Academic Senate for California Community Colleges

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Academic Senate for California Community Colleges

• Vocational Education Leadership Institute

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Navigating the Tides of Change Occupational
Education Leadership Now

• March 7, 2008
• The Seascape Resort
• Aptos, CA

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Why Cant We ALL JUST GET ALONG?
Leading Our Millennial Students in Vocational
Programs
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Who We Are

• Presenters
• James Forkum
• Dean and Athletic Director Santa Rosa Junior
  College
• Sherry Forkum
• Director of Writing English Professor William
  Jessup University
• Principal Consultants Advanced Knowledge
  Consulting
• gendiff.com

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Presentation Agenda

1. Introduction
2. Review the Generations
3. Millennials
4. Practical Applications
5. Summary
6. Questions and Answers

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Outcomes

• Understanding of the Generational Divide and
  Importance in the Two-Year College Environment
• Understanding the New Generation of Students
• Knowledge of Millennial Characteristics
  (Technology)

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WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

• 4 in the Junior College Vocational/Academic
  Setting
• Know to Them to Understand Them by Knowing
  Ourselves
• Recruitment, Team-Building, Change, Motivation,
  and Maintaining/Increasing Productivity
• Retention

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GENERATIONAL YEARS

• G. I. Generation 1901-1924 (ages 84-107)
• Silent Generation 1925-1942 (ages 66-83)
• Boomers 1943-1960 (ages 48-65)
• Generation X 1961-1981 (ages 27-47)
• Millennials 1982-2002 (ages 6-26)
• Homeland 2003 - (Ages 5 and under)

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GENERATIONAL COMPARISONS
SILENT BOOMER GEN X MILLENNIAL
Size 52 Million 78 Million 70.2 Million 78-100 Million
Other Names Consciousness Generation Me Generation Modern Lost Generation Slacker Generation Generation Y Echo Boom Generation Next
Heroes GI Generation Themselves Anti-Heroes Parents
Family Life Earliest marrying and babying generation Silent women divorces in record numbers Large numbers of women in the workforce later in the generational cycle Religious and/or spiritually oriented Health oriented Waiting until later in life to have children Have become helicopter parents Adult oriented from an early age Anti-child movement Less parental supervision than ever before Little peer interaction in childhood Special eagerly anticipated Lowest parent to child ratio ever Universally protected Sheltered
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Continued
SILENT BOOMER GEN X MILLENNIAL
Work Large increase in number of people in helping professionals in 1960s Workaholics Career focused First to seek work/life balance Not constrained by time and/or place 3 out of 4 work more than 31 hours per week More discretionary income than any previous group
Significant Life Events Depression Sexual revolution occurred while this generation was in mid-life Korean War Vietnam Sexual revolution Kent State Gulf War Berlin Wall comes down Challenger explosion Columbine September 11 Second Gulf War
Notes Generation of jealousies and role reversals Focused on previous generation while young and subsequent generation in adulthood Intense attention focused on this group for the entire Boomer lifespan Self-aware and self-centered (largest number of self-help books) Mired in an age of death AIDS Homicides drug-related deaths increased Suicidal (at a near record rate of almost 5000/year in mid 1980s) Optimistic Conventional Racially diverse Pressured
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Demography of the Future

• Paperless Learning/Work Environment
• Psychologically people are tactile
• Like to hold, handle, open something
• Telecommuting/Virtual Classrooms
• Social need to work in groups
• Meet physically
• Interact

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COHESIVENESS

• Intergenerational Conflict hinders plans,
  products, and ideas from moving forward
• Detrimental Effects communication, working
  relationships, undermining

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Cohesiveness Continued

• Team Conflicts
• Boomers view Gen Xers as too impatient, throw
  out tried and true
• Gen Xers view Boomers as inflexible to
  change/ say the right thing to the right
  person
• Silents view Boomers as self-absorbed, share
  too much information
• Boomers view Traditionalists as
  rigid/dictatorial
• Gen Xers view Millennials as too
  spoiled/self-absorbed
• Millennials view Gen Xers as cynical/negative

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• A team that allows choices and openly explores
  ideas, and whose members value learning, will
  better accommodate the needs and values of
  members of different generations.
• Constance Patterson, PhD

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Is this the image that came to mind?
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Wired/Wireless

• Digital Natives
• Cell Phones
• MP3 Players/iPods (iPhone)
• Texting
• Web Surfing
• MySpace/Facebook
• Finger on the pulse of the World
• Right Here/Right Now Generation

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Digitally Literate

• Intuitive
• Although, understanding technology and source
  quality may be shallow
• More visually literate than any other generation
• They move between real and the virtual
  instantaneously
• Literacy goes well beyond text, because of visual
  media
• Text literacy may be less well developed

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10 Attributes of an Information-Age Mindset (J.
Frand)

• Computers are not technology
• The Internet is better than TV
• Reality is no longer real
• Doing is more important than knowing
• Learning more closely resembles Nintendo than
  logic
• Multitasking is a way of life
• Typing is preferred to handwriting
• Staying connected is essential
• There is zero tolerance for delays
• Consumer and Creator are blurring

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The Millennial World

• Average teenager spends more than 72 hours a week
  using electronic media (2006)
• Pew Internet research nearly 80 of 28 and
  younger regularly read blogs/ 30 of 29-40
• 40 of teenagers and 20-somethings have created
  their own blogs
• A cult of groupthink, - collaborative and
  team-oriented

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Learning Characteristics

• Teamwork Activities
• Cooperative Grouping
• Experiential Activities
• Structure
• Use of Technology (SIDs, TM)
• Email/Instant Messaging are Natural Communication
  and Socialization Mechanisms

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Experiential

• Learn by doing rather than by being told what to
  do
• Learn through discovery, exploring for themselves
  or with peers
• Learning in this manner enables them to retain
  the information and use it in creative and
  meaningful ways

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Suggestions for Success

• Tell the Truth
• Let Them Know What They Do Matters
• Explain the Why and What Is In It For Them
• Learn Their Language, Communicate In Their Terms
• Make the Competitive Environment Fun
• Model The Way
• Build Relationships
• Challenge To Find Technological Solutions To
  Everyday Issues

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Something to Think About

• EmployeeEvolution.com
• Created by 20-somethings Paugh and Healy-
  create an anonymous dialogue between our
  generation and the corporations struggling to
  understand our attitudes about work.

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In Where Should a Millennial Draw the Line?

• Paugh writes,
• Part of being an entry-level worker is just
  waiting for something big to come your way. In
  the meantime, you bite your lip and act busy.
  Preceding generations say its normal. I say it
  sucks. If what our elders say is true, were
  supposed to keep on truckin. Eventually well
  have some real responsibility and the downtime
  will be nothing less than treasured. The problem
  is, I dont live my life on blind faith.

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Some Negatives

• Multi-tasking
• Poor Communication Skills (writing)
• Oral Communication
• Math Skills
• Mass Stimulation
• Lack of Critical Thinking/Problem Solving as an
  individual
• Plagiarism/Cheating (turnitin.com)
• Problem Discerning Truth (Wikipedia)

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Strategies

• Awareness of new Technology
• Different methods of reporting information
  podcasts, vodcasts, blackboard, forums, use of
  PowerPoint, RSS (Really Simple Syndication), LCS
  (Lecture Capture System), Students
• Setting Parameters
• Websites
• Recruiting

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Strategies Continued

• Challenge them They care about what matters and
  use responsibility as a reward.
• Ask them their opinion Collaboration and being
  part of a team is important to them.
• Find them a mentor They have great respect for
  Silents.
• Provide timely (worthwhile) feedback At the
  touch of a button.

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25 year old Chris HalesCEO of Anti-Matter Media

• Two things represent my generation. Technology
  and the Do-It-Yourself aesthetic. With the
  increase in technology, opportunities for
  networking with others seem endless, enabling us
  to turn out more authors, films, record labels
  and artists than previous generations. When you
  put the two together you have the recipe for a
  generation that is willing to go out and make
  stuff happen on their own.

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Time for You

• Questions
• and
• Answers
• If you care to have a copy of this PowerPoint,
  please drop us an email through our website at
  gendiff.com, or download it from our website.