I was doing so well with the one post per week thing, but last week derailed me. I even had something all composed in my head, but I didn't sit down and type it out. Now we'll see what I can piece together.
Last week one of my coworkers gave me a book called The Trophy Kids Grow Up, about the millennial generation's transition to the working world. She and I often bemoan the failings of our students' generation and lament that they're not more like us hardworking Gen Xers. We're also completely obsessed with the idea of generation theory and the differences between the generations. So I was pretty excited to dig in.
The book was written by a Wall Street Journal Reporter, so it skewed pretty heavily toward millennials working in corporate America. And it was published in 2008, which made me wonder how accurate some of the stuff was today--now that jobs are so hard to come by, are recent grads really being so choosy, and are employers courting them to quite the same extent? But overall, he made some interesting points, and I felt he was reasonably fair in his treatment of this generation--pointing out their problems, but also their good points.
Defining the start and end dates of a generation is always tricky, and a lot of times it depends on whose definition you're reading. Once or twice I've come across definitions that lump me in at the beginning of the millennials, but the majority, including this book, seem to mark 1979 as the end of Gen X and 1980 as the start of the millennials. Being so close to the dividing line, though, I have to say that I saw aspects of myself in the latter group, which made it a little harder to get annoyed with them--especially things like job hopping (although I could also blame that on the Gen X lack of corporate loyalty), impatience to achieve promotions and other honors right away, and expectation of things like flexible hours and a casual dress code (although I really think not having to wear pantyhose isn't really too much to expect!).
But the Gen X curmudgeon in me got a workout when it came to the descriptions of colleges and corporations falling all over themselves to accommodate the learning styles and preferences of this group. In response to their need for constant feedback and approval, more performance reviews with a consciously positive emphasis. In response to their heavy reliance on parental approval and input in their decision making, including parents in job interviews and negotiations. In response to their inability to think for themselves and need for constant hand-holding, clear step-by-step instructions for everything. Not to mention compensating for their lack of written communication skills.
Maybe it's just post-midterm fatigue, but I resent the idea that we have to bend over backward to accommodate the shortcomings of these students. It seems like we're doing them a disservice by not teaching them to think for themselves. Although apparently if they work for the right company, they never have to learn this stuff.
