This week my daughter will no longer be a teenager. She was born in 1990, the peak year for Millennial age birthdays, and in many ways she is typical of her generation – raised in a child-centric household, well-travelled, highly creative, connected, Harry Potter-loving, and profoundly optimistic.  As she should be. After all, young women today are empowered as they have never been before in history.

Consider these basic facts: A higher proportion of 18-24 year old women are enrolled in college than men (42% vs. 37%). Women account for 57% of all college students. The age of first marriage is delayed to enable many young women to establish themselves in careers before having families.

Being a mother is still important, but not as high priorities in one’s twenties as being independent and living life on one’s own terms. According to research sponsored by Levi’s, 96 percent of Millennial women worldwide list “being independent” as their most important life goal. They define success as “being able to shape their own futures (87%)”.

The world is indeed opening up to young women.  The glass ceiling, while still very real, is being addressed in the only way it can be done sustainably, by having companies recognize that including women in the C-suite makes good business sense. A McKinsey survey shows 72% of business leaders believe that more diverse leadership leads to better financial performance. (The belief is supported by the facts — the report found the 89 listed European companies with market capitalization over 150 million with the highest gender diversity also had the highest return on equity, operating results, and stock price.)

Teen age girls are ready for the challenge. They are, as a generation, active, engaged and aware of their own influence and leadership potential.

A recent national survey by Varsity Brands among U.S. girls age 13-18 years, shows they are highly active and engaged.

• 93% participate in one or more types of school activity, 65% participate in sports, and 65% volunteer their time in service to their community (twice the rate of teen boys).
• 47 percent more teen girls identify themselves as “leaders” than as “trendsetters”.
• Three-quarters (77 percent) are “comfortable in their own skin.”

Their behavior lines up with their self-perceptions. Marketers wishing to connecting with this audience would do well to understand this high degree of self-confidence.

• Nearly half of teen girls hold some type of leadership position in or out of school
• Almost three quarters feel people look to them as a leader.
• 84% say they ‘speak their own minds’.

Teen girls are highly skilled at connecting, evangelizing and influencing each other, more so than teen boys. Nielsen reports the average teen girls sends over 4,000 texts a month, far more than teen boys.  While teen boys and girls spend roughly the same amount of time online, teen girls are more likely to use that time for connecting, self-expression and relationship building. According to the Varsity Brands Survey (PDF):

“(Girls) are almost twice as likely to have shared photos through a website, posted a comment on a blog or community, blogged themselves or kept an online journal. In contrast, boys use their time online primarily to find gaming tips and to seek out sports information. Girls’ usage of newer social media site Twitter is also gaining traction, with a third of teen girls adding the site to their list of top social media outlets like YouTube and Facebook.”

When it comes to brands, girls are more more loyal and more vocal about their brand choices within their social circles than teen boys. 9 out of 10 say they ‘enjoy sharing recommendations’ with friends and 53% believe their opinions ‘greatly influence’ their friends’ purchase decisions. An even greater number (77%) say their friends opinions influence them! 48% follow a brand online.

Marketers who want to connect with the influencers of future should also note what’s on teen girls’ minds today – as a group they admit to suffering a lot of stress and anxiety. Teen girls are under greater pressure than ever before to succeed. They are more than three times as likely as teen boys to say they feel ‘stressed out all the time.’ Some of the stress comes from money worries.  They say they have a great deal of anxiety about money, paying for college and finding a job.  These concerns are expressed to a greater degree than concerns about teenage pregnancy, bullying or date rape.

Happy Birthday, sweetheart! You are our future.