1. Page 1 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 2 CRICOS No. 00213J Givens with young people  Identity development  Social-emotional development  Adolescent / parent relationship  Peer group relationships But is there another layer??

3. Page 3 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 4 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 5 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 6 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 7 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 8 CRICOS No. 00213J Peter Sheahan  High acceptance of change/choices  Anything is possible  Flexibility  Respect honesty / integrity (consumers??)

9. Page 9 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 10 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 11 CRICOS No. 00213J My summary  Egocentric  High demand  Instant  Bomb  Life style  Image - cool  Consumer  Negotiation  Little consequence  Overload

12. Page 12 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 13 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 14 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 15 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 16 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 17 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 18 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 19 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 20 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 21 CRICOS No. 00213J 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. Page 22 CRICOS No. 00213J Issues  Consequences  Last minute  Negotiation  TV role models - active play  Teach decision making  Multi-modal approach  Present in bite-size chunks  Distract often