The authors follow through on a thought, what are their fellow Northwestern Alumnus doing now. Are the marching over the patriarchy and making bold moves. The answer surprises them and speaks o the many roadblocks women face in realizing their ambition.

They break their findings into three categories: High Achievers, Flex Life, Opt-Out.

The common thread they found was how childcare can be problematic and often there is only room for one ambitious person. If both are ambitious, it may be that they have no children, or if they do, there is a nanny service. It is the same as the rest. Single unless the spouse can help out,otherwise ambition is stifled.

It is a fascinating account of ambition today with some very good advice on planning the future.

Even though Booklist said, "Teens preparing to graduate from high school might appreciate the nonlinear paths of the women Schank and Wallace profile [in THE AMBITION DECISIONS]," I disagree. I do not think that my students, despite living an easy drive from Northwestern University, would find the stories of 43 sorority sisters who are now in their 40's to be of that much interest or relevance. My students do care about the tough lifestyle choices and dichotomies (High Achievers, Opt Outers and Flexi Lifers) which Schank and Wallace succinctly describe, BUT this text is way too narrowly focused (and I think the authors would agree) on a certain class, race and type of student. In addition to interviews, the authors devote about five percent of the book to a bibliography and notes section which includes books and academic journals, although many of references also seem to be blogs or videos and one wonders a bit about overall quality. Working on THE AMBITION DECISIONS must have been a fascinating project and it is certainly of interest to a specific cohort, but more general works like The Shriver Report or possibly Sandberg's Lean In or Slaughter's Unfinished Business merit attention from high school and college students.