Generation NeXt Comes to College Understanding Today

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Generation NeXt Comes to CollegeUnderstanding
Todays Postmodern Students

• Dr. Mark Taylor

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Topics

• Generations in Higher Ed
• Traditionals, Boomers, Xers, NeXt
• Understanding NeXters
• to reach developmental, institutional and
  departmental goals.

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What do we want to do?

• Help students reach developmental goals
• Learning, workplace readiness, citizenship, etc.
• Recruitment
• Admissions
• Marketing, Media
• Persistence and Retention
• Prerequisite for student and institutional
  success.

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Generalizations

• Heterogeneous
• Diverse
• Modal personality
• Trends
• Lifestage vs. cohort
• No stereotypes !
• No criticism !
• No excuses !
• We may need to do things differently
• Understanding creates opportunity.

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• I

Gen NeXt
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Generation NeXt

• Why are they like this?
• Why do they do that?
• They make perfect sense
• Logical products of culture
• Their traits and expectations are not surprising
• Just doing what has worked in the past.

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Generational cohorts
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Traditionals

• Born before 1945
• At least 62 now
  
• Affected by the Depression,
  WWII
• Between Greatest and Boomers
• Often donors, administration and senior staff.

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Traditional values

• Duty, discipline, thrift
• Sacrifice, sobriety, delay of gratification
• Conformity, authority, hierarchies
• Last of a long line
• Good old days?

Patriarchal, Racist
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Traditional higher ed

• Like formality
• Face to face contact
• handwritten
• High status contacts
• (or kids)
• Monumental, legacy appeals
• Traditionals like
• Books
• Marble
• Bricks
• Leaves.

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Premodern worldview

• Based on tradition and belief, not data
• Identity social roles
• Social-traditional
• Timeless, unquestioned truths
• Moral model
• Strict rules, sanctions for violations.

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Traditionals said

• We didnt know we were
  poor.
• It is not supposed
  to be fun.
• I want my kids to have better than I had.

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Baby Boomers 1945-1964

• We all think we are normal.

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Baby Boomers 1945-1964

• 42-61 years young
• Pig in the python
• Post war affluence
• New middle class
• Cleavers
• Special, advantaged, lucky.

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Baby Boomers value

• Idealistic
• Relationship oriented
• Individuality/ creativity
• Personal fulfillment
• Self-improvement
• Human potential
• Make a difference.

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Boomer communication

• Use various media
• Most mainstream cohort
• They do use the web
• They think they are hip
• Relationship oriented
• Be their friend
• Respond to younger people
• Anyone younger than them
• Can respond to students
• Identify with college self.

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Boomer parents

• Critical in school selection, student success
• Clarify expectations of their involvement
• Priorities different than their kids
• What do they want?
• Safety
• Supervision
• Remediation
• Development
• Outcomes.

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Show Boomers

• Well lit, trafficked sidewalks at night
• Young people studying
• Caring adults
• RA rise and shine
• Good, clean fun
• touch football, Frisbee
• Young people moving out of the house
• Young people going to work
• morph entering student into professional worker.

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Modernworldview

• Science reason
• progress and
• human development
• Scientific-rational
• Data and theory based
• What can be shown and proven
• Truth changes
• Moralish model
• More open, weaker sanctions.

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Generation X 1965-1981

• Baby Bust
• 25 to 41?
• Tail end of the Boom
• Shadow of the Boom
• Consciousness Revolution
• Tough times to be a kid
• Culture changed/ not equipped
• Necessary?
• Priority?

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Generation X 1965-1981

• Pragmatic
• Self-reliant
• Less relationship oriented
• Flexible
• Skeptical
• Less optimistic.

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Gen X returning students

• Pragmatic reasons, outcomes for returning
• All data, no faith
• Need very clear, personal whys?
• Professional, not personal development
• What is the return on this investment?
• Webster model
• Break link with ivory tower academics image
• Professionals in their field.

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Generation NeXt 1982-1994?

• Up to 24 years old now
• Baby Boom Echo
• Huge cohort
• Wanted, precious, protected children of Boomer
  parents
• (soon to see Xers children)
• Trophy child?
• Cleavers?

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Why mom went to work
Civil Rights- Womens Lib
Human potential
Consumerism
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Generation NeXt 1982-1994

• Millennials?

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Generational cycles

• G.I. 1901-1924 Civic
• Silent 1925-1942 Adaptive
• Boom 1943-1960 Idealist
• Gen X 1961-1981 Reactive
• Millennials 1982-

Civic ?!?
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Millennials Rising?
?

• Conventional/ conformists
• respectful of social norms and
  institutions
• Trusting of institutions adults
• Collectively vital to nation
• Confident about the future
• Into math and science, not humanities
• Busy with extracurricular activities and
  community projects
• Demand secure, regulated environment
• Focused on grades and performance
• Accepting of responsibility
• Close to parents.

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• UCLA
• Higher Education Research Program HERI
• Cooperative Institutional Research Program CIRP
• Surveying entering students since 1966
• Sandy
  Astin, et al

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UCLA HERI

• Growing materialism
• Increasing influence of parents
• Lowering religious interest
• Low political interest ?
• Low interest in community service ?.

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UCLA HERI

• Record levels of academic
  disengagement
• Growing materialism
• Optimistic about chances for success
• Unrealistic ideas about their skills and college
  expectations.

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A Postmodern Generation

• The product of postmodern influences
• Shared cultural values?
• Premodern social traditional traditional roles,
  conventions, belief, religion?
• Modern scientific-rational, data, reason,
  progress, human development?

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Postmodern times

• Jean-Francois Lyotard
• The Postmodern Condition 1988
• Delegitimation of metanarratives
• Totalizing stories
• Language creates reality, it does
  not just describe reality.

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Postmodern times

• Diversity?
• Pluralism many available models, none shared
• Choice - over tradition or data
• Truth is chosen/ created
• Always changing
• Next best thing
• Value own opinion
• Values individual over community
• Worth utility/ cost
• No morality (only laws)
• Non-judgmental?

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The Unholy Triad

• Of Modern Parenting
• 1. No spanking
• safe relationships
• no fear
• 2. Options and choices
• improved ownership
• self importance
• value of opinion
• expectation of choices
• 3. Self-esteem programming.

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Opinions?

• Valuing opinions (especially for young)
• Reduces
• Critical thought/ logic
• Scientific thought
• Seeking evidence
• Accountability
• Recognition of authority
• Spirit of inquiry/ questioning
• Increases
• Argumentativeness
• Closed mindedness
• Litigation.

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Gen NeXt and Postmodern times

• More dual career families
• More divorce / single parents
• More day care
• More responsibility/
  accountability for schools
• Less socialization by parents
• More media/ technology
• Downsizing, security, opportunity issues
• More public sex and violence
• More role models and choice.

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Generation NeXtModal Traits

• Postmodern Sensibilities

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Gen NeXt Modal traits

• Civility/ character issues
• Intellectual issues
• Academic engagement
• Reduced self-efficacy
• Risk taking
• Conformity
• Relationship issues
• Mental health issues
• Parent issues
• Supervised
• Diverse/ Diversity
• Technoliterate
• Stressed
• Work readiness

• Consumerism
• Entitlement
• Negotiation
• Instant gratification
• Short event horizon
• Entertainment
• Value Free
• Adaptable/ Pragmatic
• Excellence
• Self-interested
• Skeptical
• Commitment reluctance
• Cynical/ distrustful
• Safety issues

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Gen NeXt variations

• Underprepared
• First generation
• Female
• Non-traditional age
• Minority/ non-native
• Part time
• Vocational.

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Po-mo student

• Academic unreadiness
• Record levels of academic disengagement
• Record lows for time spent studying
• Tired of school
• Optimistic about chances for success
• Unrealistic expectations about their skills and
  college expectations
• Unrealistic future workplace expectations.

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The Consumer Student

• Producer- consumer orientation
• Education seen as commodity
• ? Monetary goals
• ? Career, not development
• ? get not become
• Market driven outcomes
• Customer role, customer service
• Familiarity?
• Increasing responsibility for outcomes
• Education must make sense, have obvious value
  for them now and later.

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Po-mo consumer student

• Expect choices / options Do-over
• Times/ places
• Commitment reluctance
• Impacts persistence
• Expects to negotiate
• May feel entitled to outcome
• High school grade inflation
• Academic success with little effort?
• Expects immediate gratification/ service
• Impatient.

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Parent issues

• 1. No spanking
• safe
• no fear
• limited notion of consequence
• 2. Offering choices
• importance of opinions
• at expense of authority
• 3. Unlimited horizons
• 4. Self esteem programming.

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Parent issues

• Doing for and have done
• Defend child against school
• Monitoring (them/ us)
• In constant contact
• Interferes developmentally
• Influences self-efficacy
• I couldnt do it on my own.

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Managing parents

• Parents are good people
• We do want them to do for their children
• Recognize impact on efficacy, skills etc.
• Relationship skills development
• Separating from parents is important college
  transition
• Co-citizenship activities
• FERPA

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Supervised

• Unstructured time?
• Creative play?
• Programmed childhood?
• Impacts imagination/ creativity
• Impacts formative relationship skills
• Impacts self-direction
• High need for direction
• May resist direction.

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Intellectual/ cognitive issues

• Bright, savvy
• Concrete / literal (not abstract / reflective)
  Absolutes (not formal/ relative)
• Problems with abstractions
• Difficulty applying theory in new setting
• Oral (not literate)
• High value of own opinion
• Skeptical- no intellectual authorities
• Intellectually disengaged.

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Short event horizon

• Life is random
• Expect instant gratification
• Impatient
• Critical thinking/ problem solving skills?
• Mature planning / responsibility?
• Disconnect from adult life.

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Instant gratification

• Expect immediate benefit, availability, response
• No value in delay
• Importance of personal needs
• Hesitate and miss your chance

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Entertainment orientation
Its supposed to be fun

• Im bored.
• High need for external stimulation
• Poor fit with traditional academic activities.

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• Limited expectation that they will ever have to
  do anything other than exactly what they want to
  do.

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Responsibility issues

• Externally oriented- limited introspection
• projection of responsibility
• Reduced self-efficacy
• lives controlled by outside forces
• Citizenship issues
• Pandemic cheating
• Not especially resilient
• Adaptation, not coping.

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Excellence/ Esteem Issues

• They are all stars!
• Programmed for esteem over achievement
• Limited realistic/ negative feedback
• Self interested/ self-important
• Belief in talents
• Rate own skills highly
• Expect academic success with little effort
• Self-interested/ self-important
• The Deficit Model
• Self-satisfied
• Why change?
• Startled by difficulties.

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The Talent Issue

• Want to be able to
• If I had talent I could do that easily.
• Effort is a sign of no talent.

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Community issues

• Army of one
• Be all you can be
• Weaker links to community
• Small peer group
• Expanded individual focus
• Limited willingness to subordinate own needs to
  needs of group
• Expect to take care of themselves
• Entrepreneurial
• Need a community

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Value Free

• Values not required
• Lots of values options
• May not follow traditional ideologies
• Po-mo non-judgmentalism
• Tolerant of everything except absolutes/
  intolerance
• Free of guilt-based bonds.

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Personal issues

• Civility- social behavior
• Citizenship- civic participation
• Character- no one is watching
• Rewards for civil behavior?
• Rewards for uncivil behavior?
• Raised in rude times
• Famously uncivil models
• Direct communication
• Pandemic cheating
• Low civic participation.

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Communication

• Blunt/ direct
• Insensitive?
• Honest
• Entitled to expression
• Not traditionally respectful
• Civility issues
• Semantically flexible (txt msg 4 U LOL!)

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The Character Imperative

• Is postmodernism OK?
• Have largely abdicated citizenship/ civic
  education/ character development
• But we do complain about student behavior
• Modern vs. postmodern character development.

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Civic values for citizenship

• Thoughtfulness / Critical thinking
• Responsibility / Conscience
• Caring / Fairness
• Honesty / Integrity
• Idealism / Justice
• Respect / Diversity
• Morality / Humanism.

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Selective risk takers

• No fear/ short event horizon
• Little sense of mortality
• Extreme whatever/ dangerous models
• Sports, sexuality.

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Conformity issues

• Individuality is sign of social dysfunction
• Pick a model and go with it
• Few rewards outside the box
• Dont risk academically
• Few benefits from creativity
• Lots of peer pressure
• More bullying/ hazing.

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Relationships

• Lack of skill development through unstructured
  unsupervised play
• Close to parents
• Reliance on close circle of friends
• Enclaves (cliques)
• Digital connections
• Virtual love on-line
• Lots of peer pressure
• bullying, hazing, sexuality
• Little intimacy development
• Non traditional relationships
• Lots of relationship experimentation.

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Diverse/ Diversity

• Less whiteness
• Explosive immigrations
• More comfortable with cultural, racial, sexual
  differences
• Observed de-facto segregation.

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Wired youngster

• Generation Net Digital natives
• Multi wired
• Deeply imbedded
• Time with media
• Hidden impacts
• parents, cheating
• High stimulation
• over stimulated
• Multi sensory
• Multi task
• Everyone is available
• Immediate everything
• Tech depth/ problem solving?

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Wired student

• Prefer tech (what is tech?)
• pro tools vs. studio
• Hyperlink vs. liner thought
• Knowledge vs. retrieval
• Expect tech options in courses and services
• Expect tech sophistication and support
• Expect immediate response/ service
• Tech may replace other skills.

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Got skills?

• Assess complex visual data quickly
• Visual/ spatial skills
• Brain/ hand neurology
• Responding to expected and unexpected stimuli
• Rewards for quick decisions
• Few consequences
• Attention span?
• short for non-interactive activity (except for
  zoning).

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Communitact

• Must be seamless
• Get name and number one time only
• They can be led, and will fall into
• But are alert to being tricked
• Expect to be sold
• First few contacts should be to connect and to
  give to them
• Web site.

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Tech Comm

• The are on-line
• My Space
• Facebook
• You Tube
• Connecting with each other via technology
• Text messages, phone, IM
• Prefer tech to face to face
• Must invite them to your site.

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Siteing with NeXt

• Should be the coolest site around
• College Edge- link from regular site
• If the adults like it
• Enroll in our virtual community
• Link to My Space, Facebook
• Schools You Tube videos?
• I-pod downloads
• Local bands?
• School bands?
• Jam nights?
• Offer value to prospective student
• Transitional guides
• High school to college
• Two year school to college
• Work to college.

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Core messages/ images

• A place for you
• Have fun now
• We know you are special
• Lots of choices
• We have what you dont have now
• or will lose
• Membership
• Learning that matters
• Develop your talents
• Take charge of your future
• Fortune and fame.

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Images

• No books
• No tiered seating
• No lecture
• Few words.

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A place for you (tube)Subliminal, but not evil

• Talking on cellphone
• Painting posters
• Dancing
• Texting on lawn
• Swimming pool
• Step-line
• Concert
• Kickball
• Moving in
• Shaking a hand
• Graduation.

• Art studio
• Small group in class
• Video game in union
• Jam night
• Touch football
• Working on laptop at campus monument
• Laughing m/e group
• Exercise in rec center
• Asleep in bed
• Major sporting event

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Learning that matters

• Start with school image, move to matters
• Speech class
• Speaking to small peer group
• Speaking at board table
• Small group in class
• Work team around table
• Computer writing class
• Writing on lap-top
• Newsroom
• Science lab
• CSI lab
• Etc.

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Safety issues

• Taught that the world is
  a dangerous place
• OK City, OJ, Columbine, Clinton,
  9/11, War issues, VT
• Be wary/ cautious/ distrustful for your own
  protection
• Very linked to (not always safe) peers
• More bullying, hazing
• Very stressed.

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Managing safety

• Recognize safety needs as low level needs
• Defend unpopular policies to foster safety,
  reduce liability
• Earn trust
• Teach life safety skills, healthy
  relationships, etc.

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Strengths

• Positive, self-confident
• Fun, loveable
• Adaptable/ flexible
• Pragmatic
• Resourceful/ efficient
• Tech savvy
• Comfortable with diversity
• Multitasking
• Environmental/ green ?
• Direct communication
• Collaboration
• Busy
• Tough/ stress tolerance
• Good with change
• Lots of them.

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Strengths

• Positive, self-confident
• Fun
• Adaptable/ flexible
• Pragmatic
• Comfortable with diversity
• Multitasking
• Busy
• Environmental ?
• Resourceful/ efficient
• High self-esteem
• Direct communication
• High expectations
• Collaboration
• Tough/ stress tolerance
• Lots of them.

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Adaptable/ Pragmatic

• Have adjusted to many settings
• Savvy
• Multitasking
• Modular
• Resourceful
• Value free?
• Resilience?
• persistence/ retention issues.

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TIME

• Most colleges are seriously out of step with the
  real world in getting students ready to become
  workers in the postcollege world.

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Workplace issues

• a pandemic of workplace unreadiness as todays
  graduates are unable to think long term, handle
  details or delay gratification
  
  Levine 2005

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• Many students who do earn degrees have not
  actually mastered the reading, writing and
  thinking skills we expect of college graduates.
• Over the past decade, literacy among college
  graduates has actually declined.
• Spellings Commission on the Future of
  Higher Education Draft of the Preamble
  August 9, 2006

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Working with NeXt

• Goals, connections, practices
• Articulate outcomes
• Manage esteem issues
• Facilitate goal setting
• Communicate high expectations
• Personal connections
• Workplace imperative
• Best practices
• Postmodern pedagogy.

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Managing Consumerism

• Reexamine the product- processes and goals
• Is this something they want and need delivered
  in a way that is appropriate and appealing to
  them?
• Make sure they know what they are buying
• Opportunity- not outcome
• Make sure we are
  meeting obligations.

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Issues in enrollment management

• Which students go where?
• Economic push-down
• Competition for better students
• Fewer choosing national service
• Military issues
• Parent issues.

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What are we selling?What are they buying?

• Knowledge
• Development
• Degree
• Career
• Membership.

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Choice to attend

• Location
• Cost
• Eligibility
• Reputation
• Experiences

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Options

• Based on schedules, needs, styles, preferences
• Choices increase student responsibility
• High tech- high touch.

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Doing What Works- Best PracticesIntake and
intervention

• Honest recruitment
• Seamless admission
• Rapid integration
• Starting with the end in mind
• Investing in the front end
• Required orientation
• First year experience/
  college success classes
• Developmental/ remedial courses
• Intrusive developmental advising
• Early alert systems/ support interventions
• Increasing availability of support services
• Increasing student use of support services.

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Retention Strategies for NeXt

• Persistence and retention are institutional
  imperatives
• Everyones job
• Honest recruitment
• Seamless admission
• Orientation/ first year experience/
  college success
• Intrusive developmental advising
• Early alert systems
• Active learning/ learning support
• Excellent maps
• Eyes on the prize/ future building
• Connections/ membership
• School (spirit)
• Caring attitudes of faculty and staff.

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Offer excellent maps

• Starts with the end in mind
• Admission geared to graduation
• Four semester schedules?
• Celebrate milestones- outcomes
• Clear explication of what students need to do,
  and when they need to do it
• Links/ steps between courses.

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Best Practices for RetentionSocial / Campus
culture

• Increasing student time/ involvement on campus
• Increasing student work opportunities on campus
• Increasing student-to-student interaction
• Increasing student-to-faculty interaction
  (especially out of class, on subject)
• Connecting curriculum and co-curricular
  activities
• Caring attitudes of faculty and staff.

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What factors influence decisions to stay?

• 1. Caring attitude of faculty and staff
• 2. High quality instruction
• 3. Adequate financial aid
• 4. Student involvement on campus
• 5. High quality advising
• 6. Excellent counseling services
• 7. Excellent career planning
• 8. Concern about student/ institutional fit
• 9. Admission geared to graduation
• 10. Early alert system

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Early Warning

• Implement redundant early-warning systems that
  identify and respond to students whose academic
  performance or other behaviors put them at risk
  of failure or dropping out
• Kuh, George D., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J. H.,
  Associates. (2005) Student Success in College,
  Creating Conditions That Matter(p.261).

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Best PracticesAcademics

• Learning support opportunities
• Tutoring/ supplemental instruction
• Learning communities/ linked classes
• Early and frequent feedback
• High academic expectations
• Committing to the learning model
• Increasing engagement
• Active learning pedagogies.

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Goal setting is critical

• Personal ownership of
• Academic goals
• Occupational goals
• Development goals
• Students ability to see themselves in the future
  helps more of today make sense
• Improves persistence/ resilience.

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Goal setting

• Meaningful assessments of talents and needs
• Realistic goal setting
• Understanding workplace expectations
• Excellent maps
• Consistent monitoring
• Persistent future orientation.

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Use peers

• Prefer to connect with an age peer
• Really only comfortable within own peer group
• Recruit cohorts
• Phone banks
• Geographical links
• Blogs
• Student led tours, orientation
• You Tube teams
• Self-parodying virtual tours.

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Connections are critical

• Persistence and change
• Academic / Social integration
• Menu of connection options and opportunities
• 1. Caring attitudes of faculty and staff
• Relationship with one person
• Everyone must be available to connect with and
  integrate students.

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Improving Work-readiness

• Taylor, M. Generation NeXt Goes to Work Issues
  in Workplace Readiness and Performance. 2007.
  Higher Learning Commission Collection on
  Institutional Improvement.
• Download at www.taylorprogams.org

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Expect their best

• Adaptable
• High expectations bring high results
• Students have significant educational/ change
  needs
• Do you have something significant to offer?
• Cultures last chance?

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Student success is fragile

• Most important transition for young adults
• More important work?
• At most schools most are not successful
• College is hard, not always fun
• Easy to get off track
• One problem can turn them away
• One hand may save them.

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Questions/ Comments?Resources?

• Dr. Mark Taylor
• www.taylorprograms.org
• info_at_taylorprograms.org