What is a Millennial Anyway

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What is a Millennial Anyway?
Presented at the 2004 IACAC Conference Wyndham
Hotel Itasca

• Cindi Huck, Assistant Director, Lincoln Park
  Campus
• Sacha Thieme, Assistant Director, Loop Campus
• DePaul University

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Where do you fit in?

• G.I. Generation (1901-1924)
• G.I. stands for government issue or general
  issue, a.k.a. the Greatest generation
• World conquerors the generation of Americans
  that fought and won WWII
• Walt Disney, John Wayne, Joe DiMaggio, Frank
  Sinatra
• Silent Generation (1925-1942)
• a.k.a. the Postwar Generation
• Withdrawn, cautious, unadventurous the
  suffocated children of war and depression
• Clint Eastwood, James Dean, Jack Nicholson
• Baby boomer (1943-1960)
• Name derives from a historically significant rise
  in birth rate following WWII
• Rebellious youth born out of a general sense of
  relief due to wars end and resurgent economic
  conditions
• Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen, Howard Stern,
  Bill Gates
• Generation X (1961-1981)
• The Reality Bites generation
  Flannel-wearing, alienated, over-educated,
  underachieving slackers with body piercing who
  drank Starbucks coffee and had to work at
  McJobs.
• Cynical, pragmatic, label-rejecting, identity
  crises
• Robert Downey, jr., Kurt Cobain, Alanis
  Morissette, Drew Barrymore
• Millennials (1982-2003)
• Sources Wikipedia, http//en.wikipedia.org

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What is a Millennial Anyway?

• A Millennial is
• Optimistic
• A Rule Follower
• Group Oriented
• Trusting
• Sheltered
• Intelligent

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Remember this?

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Vital Statistics

• Born 1982 2003
• Children of Baby Boomers and Gen Xers
• In 2002, there were over 80 million Millennials
• It is estimated that they will reach 100 million,
  making the Millennials the largest generation in
  history (1/3 larger than the Baby Boomer
  generation)

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A note on diversity

• Most racially and ethnically diverse generation
  ever
• Least Caucasian generation in history
• 1 in 5 has at least one immigrant parent
• 1 in 10 has one non-citizen parent

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Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2007

• Topics we are all familiar with
• Ctrl Alt Del is as basic as ABC.
• Paul Newman has always made salad dressing.
• Bert and Ernie are old enough to be their
  parents.
• An automatic is a weapon not a transmission.
• There has always been some association between
  fried eggs and your brain.
• They have never been able to find the return
  key.
• The Osmonds are just talk show hosts.
• Test tube babies are now having their own babies.
• Yuppies are as old as hippies.

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Separating the Young from the Not-So-Young

• Things only they know
• For many of them today, its all about the
  bling, bling.
• Peeps are not a candy, they are your friends.
• They can expect to get a ticket for ricing out
  their wheels.

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7 Core Traits

• Special
• Sheltered
• Confident
• Team-Oriented
• Conventional
• Pressured
• Achieving

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Special

• A special child also wants to go to a special
• institution, where he or she will be prepared to
  play a
• special role.
• The Team - College choice is a co-purchase
• ¾ of incoming freshmen have never shared a room
• High expectations of the college experience and
  services offered
• Number of children served under Individuals With
  Disabilities Education Act (birth to 21)
• 1990-1991 4.7 million
• 2000-2001 6.3 million
• Source U.S. Department of Education, Office of
  Special Education and Rehabilitative Services,
  Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation
  of the Individuals with Disabilities Education
  Act, various years, and unpublished tabulations
  (April 2002).

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Where would you find this title?

• Between Mothering and Smothering,
• Between Fathering and Bothering
• a. Title of a new sitcom
• b. The latest addition to Oprahs book club
• c. University of Southern Californias 2002
  program title for freshmen orientation

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Sheltered

• On the one hand, parents will want their
  collegiate children to inhabit ivy-wrapped gothic
  buildings on the other, they will worry about
  the healthfulness of whats inside, from water to
  ventilation.
• Structure is important
• Zero-tolerance
• Helicopter parents
• FERPA waiver

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Confident

• The logic of the new message is positive
  reinforcement
• Tell teens about the great things that will
  happen if they make the right choice.
• RAH-RAH spirit of campus life
• Generational identity and sense of collective
  destiny
• Confidence in conformity
• 90 of teens are confident and happy about the
  future

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Team-Oriented

• Millennials love group work, cooperative
  activities like
• volunteer service, and participation in something
  larger than
• the individual.
• Conformity is a motivator
• Collaboration in and out of the classroom
• Transracial vs. Multiracial

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Conventional
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Conventional

• If there were ever an archetype for the
  conventional side of the Millennial generation,
  its Harry Potter
• New traditionalism
• Willingness to accept values of parents
• Necessity of rules and standards
• Importance of brandingthe HYPs

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PressuredTop Two Concerns of Teens

• 1974
• Nuclear War
• Stagflation
• 1984
• AIDS
• Violent Crime
• 1999
• Grades
• College Admissions

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Pressured

• Theres a new arms race among todays teens,
  and its called Getting Into College.
• The Right College
• Effort Planning Success
• Organization Kids
• Providing a balance

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Achieving

• They Millennials are probably the most
  all-around
• capable teenage generation this nation, and
  perhaps the world,
• has ever seen.
• quality of students Individual and
  Institutional competition
• Objective vs. Subjective
• 2002 average SAT score is highest ever

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But not everyone fits this mold

• Value of community is strong, but less faith or
  trust that the system will work for them
• Less automatic respect for authority
• Same desire to make a difference but feel they
  have fewer avenues to get started

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Outlook to the Future

• Leading edge of Millennial cohort will begin
  graduating en masse from 4-year colleges and
  entering the work force or graduate school and
  ranks of alumni.
• When a college counselor helps a senior gain
  entrance to a college, this is regarded as the
  students own success, and when not, as the
  counselors own failure.
• 84 of teens say security is very important in
  future careers only 26 say owning your own
  business is important.
• Millennials will become more socially adept than
  Gen Xers and more trusting of institutions, which
  they see as extensions of parental love and
  concern.

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Use Generational Generalizations with Caution!

• All colleges do not serve all students
• Know your institution and market
• Importance of targeted communications
• Acknowledge and appreciate parents who promote
  healthy individuality in their student(s)

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Questions?

• Howe, N. Strauss, W. (2003). Millennials go to
  college. Great Falls, VA LifeCourse Associates.
  
• http//www.lifecourse.com/college/

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Small Group Discussion

• Spend 3-5 minutes thinking about a particular
  professional experience you have had with a
  Millennial student. How did you handle this
  situation? In light of what you have learned this
  afternoon, what strategies or tactics would have
  been helpful to you?
• Share these experiences with your group and work
  together to develop 5 practical strategies,
  actions, or approaches to working with these
  students.
• Reconvene and share ideas with the larger group.