Transcript Focus - Lamar State College

FOCUS
On the Millennial Generation
Presented by David J. Sorrells, Ph.D.
Coordinator of Assessment
QEP Chair
THE MILLENNIAL BOOM . . .
o Millennials were born between 1980 and 2000, and the birthrate peaked in 1990.
o Millennials are the largest generation of Americans – with over 112 million people.
o Millennials make up 36% of the population.
o 31% of Millennials in the US are from minority groups. (Brown, 2011)
BIRTH TRENDS OF MILLENNIALS





Baby Boomers chose to become
parents (or to become parents again)
at an older age in the 1980s.
Early Gen X moms reverted back to
earlier birth-age norms.
Thus, two generations were having
babies at the same time.
Most Millennials have older Baby
Boomer parents.
The average age of first-time mothers
was at an all-time high of 27 in 1997.
DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS
Smaller families: about 10% of Millennials come from
families with only one child.
 More parental education: 1 in 4 Millennial students has
at least one parent with a college education.
 Kids born in the late 1990s are the first in American
history whose mothers are more educated than their
fathers, by a small margin.

TRENDS – CHANGING DIVERSITY




Increase in Latino immigration
The largest minority is Latino/Hispanic, who speak another
language, thereby helping to create a bilingual world for
American students.
Nearly 35% of Millennials are nonwhite or Latino
20% of this generation have at least one parent who is an
immigrant

Millennials are the most
racially and ethnically
diverse generation in US
history.
BABY BOOMERS AND EARLY GEN-XERS
AS PARENTS
 Boomers
and early
Gen-Xers rebelled
against the parenting
practices of their
parents.
 They made conscious
decisions not to say
“Because I told you so”
or “Because I’m the
parent and you’re the
child.”
 Strict discipline was
the order of the day
for boomers.
BABY BOOMERS/EARLY GEN-XERS AS PARENTS


Boomers and early X-ers
wanted their children to be
able to understand the pros and
cons of situations, be able to
make sound decisions, know
not to talk to strangers, not to
believe everything they read,
etc.
They explained actions,
consequences, and options to
their children rather than
choosing for the children.
BABY BOOMERS/EARLY X-ERS AS PARENTS


Boomers and X-ers
allowed their children to
have input into family
decisions, educational
options, and discipline
issues.
This coupled with the popularity of computer
software and games that changed the ending
based on the decisions children made (roleplaying games).
WE NAVIGATED OUR WAY THROUGH . . .
THEY NAVIGATE THEIR WAY THROUGH . . .
THE RESULT?
 Millennials
have become
“a master set of
negotiators” who, at a
young age, are
Capable of rational
thought
 Able to make complex
decisions

 They
will negotiate with
anyone, including their
teachers.
 Some call this “arguing.”
THERE IS NO I IN TEAMWORK
Millennials have done
everything in teams . . .
 They played soccer or took
dance together since the
age of 3.
 They went to play groups.

They participated in all
kinds of groups
Scouts
 Sports
 Extracurricular activities

Millennials work extremely well in teams and with diverse
individuals, with no fear or preconceptions.
MILLENNIALS WANT TO LEARN . . .
 With technology
 With each other
 Online
 In their time
 In their place
 Doing things that
matter
. . . BUT THEY HAVE SOME ISSUES.
 Diversity
of needs, backgrounds, and experiences
 High
drop-out and failure rates (average 3 of 10)
 Poor
class participation
 Typically
 Have
underprepared
difficulty relating to authority figures using
traditional communication techniques.
WHICH GROUP DO YOU THINK CLAIMS
TECHNOLOGY AS DISTINCTIVE AND UNIQUE
TO ITS GENERATION?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Silent Generation
Baby Boomers
Gen-Xers
Millennials
0%
1
0%
2
0%
3
0%
4
TECHNOLOGY IS A MUST
When asked what makes their generation distinctive
and unique:
 24%
of Millennials say TECHNOLOGY more than
any other answer.
 12%
of Gen-Xers cite technology as generationally
distinctive.
Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation generally
don’t cite technology as distinctive in their
generations.
(Pew Research, “Millennials: A Portrait of Generation Next,” 2010)
WHICH GENERATION DO YOU THINK IS
SMARTEST?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Silent Generation
Baby Boomers
Gen-Xers
Millennials
0%
1
0%
2
0%
3
0%
4
WHO IS SMARTEST?
In the same Pew Research Poll cited above, each
generation defined itself as smarter than the others:
Millennials: 6%
Gen-Xers: 6%
Baby Boomers: 5%
Silent Generation: 13%
TECHNOLOGY IS A MUST FOR MILLENNIALS
AND LATE GEN-XERS
This generation has been plugged in since they were
babies.
 They grew up with educational software and computer
games.

TECHNOLOGY AND THE MILLENNIAL STUDENTS
Students of the Millennial Generation are accustomed
 To using keyboards rather than pens or pencils
 To reading information from computer screens or
mobile devices rather than from printed texts
 To being connected with friends in digital
environments
The same can be said
about late Gen-Xers, too.
WHAT DO YOU WITH YOUR SMARTPHONE?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Place or answer calls
Text
Play games
Surf the internet
Read a book
Play with apps
What’s a
smartphone?
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
MILLENNIALS USE THEIR SMARTPHONES FOR:
Texting
 Taking pictures
 Going online
 Downloading apps
 Email
 Recording video
 Playing music
 Playing games

What is missing?
Talking on the phone and listening to messages
Pew, 2011
24/7

Millennials want and expect services 24/7.

They do not live in an 8-5 world.

They all have cell phones and expect to be in contact
24/7.
"More than 8 in 10 [Millennials] say they sleep with a cell
phone glowing by the bed, poised to disgorge texts, phone
calls, e-mails, songs, news, videos, games and wake-up
jingles.” (Choney, 2010)
EMAIL? ARE YOU KIDDING?
• The average college student reads 2.4 emails a day
• 25% of students use email ONLY to sign up for social networking sites
• 36% use email to receive email alerts to keep up to date on their social
networking sites (Carol Phillips, 2008)
• 90% of all email is spam (Cisco’s Annual Security Report, 2009)
SOCIAL NETWORKING
• 75% of Millennials have a Social Networking site profile
• 30% of Baby Boomers have a profile
• 6% of Silents have a profile
Have Created a Profile on Social
Networking site
80
60
Have Created a
Profile on Social
Networking site
40
20
0
Millennials
Boomers
Silents
Pew, 2011
OMG – ROTFLMAO – HTH <3
18- to 24-year-olds send or receive over 1,400 text
messages a month (Oct. 2010)
 63% of Millennials feel a sense of connectedness when they
receive text message feedback
 58% feel an increase in confidence from the feedback
(Bentlage, 2011)

“Messaging isn’t just a new technology;
it’s also a new language.” (Forbes, 2006)
THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
What About First-Generation/Working Class Millennial
Students?
Not all Millennial students will be proficient with
technology:
o
o
o
o
their experience with technology may be limited to
television, movies, and games
they may not have had exposure to educational uses of
technology
most of these students have cell phones that have
texting capability
all of these students have access to on-campus
technology
WHO ARE OUR STUDENTS?
According to IE Director Nancy Cammack’s Fact Book, on
average in 2009-2010:
o 1385 LSCPA students were 24 years old or younger
o 756 LSCPA students were 25 years old or older
Simple observation on
campus will tell us that by
far the greatest proportion
of our student body is made
up of Millennials and late
Gen-Xers.
WHAT WORKS AGAINST YOU





Trying to appeal to every single person in the classroom
Trying to appeal to all generations in the same
assignment
Not allowing students with experience to bring that into
the classroom, including technological savvy
Ignoring generational differences completely
Not asking students to stretch beyond their comfort
zones
WHAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE

Emphasizing active learning
Requiring participation in some way for each class period
 Changing activities often
 Encouraging discussion and cooperation between
generational groups


Using team or group activities often
Enforcing individual accountability for group projects
 Assigning group roles for the first few team/group projects
 Giving individual work in addition to group work


Tapping into the technological savvy and interest of
Gen-Xers and Millennials
COMPARATIVE DATA
USE OF DIGITAL DEVICES (PEW, 2011)
Silent
Generation
All
Online
Adults
M+G/
B+S
Millennials
Gen X
Baby
Boomers
Cell Phone
94%
89%
81%
70%
83%
91.5/
75.5
Desktop Computer
55%
67%
61%
48%
57%
61/
54.5
Laptop Computer
70%
63%
53%
32%
56%
66.5/
42.5
iPod or MP3
Player
69%
57%
30%
10%
44%
63/
20
Game Console
63%
63%
28%
8%
42%
e-Book Reader
12%
14%
13%
6%
12%
Tablet, like iPad
12%
9%
7%
2%
8%
63/
18
13/
8.5
10.5/
4.5