Gen Y: A new breed of student

1. Gen Y: A new breed of student Col McCowan Head, Careers & Employment Queensland University of Technology c.mccowan@qut.com www.qut.com/careers

2. Givens with young people • Identity development • Social-emotional development • Adolescent / parent relationship • Peer group relationships But is there another layer??

3. Generations • Every 18/19 years • Common denominators • Physical • Psychological • Social • Economic • Experiences in formative years (eg Bhutan / war..) • Similarities but diverse • Reputations (eg Hippies in the 60’s) • Themes for market research…

4. Five Groupings • - Veterans/Builders, 20/30/40’s (going/gone) • - Baby Boomers, 40/50/60’s (managers) • - Generation X, 60/70/80’s (staff + some students) • - Generation Y, 82/00’s (students) • - Generation Z, 01/19

5. Gen Y - Background • Witness economic growth, no bad consequences • Central to family, treated as adults, value parents • Bred for success, need chance to achieve and shine • Parents want quality life for themselves as well as kids • Protect from consequences • Unchurched • Material things equal success • Without boundaries • Nothing to break away from • Not so much theory – need relevance

6. Characteristics • Self confident, optimistic • can seem arrogant or disrespectful • Quick decision makers • strawberry – chocolate • Interested in politics, but not to vote • Comfortable with both technology and tradition • Involve parents/grandparents • money trees! • High tech - High touch

7. Characteristics (cont.) • Know they are customers and we need them • Like to be entertained • Multiple inputs • Short attention span • Concerned with self image • In line with fads • Entrepreneurial • Confirm chosen option

8. Peter Sheahan • High acceptance of change/choices • Anything is possible • Flexibility • Respect honesty / integrity (consumers??)

9. Hugh Mackay • Change is the only world they know • What else is there? Leave to last minute. Anything better? • Not necessarily disloyal • Mobile phone behaviour • Focus on lifestyle • Play precurser to socialisation / action TV precurser to role models / entertainment • Get tribal identity from others, as extended family • Values vacuum - you work it out • MWTKs - fringe dwellers

10. Student (29 yrs) on Gen Y • Lack of awareness of & respect for needs of others • Unreasonable demands and expectations • Don’t take personal responsibility – blame others.. • Cant wait for a lecturer to slip up • Derogatory comments based on superficial features • Arrogant, inflated egos, posturing, not genuine • Image obsession – either ‘in’ or ‘out’ • Limited attention span, lack of focus • Poor organisational ability

11. My summary • Egocentric • High demand • Instant • Bomb • Life style • Image - cool • Consumer • Negotiation • Little consequence • Overload

12. Learning/Working Styles • Jigsaw- fit enough pieces together to get the pattern • Mosiac- put bits and pieces together to create own picture • Scaffolding– make the steps clear, discrete & achievable (sort of contradictory)

13. Kolb Learning Styles Kolb - four styles: • inside the square, • outside the square, • by doing, • by thinking. • Enthusiastic- get totally involved quickly and take risks • Imaginative- think before doing and have creative solutions • Logical- understand and plan before doing • Structured- get on and get done without distraction

14. Choice as Dynamic • ‘Choice is not an instantaneous or even short-term period of decision. It is a momentary external expression of the balance between a wide range of social, cultural and economic perceptions. • Its expression is unlikely to be identical to its expression as a choice tomorrow’ Hemsley-Brown and Foskett,

15. Image and Expectation • Contracted images from own expectations • Delegated images come from others’ perceptions • Derived images from media • All 3 important in shaping perceptual constructs • Reinforcement, protecting & expressing of self image • High expectations (over optimism) • Over-estimation of chance/success • Default to a much less ambitious choice

16. Choice Strategy • Not the culmination of a rational, reasoned process and once made will be revisited • Not necessarily a non-rational process but a choice of justification strategies • Rational within the confines of limited information, minimised effort and pressure to preserve self-image • Unstable, subject to change, modification and reversal over short or long periods • We must view this ‘instability’ not as a sign of failure but as integral to their choice making

17. Multiple Changers UK Report Kidd & Wardman research found that multiple changers • Only ever considered one option, or • Premature closure on decision due to • Poor research • Many unresearched options • Poor time management /close to deadline

18. Eg. Choice of Uni (DEST, 2000) Major factors in decision/choice making Use only but any two of • Reputation • Convenience • Successful outcome • Entry Score (measure of quality) but low knowledge of specific characteristics • How to cope with 600+ courses

19. Mismatched Expectations(DEST 2000) • Consumer orientation • Oversell affects expectations & beliefs before • Competition removes obligation to be well informed • Few concrete expectations before arrive • First weeks crystallise - testing/shaping • Finding a place in a new peer group • Expectations not met

20. Approach • Study UCSD Career Service: • very important to deliver using latest technology: informative, organised, current, effective, competent • but most important to deliver: a friendly service

21. Implications • Not homogeneous as a group • High tech (latest, competent) • High touch (friendly, personalised) • Choices (cursory, image driven, too many, without consequence) • Style (how, what) • Normalise (work with) • Negotiation (skilled) • Image (protecting) • Involve parents/grandparents

22. Issues • Consequences • Last minute • Negotiation • TV role models - active play • Teach decision making • Multi-modal approach • Present in bite-size chunks • Distract often