many young girls see it like that too instead of seeing at as a tough business and that in fact it IS a job and that you DEPEND on your artistic and social (sometimes looks) skills.

Since the whole world chances so fast, technics improve, also of learning, I think even the Geishas and maikos have their benefits of it.
Wich does NOT mean, that the standards are falling.

The repertoire of Classical Ballet is still the same as let's say 100 years ago, so are the Classical Japanese dances. IF the teaching is more smooth then in the old days, the result is still the same.

Things might be different nowadays, but different does NOT necessarely mean better or worse, does it?

When Mineko-san started, she was looking up at the goddess at the top. Since she herself had become the goddess, she has been looking down. A totally different perspective I'd say.
Still to read her book, I'd like to know when she was active, TIA.

Melissa Chasse mentioned a total of 102 maiko somewhere on her blog, the date of which is recent [2007 or later]. In her 1999 book Kyoko Aihara speaks of 195 geiko and 55 maiko [i.e. 1995-1998] - but also of an all-time low of 28 maiko in about 1970. If that is Mineko-san's timeframe, chances are she's the best of "only" a few. It may [may!] be tougher to become the alpha girl today.
Once every one has 1,5 year before misedashi, the standards will settle there. And probably they will have fallen on some points. But the modern girls may also have an advantage, actually: they've seen far more of the world compared to girls living in the fairly secluded hanamachi from age 6 on.

Hard to say...

EDIT 12 Oct. OK, I now know Mineko-san was the cause of that all-time low, more or less... ironically, it seems that since her 'defection' the profession actually has been on a steady rise again, slow as the pace may have been. Except for the final 10 years, with the fairly spectacular doubling of the maiko number from 55 to 102.