In The Defining Decade, Meg Jay argues that twentysomethings have been caught in a swirl of hype and misinformation, much of which has trivialized the most transformative time of our lives.ĭrawing from more than two decades of work with thousands of clients and students, Jay weaves the latest science of the twentysomething years with behind-closed-doors stories from twentysomethings themselves. Some say they are an extended adolescence. Our 'thirty-is-the-new-twenty' culture tells us the twentysomething years don't matter. She spent her own early twentysomething years as an Outward Bound instructor.Revised and reissued for a new generation, The Defining Decade has changed the way millions of twentysomethings think about their twenties - and themselves. with High Distinction in psychology from University of Virginia. Jay has served as a fellow for the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Center for the Study of Sexual Cultures, and the Robert Stoller Foundation.ĭr. Jay currently supervises doctoral students in clinical psychology at the University of Virginia.ĭr. Jay served as adjunct faculty at Berkeley where she taught Clinical Psychology, Personality Psychology, Social Psychology, and Psychology of Gender. Her work on the assessment of depression has been published in Psychological Assessment.Īn award-winning lecturer, Dr. Her research on women, depression, and gender was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, and was published in the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association and as the Symonds Prize article in Studies in Gender and Sexuality. Jay was a research associate on the Mills Longitudinal Study, one of the longest-running studies of female adult development in the world. in clinical psychology, and in gender studies, from the University of California, Berkeley.Īt Berkeley, Dr. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Forbes, Psychology Today, and NPR.ĭr. Jay’s book, The Defining Decade, was a 2012 Staff Pick and her 2013 TED talk “Why 30 Is Not the New 20″ has been viewed more than 2 million times.

She is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Virginia and maintains a private practice in Charlottesville, Virginia.ĭr.

The defining decade