Gen Z spans roughly the years from 2000 to 2015. Using these dates as guidelines, the oldest members of Gen Z are just now entering higher education and the workforce.
From her hot new book, Invisible Diversity, Julie Coates outlines how Gen Z may be different from Millennials.
Because they are just entering adulthood, and because the Millennial generation has so thoroughly captured the attending of social scientists, educators, employers, marketing experts, and even members of other generations, there is not a great deal of information available about Gen Z.
Some Ways Gen Z Maybe Different from Millennials
There are 3 traits of this generation that are easy to identify (Lifeway,2017):
They are amazingly diverse.
Not only are they racially diverse, they are multi-racial. Among young adults today almost 17 percent are interracial, and that will continue to rise as Gen Z reaches the age of marriage. The recent marriage of the grandson of Queen Eliza-beth to a bi-racial spouse is perhaps the most visible sign that to younger adults, that diversity is simply not the issue it was 50 years ago. (Livingston,2017).
They are relatively independent.
Millennials, mostly children of Baby Boomers were, according to some,“over-parented,”and over-protected by parents concerned for safety and success for their children. Over-scheduled young Millennials were engaged in endless activities, lessons, and enrichment activities from their earliest days. Gen Z is largely the product of Generation X parents.
True to their disdain for all things Boomer, Gen X eschewed the idea that they would ever be called Helicopter parents. Thus, they have tended to give their children more space, and have taken a more hands-off approach to parenting (Lifeway,2017) while at the same time expressing distrust of the institutions that provide education for their children, and believing that it is the job of schools to“do it all” and to justify decisions about everything from playground safety to academic achievement.
Schools, they believe, should be run like a “customer oriented business.”
Their children’s education should be open and transparent, filled with massive amounts of consumer choice, and customer service needs to be first rate. They are looking for ROI and demand compliance with their wishes. Unlike the Boomer Helicopter parents, the Gen X parent is likely to take direct action — by removing their child from school or filing a lawsuit (Howe,n.d.).
For more ways that Gen Z may be different from Gen Y (Millennials), see this month’s exclusive story in your LERN Club. Forgot your password? Email [email protected]
