Millennials : College Education and Progression
In any generation, it is fundamental to be conscious of the changing times in order to be able to adjust. Baby boomers are currently described as individuals between the ages of 50-68, Generation Xers between the ages of 35-49 and millenials between the ages of 14 to 27. Having experiences a difference set of influential traits and education systems, it is important to investigate why Millennials are so educated and progressive.
Regardless of generations, most students enter college believing that after studying late, sacrificing sleep for papers, learning basic concepts and graduating, All their dreams will come true. The truth is that college teaches most students a general subject area, depending on what level, this may or may not include an apprenticeship. This general subject area may or may not be applied to the workforce, depending on a college graduates ability to maneuver and use those skills in a specific area in his/her field and the job market. For instance, a classic example is the social sciences including history, political science or even psychology. In STEAM apprenticeships are more tied into programs, which make graduates more appealing to employers, which is why STEM majors tend to be pushed more through education.
Nonetheless many students enter the workforce with high hopes, thinking because they are interested in a subject it may launch them in to a career that is closely related to their interest. If you ask a college student what they want to do, typically it is very broad and always changing. I believe mostly because at 18 when you go to college, you think you know but you have no idea. Either you pick a major that as programmed in your mind by your parents or you just choose something you like. When the job market is wide open, with less skilled applicants and not in a recessionary or inflationary state this may work. Baby boomers had the advantage of a stronger economy, less active participants in education and more face to face interactions during the application processes. However, most recently with millennials, we've learned differently.
The millennial generation having been born between 1980 and 2000 has a very different set of circumstances in which they have fostered new perspectives and views. Although millennials are the most educated educated and advanced group in history, the recession hit many graduates hard. In 2008 the unemployment peaked higher then any other level of unemployment since the great recession. Millenials are not only more educated but are waiting longer to start families, less religious, and less likely to settle for positions.
Unlike Baby boomers and generation Xers, milleials were raised into technology with more information available at their fingertips. Technology has been liked to be a factor of distraction, taking away family values, and creating an entitled " I want it now" population of people. However, there are many upsides technology contributes, millennial can work from home, applications are revised based on skill sets, paper is saved because of online access, and millenials also have the ability to connect with one another via social and professional networks.
The innovative nature of this generation has not always been appreciated by Generation X or baby boomers who have been forced to work longer as a result of the recession and many of their children being more dependent. None the less millenials are much more excepting of sexual, religious and socioeconomic differences because of the conditions into which they were raised and some now work. Millenials are more sympathetic to each others struggles because of the immediate access to the ups and downs in their peers life via social media, the economy, and the need to be more progressive to adjust to the times.
