QuoteProject
My generation was the turning point. Women older than us didn't expect to have jobs or careers; those younger did. But we were where it was changing - which is interesting but uncomfortable.
Jocelyn Bell Burnell
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects the evolution of women's roles in society, highlighting a generational shift in expectations regarding careers.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell's quote emphasizes the pivotal role of her generation in transforming societal views about women's employment. While older generations of women typically did not anticipate having careers, younger women embraced the idea of professional life and careers. This shift not only represents progress but also suggests a complex emotional landscape, where the change can feel both interesting and uncomfortable as it disrupts established norms.

Themes

CareerChangeWomenGenerational ShiftSociety

In practice

Example use cases

During a women's empowerment seminar to highlight career opportunities.

More from Jocelyn Bell Burnell

There's some evidence that if you're recruiting, you tend to recruit a mini-me. Then you have a very comfortable group round a table. You all think alike. You agree. People are arguing that the banking crisis was because too many of the relevant bodies were thinkalikes, and that if they'd had more diversity, maybe it wouldn't have happened.
Jocelyn Bell BurnellRead
The universe is very big - there's about 100,000 million galaxies in the universe, so that means an awful lot of stars. And some of them, I'm pretty certain, will have planets where there was life, is life, or maybe will be life. I don't believe we're alone.
Jocelyn Bell BurnellRead
A search for truth seems to me to be full of pitfalls. We all have different understandings of what truth is, and we'll each believe - or we are in danger of each believing - that our truth is the one and only absolute truth, which is why I say it's full of pitfalls.
Jocelyn Bell BurnellRead
If you look at other countries, you'll find lots of girls doing physics, engineering, and science. It's something to do with the kind of culture we have in the English-speaking world about what's appropriate for each of the two sexes.
Jocelyn Bell BurnellRead
Arguably, my student status and perhaps my gender were also my downfall with respect to the Nobel Prize, which was awarded to Professor Antony Hewish and Professor Martin Ryle. At the time, science was still perceived as being carried out by distinguished men.
Jocelyn Bell BurnellRead
When I went to my local grammar school, Lurgan College, girls were not encouraged to study science. My parents hit the roof and, along with other parents, demanded a curriculum change.
Jocelyn Bell BurnellRead

Similar quotes

Coming out of the 2016 election, there was a few things that became really clear. One, that black people deserve to have vehicles that represent the breadth of our interests. Two, that we really need to do a better job of being able to communicate what conditions and experiences our communities are facing.
Alicia GarzaRead
Keeping our eyes on journey's end is what we need - the place where we see at last the world that is greater than the world, the new creation that cannot be contained in present thought or social order or piety.
Rowan WilliamsRead
For the first time in human history, society has the capacity, the knowledge and the resources to eradicate poverty
Thabo MbekiRead
And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been
Rainer Maria RilkeRead
Healing the wounds of the earth and its people does not require saintliness or a political party, only gumption and persistence. It is not a liberal or conservative activity; it is a sacred act.
Paul HawkenRead
Fawkes is a phoenix, Harry. Phoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes.
J. K. RowlingRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.