spend a lot of time thinking about. (Why she has been cosigned to the Styles Section, rather than, say, the Business Section, and what message that sends about the valuation of issues relating to working women and men vis-à-vis their personal lives, is worth a whole other post.) Still, while I appreciate that she is talking about various issues that I think are extremely important, I always feel as though her articles leave me feeling unhappy or unsatisfied because she has left out important points or only presented a narrow side of the story.

Today’s column, Prepping Children for the 9 to 5, is no exception. In it, she talks about the effect that parents can have on their children’s attitudes and expectations about work. For the record: this is a great topic, and one that is probably deserving of much more study and discussion. I’m sure that if you scratched the surface a little, most people will reveal that their thoughts, expectations, and aspirations about work are heavily influenced by their parents’ experiences, and their interpretation of their parents’ experiences. I, for example, realized very early how frustrating it was for my mother to give up her career to stay home with me and my two brothers, even though she made this choice willingly and wanted, at some level, to be a SAHM.

But where Belkin lost me is when the article took a turn and indicted an entire generation—my generation, Generation Y—for being self-absorbed, unwilling to work hard, and easily dissuaded. The anecdotes used are particularly telling: one is about consultant running into a friend who quit his job because it interfered with his social life and he had to work weekends. The other is a quote from another consultant, who said “This generation has been spoon-fed self-esteem cereal for the past 22 years. They’ve been told it’s all about them—what they want, what they are passionate about, what they find fulfilling.” And while Belkin does allow that the “sharply different attitude toward work” of Gen Y is “probably their parents’ doing,” there is not much else to counter this image of Gen Y-ers as fragile, self-centered creatures who will quit or give up at the slightest sign of difficulty.

[More after the jump]

Ms. JD and Project on Att'y Retention are sponsoring a $1,000 essay contest on work/life balance

Ms. JD and The Project for Attorney Retention are sponsoring a $1,000 essay contest to answer the question, how do we close the gap between Baby Boomers and Millennials on work/life balance? The maximum length is 1500 words--so that's potentially, like, a dollar a word. (Seriously, I've read emails longer than that.) We hope you'll weigh in, whether you're a Baby Boomer, a Millennial, or somewhere in between. (Go Gen X! --That's my generation.) The entries will be judged by a panel of distinguished attorneys: Joan C. Williams, Cynthia Thomas Calvert, Linda Bray Chanow, Manar Morales, Natalie Hiott-Levine, and Linda Marks.

Here's the contest question:

Ms. JD and the Project for Attorney Retention promote work/life balance in the legal profession. When recent law school graduates push for more part time, flex time, or balanced hours, they are sometimes dismissed as "slackers." The message is: if you don't want to put in the work, pick another profession.

What would you say to a baby boomer law firm partner who thinks young lawyers are lazy and don't understand what the profession is all about? What would you say to a senior colleague who says she had to put in the work, so why shouldn't you? In short: what's your rationale for work/life balance reform in the legal profession?

You might contrast the work styles, lifestyles, or priorities of recent graduates with preceding generations of lawyers; compare the practice of law with other professions; assess the economics of work/life imbalances; or share persuasive personal experiences. Or, feel free to get creative and write us an argument unlike any of the examples we just mentioned.

Please limit your response to a maximum of 1500 words. No minimum word count is required.

The deadline is not for a while--essays are due February 29th. So if you or somebody you know might be interested, the short 'n easy contest application is posted at ms-jd.org/essaycontest.

Or you can just click here to email the essay contest announcement to colleagues, your school's listserv or financial aid office.

Hope to hear from you at ms-jd.org/essaycontest by February 29th!