Storie Pedley was a recipient of a PACADA professional development grant for the 2016 year. She used her funds to attend the 2016 NACADA National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. See below for more information about her experiences!
2016 NACADA Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA
Presentation by: Karen Hauschild, College of Charleston
Title: Generation Z: Advising Across the Generations
Experienced by: Storie Pedley
I learned some interesting information from this presentation – a short summary is below.
- Definition of Generation Z:
They were born after the millennials. There is no consensus for beginning and ending dates, but in general, it spans from 1992-2012, 1995-2012 or 1998-2015, depending on the research
- Who is Generation Z – these videos do a nice job explaining
- There are approximately 23 million currently in the U.S.
General Characteristics of Generation Z:
- They are accustomed to instant gratification
- They are social – they like to share, just not really personal stuff
- They often think in and talk about big ideas/aspirations
- Very short attention span (on average: 8 seconds!)
- Highly visual – prefer video over text
- Entrepreneurial (DIY friendly)
- They are the first generation to have grown up with social media – very tech savvy – it’s all they have ever known
- Very diverse – LGBTQ and a black president is normal to them
- They have witnessed an erosion of trust – today’s students have seen politicians, religious figures and sports icons fall from grace in a very public way
- They tend to have a feeling of insecurity – they grew up in the wake of the great depression and full knowledge of terrorism
- They want a college major that leads to a job that then leads to $
- Yet they also want their work to have meaning – it’s not ALL about the $
- Have a desire to design their own major – they want flexibility
A fun reference that is updated every year – to help keep things in perspective: Beloit College Mindset List
Why is this information important?
Here are some of my own take-aways from this presentation:
- Why is it important to understand this generation better? This group of young adults will be the next group to enter our offices, and ultimately the work force. Understanding what makes them tick could help us improve our advising, recruitment and retention strategies.
- We (Professors, Advisors, Admissions, Employers, College Administrators, etc.) need to find other/new ways to communicate with these students besides the traditional email and newsletters. Perhaps embedded video messages, short video clips, better/more frequent use of our webpages and social media, etc. This affects teaching style as well.
- Instead of getting frustrated with who they are/what they do – work to understand them and accept them, and ultimately learn from them, so they in turn can learn from you. Start the relationship knowing you won’t change them, so meet them where they are. We just may need to ask for their patience while we try to catch up!
- Consider whether we can we give them any freedom within their own major – to pick courses that THEY find relevant – without having to get special permission or jump through a bunch of hoops?
- Take advantage of their entrepreneurial spirit and use that to better teach practical problem solving and coping skills.
- From a recruitment/admissions perspective – if we don’t adapt and adjust, colleges will end up targeting only those students who see the message the way that college is putting it out there. We could potentially miss a LOT.
- Because they have grown up hearing about the dangers of global warming, seeing their parents struggle financially and being very cognizant of potential terrorist threats, they see themselves as the solutions to these problems. That may cause them to pursue careers that they think may help society.