Nigel Marple

"NANO GIRL": Michelle Dickinson is a perfect example of a millennial woman.

When a computer advised a young Michelle Dickinson to be a fish farmer when she grew up, she did the only sensible thing: she grew up to be a bio engineer - albeit unintentionally.

"I found that totally by accident at a university open day," Dickinson says.

"It wasn't until I finished my PhD in biomaterials engineering that I had a clearer idea about where I wanted my career to go and I had been in university for eight years by then."

The self-starter went on to found New Zealand's first nanomechanical research laboratory after gaining a PhD from Rutgers University in the United States and a Masters in biomedical materials engineering from Manchester University.

Now she holds down a senior lecturer position at the University of Auckland's engineering department, writes her own science blog, Nano Girl, and squeezes in regular television appearances with TV3's Firstline Breakfast and 3rd Degree.

The high-energy millennial woman also counts adventure sports as a favourite pastime and at one stage planned to be the first woman to kitesurf under the Auckland Harbour Bridge until bad weather put paid to that idea.

According to new research by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Dickinson is the type of woman more women want to be like, with millennial women - those born between 1980 and 1995 - more ambitious than any other generation.

The survey of nearly 9000 women from 75 countries found more are highly educated, are entering the workforce in unprecedented numbers and have "entirely new career mindsets".

See more here:

Self-confidence sets millennial women apart