Generation Y

OK, for those of you who hadn't noticed, I am a member of Generation Y. We are the so-called "internet generation". Our parents were the "Baby-Boomers" and since we were constantly told how we "were the future" we know we have to clean up many of our parent's messes, e.g., the medical care system, social security, nuclear proliferation, peace in the middle east... It's definitely a tall order.

However, the point of this post is mostly a response to an article I read in Fortune Magazine. I would have to say, it did paint a very flattering stereotype of Generation Y... though sadly, I believe most of it is hype. First of all... the iPod/hipster/Starbucks/Yoga picture that the author, Nadia Hira, paints can be summed up in one word... "poser".

OK, I agree that her point was to show how Gen-Yers think outside of the box, by being "counter culture" while at the same time supercharging their productivity with coffee and a "Crackberry". However, I believe this is a matter of image vs. reality. The last I heard, Gen-Y was the generation that invented ADD and ADHD and childhood obesity. Gen-Y is also the generation where you have "internet addiction", "World of Warcraft Addiction" (you've heard the stories of kids dying because they've spent 48 hours straight in front of the computer, only to have the police come in and find the body in a room littered with pizza boxes and chicken wings on the floor), and the use of the iPod to avoid social interaction. Yes, dressing hipster is very cool... but I think too many of Gen-Y are obsessed with projecting the image of being the kind of Steve Jobs (you know I love you Steve) who can get away with wearing sneakers to board meetings, sipping lattes, and sometimes being a total dick (cuz that's cool).

Hira continues with some very interesting anecdotes of some high performing Gen-Yers. Nothing wrong with that... but nothing special either. There will always be the cream that rises to the top.

So what's my point? I think Hira tries way too hard to deflect the truism of many Gen-Yers feeling a sense of entitlement. This is due to an upbringing that many had where parents constantly coddled their children... telling them that they were special "no matter what". So I hope I am not the first to realize that yes, while each and everyone one of us is special and unique, that alone does not mean we are entitled to get any special treatment... especially if we are getting it at the expense of someone else (who should also be someone who is special and unique).

Example #1 - Grade inflation: I went to a good school and earned top grades. I earned they by working hard and also due to my own natural talents. That is why I don't understand the reasoning for students who never went to class and maybe partied the night before a major exam should be given B's because they whined to the professor or their parents are "paying good money for them to do well". This ends up cheapening my education. My 3.98 GPA was great, but if the average GPA for the entire college was a 3.90 how would future employers be able to differentiate students? Secondly all of this hassle forces educators to lower academic standards until learning isn't much of a challenge.

I often tell this story to friends as a lesson in "learning through osmosis", but I think it is illustrative... One day in a high level math class I was dozing off for most of the class (the night before had been pretty late... and the professor's monotone voice didn't help much either). She was in the middle of deriving a complex proof and then stopped and asked the class what was the next step. I didn't immediately raise my hand, but then 30 seconds and then maybe a minute of silence later I couldn't stand the silence any longer and I gave my answer. This seemed to crack the professor up (she hardly ever before had shown any emotion). Not only had I answered correctly... but also was essentially out of commission the entire class period.

Good for me right? Well yes... but the take-away I want to emphasize here is that there was an entire room of 20-30 other iPod toting, Wall Street Journal reading, Starbucks-sipping students who either were clueless (which would be extremely sad for the Penn State Math Department) and/or who totally didn't care about their educations... and could have sat their until the end of the hour if the professor had not offered up the solution.

Now fast forward to the working world. (Granted not all people will go straight into corporate America, but that is what I'm most familiar with and what the Fortune article was trying to depict). These same students who couldn't or refused to participate in class are now given real-life responsibilities. Hira cites how many Gen-Yers will refuse to work 60 hour weeks insinuating that somehow their computer skills allow them to be much more efficient than their more experienced (though less tech savvy) coworkers. This may be true in jobs that require lower skill levels, e.g., administrative / clerical roles. However, in the highly technical areas of science, engineering, or technology, knowing how to navigate through Microsoft Windows won't get you anywhere... especially when the competition is fluent in 12 programming languages (including assembler), actually knows the difference between an alkene and an alkane, and is able to recreate formulas by hand instead of relying on the [Function] key on his calculator.

OK, this is getting to be a long post, so I will conclude with this. Yes, the future does look bright for us Gen-Yers... but still as always we can only get there with a strong guiding vision and through hard work, not because by "dressing hipster" or "acting cool".

And as always please use the comments section for all questions, comments, and hatemail.

Thanks,
-Jason