Young Britain: Women have better skills for the modern world

After graduating from Bradford University, Mina Dye-Sharp, 24, became a community youth volunteer.

A lot of women realise they have got to be focused. We feel we have got to do better than men and also better than the next woman. But I don't want to get on in life just because I'm a woman. I want to succeed on merit and on my abilities.

I think we have really changed the workplace. We are better listeners than men, not so aggressive and better at seeing things from a different perspective. Women are prepared to take everyone's feelings on board. They are more team-based and democratic.

Some men I work with have tunnel vision. They can only see things one way. They seem to find it hard to compromise and their communication is quite poor, which can sometimes be frustrating.

Women are more persistent. Men just seem to give up when problems arise or they just delegate downwards. Negotiation is really important at work.

Compromising is not about giving up. You can still stand by what you believe in. Work is all about give and take.

Blokes are generally more competitive than women, which can be a good thing, but we get emotionally involved with what we are doing.

Women are more realistic about the job market in the future. We know that we are the only ones who can make things happen.

Men just say the opportunities are not out there. I think the problem is that young men don't have a traditional role and that is why women appear to be so much more focused. Men need to realise they have an important part to play in society. I've got a lot of single mothers as friends who are all going back to higher education. They feel they have missed out and that is the only way for them to get off income support. They need to help themselves and they are very focused on that.

It's no longer important to marry or settle down and have a child. If a man doesn't stick around after a baby is born, women aren't that bothered any more. We can cope without a man around and it's less hassle.

There is onus on young women to succeed and do more. Even that girl-power thing is like peer pressure. The media is telling women that they have got to go further and do better, so in the end being a career-oriented woman could be like conforming to a modern stereotype.