Millennials : A New Approach to this Generation of Students

Millennials: A New Approach to this Generation of Students

Dr. Jeanna MastrodicasaAssistant Vice President for Student AffairsUniversity of Florida

Generations

• Perceived membership in a common generation • A set of age locations, common beliefs and

behaviors • A common location in history• Broad generalization about an entire generation

Generations in the U.S. • Lost Generation (born 1883-1900)• GI Generation (born 1901-24)• Silent Generation (born 1925-42)• The Boom Generation (born 1943-60)• Generation X (born 1961-81)• Millennials (born 1982-now)

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2000

Millennials: The Entitled

• Children of Baby Boomers• Parents wait until later in life, more affluent• “Baby on Board” signs• Marketing to children increases: Barney, Hanson, Spice • Family decision making, e.g. vacations• Politicians started talking about effects on children for

first time• “Helicopter parents”• Strong sense of entitlement and high expectations of

personal reward

Some definitions of millennials• Special• Sheltered• Confident• Team-oriented• Conventional• Pressured• Achieving

• --Howe and Strauss

•Confident•Connected•Open to Change

•--Pew Research Center

Are millennials more narcissistic than other generations?

• Some say YES:• Some studies show more narcissistic personality disorder (the

clinical form of the trait) • You can now hire fake paparazzi to follow you around at night!• Cultural evidence:

• plastic surgery has increases 5X in ten years• Square footage of US homes nearly doubled in 30 yrs• Levels of debt increased16% to 19% of disposable income• Circulation of gosssip magazines up while others down

Millennial relationships with parents

• Perpetual access to parents (cell phones) keeps them in a permanent state of dependency• Today’s children don’t know how to solve

problems or to plan ahead• Median frequency of communication: 1.5 times

per day• Parents do problem solving for college students

and new professionals in work world

Theory of “Emerging Adulthood” (Arnett)

• A developmental phase between ages 18 and 35 when people assume adult responsibilities more gradually than previous generations.

• At the same time, these individuals claim rights of adulthood.

“Electronic Tether” (Fullman)

• Describes connection students and parents maintain through cell phones, IM, and other cheap and convenient communication.• Extends “Emerging Adulthood” to describe the

role technology plays in extending relationships with home instead of creating independence.• Delays development of Chickering’s “Autonomy”

vector.• Faculty/staff and students are actors in both of

these theories

Millennial work attitudes compared to boomers

Leisure

Intrinsic

Altruistic

Social

Extrinsic

-0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

MillennialsGen XBoomers

Twenge, Campbell, Hoffman, and Lance, 2010

Students Use of Technology and Communication• Cell phones • Texting• Internet• Social media• Facebook• Twitter

Older adults: 65 and older• 53% of American adults ages 65 and older use the internet or

email• Once online, most seniors make internet use a regular part of

their lives• After age 75, internet and broadband use drops off

significantly• Seven in ten seniors own a cell phone, up from 57% two years

ago• One in three online seniors uses social networking sites like

Facebook and LinkedIn

Pew Internet, June 2012

Smart phones: how users describe their feelings about them

From Pew Internet and American Life Project, Aaron Smith, July 11, 2011, http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Smartphones.aspx

Who does a majority of their activity on their cell phones?• Nearly half of all 18-29 year olds (45%) who use the internet

on their cell phones do most of their online browsing on their mobile device.

• Half (51%) of African-American cell internet users do most of their online browsing on their phone, double the proportion for whites (24%). Two in five Latino cell internet users (42%) also fall into the “cell-mostly” category.

Pew Internet, June 2012

Cell phones and texting• Cell phone calls are viewed as an interruption, impolite if

unscheduled.• Many rely on voice mail and return call by text or email• Caller ID has role in decision of answering the telephone

Cell phones and texting

talking texting

1200

900

600

1400

minutes per month on cell phones for 18-34 year olds

2008 2010

Source: Nielsen reported in Washington Post, August 8, 2010

Teens and texting• The volume of texting among teens has risen from 50 texts a

day in 2009 to 60 texts for the median teen text user. Older teens, boys, and blacks are leading the increase. Texting is the dominant daily mode of communication between teens and all those with whom they communicate.

Pew Internet, March 2012

Teen usage • The frequency of teens’ phone chatter with friends – on cell

phones and landlines – has fallen. But the heaviest texters are also the heaviest talkers with their friends.

• About one in four teens report owning a smartphone. • Smartphone owners are the most likely to have used a tablet

computer to go online in the last month. • Three quarters of teens – 77% – have cell phones. Ownership

among younger teens has dropped since 2009. • 6% of all American teens use cell phone-based location

services.

Pew Internet, March 2012

Is your web presence mobile-ready?

Facebook statistics 901 million monthly active users at the end of March 2012. Approximately 80% of our monthly active users are outside the U.S. and Canada. 526 million daily active users on average in March 2012. 488 million monthly active users who used Facebook mobile products in March

2012, and more than 500 million mobile monthly active users as of April 20, 2012. During March 2012, on average 398 million users were active with Facebook on at

least six out of the last seven days.

More than 125 billion friend connections on Facebook at the end of March 2012. On average more than 300 million photos uploaded to Facebook per day in the

three months ended March 31, 2012. An average of 3.2 billion Likes and Comments generated by Facebook users per day

during the first quarter of 2012. More than 42 million Pages with ten or more Likes at the end of March 2012.

Facebook is available in more than 70 languages.

Facebook usage• Grow your fan base• Do targeted Facebook advertising• Plan your timing with blasts on email, mobile, social media• Other good suggestions from audience…

The “backchannel”: A networked audience• Real time text communication among audience members

using something like Twitter during a live event• Connected in real time, learning with each other and the

world all the time• Unlimited seats!• Changes the presenters, the audience, and the rest of the

world outside the room

--Bingham and Conner. (2011). The New Social Learning, p. 152.

Thank you!

• Questions?• Discussion

• Contact: Jeanna Mastrodicasa at [email protected]