Three students picked up on the link to the article last week on Generation Y. It was a pretty negative article, and I’m not surprised at the response from some of my students.
Two colleagues and I are embarking on a study looking at just this issue. Draft title: Relationship Management, Ethics, and Organizational Culture for the Millennial Generation of Agency Practitioners
In short, we’re looking at how firms build relationships with their young agency practitioners (and if they are effective), how young practitioners make ethical decisions and how they fit (or don’t) with organizational culture.
Considering the research and business press material I’ve read so far, it’ll be interesting to see how young PRos line up with the information about GenY as a generation. I’m nearly through Generation Me , which takes a pretty negative view suggesting that GenY’ers are “more confident, assertive, entitled – and more miserable than ever before.”
I’m beginning to wonder if our young PRos will defy the stereotypes of GenY.
I know my students are ambitious. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve had (and have) students that fit the “GenY” descriptions – negative and positive – to a “t.” But generally they best students don’t fit the negative aspects of their generation. They are ambitious, but they have a sense of what their first years in an agency or corporate environment will be like. They are confident, but not obnoxiously so (or without reason). They work hard for good grades and understand why when they earn one that’s less than an A (even better, they work to do better the next time). And don’t seem miserable.
But the data shows that these students may be an exception, rather than the rule. We’ll see how our PRos line up with the data. In the meantime, three of my best student bloggers – and I have a lot of great bloggers this term! – have sounded off about the GenY stereotypes. Read them here:
Thoughts of a Generation Y Graduating Senior (Eileen Chang)
Blogging is the New Staff Picnic (Lee Magner)
Should I Be Embarrassed? Gen Y in My Defense (Lisa Poplawski)
You make some great points in your blog post Kelli. In fact, after reading your post and your students’ responses, I was compelled to write my own blog entry! I, too, (as a Gen Y’er) was disappointed to read Mr. Goldsmith’s article. However, he did make some good points that don’t lie far from the truth. I think instead of being defensive, us Gen Y’ers can take a few things away from his article. My take? We are simply misunderstood. Feel free to read my blog entry! http://prtactics.blogspot.com/2008/03/generation-thats-misunderstood.html
Check out Brazen Careerist – it’s a really neat site I’m involved with: http://www.brazencareerist.com
Cheers,
Chris