The Demands Of Millennials & Gen Z: A Guide To Meeting Their Needs

That headline applies to those of you who are teachers or administrators at colleges and universities.

It also applies to those of you in the corporate world seeking to hire, retain and develop young talent into your next generation of superstars.

And it even applies to those of us as parents who stress over how to shape our children and get them ready for a future where the only thing that’s certain is more and more uncertainty.

The events of the past two years have radically disrupted what students expect from higher education and what early-in-career employees will expect from their employers.

Today’s students want more freedom to explore how their capabilities can make an impact and create sustainable influence. They want to break out of standardized educational paths and pursue answers to big questions from multiple perspectives. And they want schools and employers who are serious about providing resources for mental health and wellbeing.

How can universities and employers prepare for these future leaders? How do students want to define a successful university experience for themselves? How can colleges and universities work with their students to create curriculum that the students are interested in and will help them prepare for fulfilling careers?

The only way to answer those questions is to hear directly from students. Earlier this year I hosted a forum featuring 10 students representing nine universities throughout the country.

We started by acknowledging how much things have changed. Higher education has always done a good job of telling students what success is – what classes they have to take, what grades they need to get. But today’s students (and workers) want to define success for themselves.

Finding your purpose.

Students want to solve big problems. But they acknowledge that they need help finding their calling.

Amber Curtis, Class of 2022 at Fisk University

“Often, we’re given a hyper capitalistic view of what success is. ‘Success is making the most money. It’s being the most powerful and famous.’ But when it comes to me personally, success means doing what you want to do, how you want to do it. You have the freedom to be able to explore what success is for you. But especially when it comes to universities, we often get trapped into that box. Do I have the most internships? Do I have the most articles written about me? And then we lose our own sense of what success is. But each student must define it for themselves, to get true satisfaction.”

Madi Fawcett, Class of 2022 at University of Denver

“Universities put a lot of pressure on students to check off the boxes and it’s a one-size-fits-all mentality. But when you’re bogged down by all these requirements, you don’t really have the freedom to explore what you want to do. And so by the time you get to the end of your college education, you checked all the boxes, but you don’t know what you want to do. Giving the freedom to the students who want it and the students who need it to figure out what they want to do and explore different paths is probably the most important thing and something I really wish I had.”

Tommy Nguyen, Class of 2022 at University of Southern California (USC)

“I come from a family of immigrants and refugees who sacrificed a lot. They saw that college was the next step – if you go to college, you’ll be successful. A lot of us worked and hustled and did whatever possible to get to college. And then we have this question of okay, what’s next? It took a lot of time to figure out that part.”

Pete Baron, Class of 2023 at Fairfield University

“I think we should start by re-examining how we’re introducing students to college. Colleges have required courses, and one thing we should require is philosophy as a way of life. Not only will that help students adjust throughout their school to have better mental health, but it’ll make them think about what they actually want to solve for when they enter the workforce. Who you want to be and what you want to do are two different things. Help us figure out who we are so we can figure out what we want to do that’s an authentic expression of who we are.”

Brett Rogers, Class of 2022 at University of Lynchburg

“When you’re trying to figure out what you want to be and what you want to do to be successful, you have to find who you are. We’re unleashing our individuality or our true personality into school, work or being a part of a certain club – moving on to the next level. You have to find who you are and what makes you wake up every morning.”

Diversity, equity and inclusion expands perspectives.

The students participating in the forum operate with an intentional focus on inclusion.

Ndubueze Okonkwo, Class of 2023 at Columbia University

“When you come with people who have different backgrounds and different viewpoints, it benefits the entire student body. When you’re able to challenge your own views and your own beliefs and your own ideologies and compare them with other people’s viewpoints and where they’re coming from, you begin to grow as a person. You start to see where the ideologies that you grew up with fall short, and it also helps reinforce the ones that are correct. A lot of people are afraid to challenge their beliefs and they’re afraid to challenge the ideologies. But at the end of the day, when your ideologies are challenged, that’s when you know which ones can stand.”

On a related note, students see that the more differences we’re exposed to, the more opportunities we might see and seize.

Amber Curtis, Class of 2022 at Fisk University, had this to say about parent/child relationships, but her insights apply to teachers and employers as well.

“Let students explore. Oftentimes kids need to see it to be it, or they don’t even know what’s there. So explore, take them on field trips. When you have the opportunity, let them talk to your friends who do things that are different than you. The world is evolving and changing, but when you pique a child’s curiosity, that is invaluable and that will drive them to be successful and it will drive them to achieve all of their goals. So let them explore, let them be open, ask them questions, talk to them – don’t talk at them, talk to them. ‘So what were you thinking? I saw that you really love going to your Spanish classes. Are you thinking about studying abroad?’ You have to really encourage them and allow them to see the world to shape themselves.”

Employers – here’s what will get their attention.

From companies and potential employers, students want professional mentorship, they want to see that there are opportunities to explore and be themselves, and they want to know you’re listening to them.

Madi Fawcett, Class of 2022 at University of Denver

“The most important thing to me is the company and not the position. I have faith that if I find a company that I really like that’s willing to hire me, it doesn’t have to be the perfect position, because I’ll find my place in that company. When I go to a meet and greet and I meet employees who are excited about their jobs, and they love what they’re doing, and they can’t stop talking about them – that’s a good sign that the company cares about their employees and that they value their input and rather than just what they can output as their job.”

Scott Cole, Class of 2023 at University of Colorado

“I feel like students need a sense of mentorship from their teachers and counselors. Have qualified professors who have passion and experience in the coursework that they’re teaching. Then have those professors assist in networking opportunities with students to develop their interest in the subject. Assist the students in finding possible job opportunities in the industry, or at least offering potential connections.”

Grant Vanderlaan, Class of 2022 at Drake University

“My university has put a lot of effort into doing networking events where you basically have a bunch of tables and they’re filled with people who are CEOs or vice presidents of companies. I had the opportunity to talk with someone, and immediately he started writing notes. He started paying attention to what I was saying. He was actively listening and actively engaging in what I was saying, but also adding in some of his own input and really investing himself into what I was saying. That kind of attention is immediately going to make you stick out in recruiting.”

Parents – how to prepare your kids for college.

The students shared some great advice for parents wondering how to prepare kids for higher education in a world that changes almost daily.

Grant Vanderlaan, Class of 2022 at Drake University

“I’ll take a kid who likes to take on challenges that make them uncomfortable. Someone who understands that it’s okay to fail, and who knows when to reach out when they need help. I’ll take that child any day over a child who has a 4.0. It’s important to understand that it’s okay to fail. I think one of the worst things that you do as a parent is limit your child and what they can do.”

Jackie Lerro, Graduate Student at University of Lynchburg

“Parents need to know what their child is capable of and what they do truly need in times when our world is changing. Let the kid choose what is best for them, rather than what looks good to others or what you want your child to be. We’re on our own journey. And once we stop comparing, and kids can choose what is truly best for them, then I think that is when the parents will be most proud of their child.”

Sam Connolly, Class of 2025 at Roanoke College

“One thing that I learned my first semester is problem-solving. I think that parents want to come in and save their children in distressful moments. Let your kid take on the challenges, let them spread their wings, let them go and chase after their dreams, even if they don’t know what their dreams are. My parents did a phenomenal job with allowing me to problem-solve, allowing me to make my own choices, allow allowing me to deviate away from what other people were doing.”

Whether you’re a teacher, employer or parent, preparing for (or parenting) the next generation can be baffling. But like any generation, they can’t be defined as a group. They are individuals, and they want to explore and unleash their own individuality. They want to achieve at their highest capacity and be supported in their fullest humanity.

To learn more about what college students expect from their universities and from their future employers, register free for the virtual version of the 2022 Leadership in the Age of Personalization Summit hosted by Clemson University’s Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business on October 14.