Women set higher goals than men for work and family, but are they also setting themselves up for failure?

We already knew women in the United States were better educated than men; now, it seems they’re more ambitious, too, with two-thirds saying they’re chasing a high-paying career, compared with 59 percent of men. Don’t think, though, that means more women are giving up on hopes of motherhood: Six in 10 say being a good parent is one of the most important things in life, and in the last 10 years the number of college-educated women without children has fallen 25 percent.

Could it be that career women have climbed the corporate ladder, had a long look around, and found the landscape dull, repetitive, and frustrating? That may be why women now make up the majority of online freelancers, perhaps putting them in a better position to work and mother.

What's clear is that women in hot pursuit of a satisfactory work/life balance often find themselves falling short. A new book out of France, The Conflict: How Modern Motherhood Undermines the Status of Women, argues that the attachment parenting trend has harmed women’s presence in the workforce and blighted the progress of feminism. The decision of newly appointed Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer to basically forgo maternity leave has both sides of the “can women have it all” debate crying foul. It’s no wonder mommy guilt—rather than abating over the years—seems to be nothing short of a modern epidemic.

Is there a solution? And, if so, who needs to drive it? Let us know what you think.

Image credit: Creative Commons/ninahale@flickr.com