Every girl has someone they aspire to be when they are growing up – be it a family member, teacher, friend or celebrity – but what is it that makes these women smart and successful to us?
New research from Clinique has revealed that when asked to define what makes a woman smart and successful, 62% of British females said she needs to be true to herself and more than one in five (22%) 25-34 year-olds believing she needs to be ambitious.
Half of the respondents said that in order to achieve success a woman should be confident, with 40% saying she must be strong.
More than half of the women surveyed (54%) said they believe independence is a trait that best represents the modern woman, followed closely by 51% who said juggling family and work. In contrast to this, just over a quarter (27%) said the modern woman is best represented by her career.
Taking a look at women in the media, three in ten felt that both Kate Middleton and Helen Mirren best represented women, but interestingly only 1.5% felt that women are accurately portrayed in the media.
What they really felt defined the modern woman was independence (54%) and being able to juggle a family and work (51%).
Seven in ten women felt that the modern-day woman is under more pressure to do and have it all than they were a generation ago, and with more than four in ten believing that honesty (47%), intelligence, determination and commitment (41%) are the real keys to success, are we mistaken in thinking that a successful career is all that makes us ‘smart’?
