What It Means To Be A Millennial
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-02-18/what-it-means-be-millennial
Today's 20-somethings are politically progressive, at ease with technology and more ethnically diverse than previous generations. How millennials are re-defining traditional ideas of what it means to be an adult.
Guests
Paul Taylor
executive vice president of the Pew Research Center.
Hannah Seligson
journalist and author of "Mission: Adulthood."
David Burstein
author of "Fast Future: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaping Our World."
Roger Fierro
co-founder of the start-up First Encounter Productions.
Related Items
Read An Excerpt
Excerpted from "Fast Future: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaping Our World" by David D. Burstein
(Beacon Press, 2013). Reprinted with permission from Beacon Press.
Read An Excerpt
Excerpted from "Mission: Adulthood: How the 20-Somethings of Today Are Transforming Work, Love, and Life" by Hannah Seligson (Diversion Books, 2012). Reprinted with permission from Diversion Books.
Comments
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Every generation believes that they have it harder than any previous generation. It is not necessarily harder, but it is different and it requires different thinking and different actions to be able to be successful.
It is not incumbent upon the government to support or guarantee anyone's success.
Can someone speak to the problem with the expansion of government monies for college and the colleges taking advantage of the influx of students but not providing necessary support to help students find the best fit for future jobs? NY Times did a comprehensive report on the debate between specializing in a particular career vs. a liberal arts degree. President Obama suggested in his address that changes would be made with regard to higher ed and making colleges more responsible.
Listen to yourself.... you do feel entitled ....
Being a millennial I see the disadvantages as well as the many advantages.we are far more opened minded and progressive and find it more appauling to use classism/racism/sex discrimination. I think this is the fundamental basis of our generation. I do not deal with things that women in older generations would have accepted and am happy millenials are still fighting for these types of issues. We look at society as a whole rather than just individuals. We value education and intelligence rather than how much economic potential we have. The older generations created us: the good and the bad and should remember that when they are judging and refusing to see our greatness.
How college students think they are more special than EVER: Study reveals rocketing sense of entitlement on U.S. campuses
Young people's unprecedented level of self-infatuation was revealed in a new analysis of the American Freshman Survey, which has been asking students to rate themselves compared to their peers since 1966.
Psychologist Jean Twenge and her colleagues compiled the data and found that over the last four decades there's been a dramatic rise in the number of students who describe themselves as being 'above average' in the areas of academic ability, drive to achieve, mathematical ability, and self-confidence.
But in appraising the traits that are considered less invidualistic - co-operativeness, understanding others, and spirituality - the numbers either stayed at slightly decreased over the same period.
Researchers also found a disconnect between the student's opinions of themselves and actual ability.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2257715/Study-shows-college-stud...
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I was not speaking specifically about myself. I happen to have worked very hard and did not receive an Art History degree, thank you very much. Your comment about a spelling error is silly.
I work a very well paying job, it was a tough road. This does not change the fact that my education cost a fortune, and that the system is broken.
What do you mean we have not been forced to grown up in the same way as previous generations? Perhaps the difference is that millennials do not make ignorant generalizations.
yikes!
Sam Ewing wrote:
"According to Tom Brokaw, ...."
Oh, well, I didn't realize Tom Brokaw said that. That changes everything!
Before there was Tom Brokaw, Ernest Hemingway said, "You make your own luck". Your premise is part of the problem ... if somebody is doing better than me, it can't be because of my deficiency, it can't be because they work harder than me, it can't be because they set better priorities than me, it must be because of something else ... it's how I was raised, it's because I was promised and the world didn't deliver (the radio guest's excuse), or maybe it's just luck - the ultimate unprovable premise.
People are born into different circumstances. There's no doubt about that. But that's as true today as it was 50 years ago ... or 100. If you want to call that "the luck of the draw", swell. But there are too many examples of individuals who "pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps" to lay the possiblity of success off to "luck" whether it's individual to individual or an entire generation.
This was a great show, but in the end, it's just life. These millennials will be better and stronger for the life lessons they've learned. Some of them we heard loud and clear: enormous debt is bad; use critical thinking, don't just accept what people say. They are going to be able to pass these lessons on to their children. Lessons they had to learn the very hard way.
The Millennial guests on today`s show have the wisdom of how to spend tax dollars,and not create debt for future generations to pay. We`ve added trillions to the debt of all future generations by not paying for our wars. We`ve added trillions to our debt,for our own selfish short term greed,in the Bush tax cuts,we cannot afford.
My 'Boomer" generation enjoyed full employment.It wasn`t luck,or accident. We actually had a government of Statesmen who cared about all the people. Then we were NOT a 1% country then.
There were job recruiters at high schools as well as college.College was FREE in many areas. Like California,where Reagan killed it.You could work your way through college with a minumum wage job... All those freedoms taken away when you loose your government. All that loss when you`ve handed over government to the Fascist loving Oligharchs.
I am not lazy. I made a 3.88 at a great college. I worked hard to get that grade. I am now 28. I currently work 5 jobs, and I still don't make even $20,000 a year. I'm working hard, and I wish that one day I could afford a house or something better than a clunker car that I don't have to get fixed every month. But I guess many people work very hard in many countries and only make $5 a day. We should consider ourselves lucky for what we have compared to many other people. But that doesn't discount the fact that opportunities for young people in this country have changed from what they once were. I feel upset and ashamed that I work so hard and am not able to achieve what my parents have achieved.
25inAnnArbor wrote:
"I was not speaking specifically about myself. I happen to have worked very hard and did not receive an Art History degree, thank you very much. Your comment about a spelling error is silly.
I work a very well paying job, it was a tough road. This does not change the fact that my education cost a fortune, and that the system is broken.
What do you mean we have not been forced to grown up in the same way as previous generations? Perhaps the difference is that millennials do not make ignorant generalizations."
Good for you, AnnArbor. I mean that. The comment about "due" vs. "do" was not a comment about a "spelling error". It was a comment about a usage error, and the fact that you do not know the difference is telling in itself. And it was not "silly". It was reflective of the fact that many individuals emerge from college unable to write/communicate effectively and then act as if it doesn't matter to employers. It does. I believe that a large reason for the poor writing and vocabulary skills of today's college grads lies in the fact that they do not read, but that is another issue.
The "Art History" degree comment was to address the fact that many individuals emerge from college unable to find a job that will pay off their debt because they pursued a career that is not in demand ... and then expect their debt to be forgiven (and many do). Do you not see the irresponsibility of decisions like that? College education often does cost a fortune, I agree - although you should read some of the other posts in this thread from folks who have emerged with a degree that will get them a job and with no or very low debt. But have you ever wondered why college costs so much? Perhaps because ... oh, I don't know ... it's been subsidized for the past generation or two and colleges feel free to charge what that market will bear?
It was frustrating to hear this show. We had Hannah Seligson speaking nonsense: things like our fathers had the GI Bill (join the military). The other interesting individual trying to buy greatness with the name of a good school and 100,000 debt (too good to work at Citibank).
I take issue with some of the broad generalizations and statistics thrown around in this discussion. For example, one guest bemoaned the lack of jobs millennials are finding in Fortune 500 companies stating "only 7 percent of millennials are employed in Fortune 500 companies". Of course to provide the necessary context, one must then ask the question "what percentage of the overall workforce is employed by Fortune 500 companies?" However, since no one bothered to ask this, I will add that a quick Google search netted a discussion with the relevent information in US News & World Report dated Feb 22, 2006 (this could be checked further for accuracy). In it, Jeff Cornwall, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Belmont University in Nashville states that " total employment by the Fortune 500 companies has dropped from 20 percent of the US workforce in 1980, to about 7 percent in the late 1990s" (!!!) (It would not surprise me to find out that it has since declined further) So it would appear that millennials are being hired at the same proportion as the population as a whole and are therefore not being "shut out" from these valuable jobs. These type of unchallenged statements do a disservice to the quality of the program and influence the opinions of many of your listeners who may not take the time to question their validity.
You have not answered my question in regards to how millennials have not been forced to grow up the same way as previous generations.
Also, I do not need tips on gaining employment. This is an NPR string-- not a cover letter. Your comments about my spelling, punctuation, etc ARE silly and have no relevance to our discussion.
We continue to have discussions about the value of Head
Start and the roots of school failure for children living in poverty without ever talking about the exposure of inner city children to violence and trauma. In my experience as a school social worker in an inner city school, as well as my experience as a former Head Start teacher in Chicago, the amount of exposure to violence and trauma for these children is staggering. Yet this is never a part of the discussion.
Are you sure you are not "entitled." One of the guest made the point that it seems that everyone now gets a trophy.
From what I have observed too many people are being or have been rewarded and (over)praised for just showing up. That sure does build a sense of entitlement. OK OK we can blame the parents!
As a 30 year old 'barely-millennial,' I find little correlation between what I was told by the generation before me and what has actually happened in my world. Sure I was told that I was special and that I could be an astronaut if I wanted. But the truth is, I'm no more inherently special than the kid in public school next to me. What I find is no promise or particular path has set me apart from my peers. I didn't go to private school, I didn't go to a prestigious undergraduate program and I didn't go to a prestigious graduate program. I left grad school with some debt, but I worked hard to have a full-time job through school so that I could minimized my debt. What I've found is that none of the promises made me (either by my parents or particular educational tract) have materialized into anything meaningful. What has set me apart from my peers is my willingness to apply myself to the opportunities afforded me. Many of my peers played games in college, racked up debt, and lived on the little bits of cash that came from their parents. That mentality has followed them into the work world. Many feel like someone should be bankrolling their decision making process as adults just like others did while they were in school.
We live in a free enterprise society. We have always been a society where you had to work hard to distinguish yourself and build something, regardless of what other people told you was possible. It is to our great shame as this generation that we have bought the promises made to us by others so thoroughly that we would take tens of thousands of dollars of debt out in our own names. It is our turn to make something of ourselves in spite of the difficulties in front of us, just like every generation in every society before us had to do.
25inAnnArbor wrote:
"You have not answered my question in regards to how millennials have not been forced to grow up the same way as previous generations. "
Other posters as well as one of the on-air guests have already answered it. The millennial generation has been mollycoddled in a way no previous generation has. That's partly a result of our affluent (by world standards) society, and also partly their parents' fault, I'll grant you. But the kids themselves need to learn to deal with the consequences of that. Mollycoddling helps to stunt the maturation process and promotes an entitlement mentality.
As for the "ignorance of generalization", why don't we try this on for size ...
"The millennials I know (myself included) are strapped with the burden of college debt and are working day and night to make due. Gone are the days of young frivolous spending. Homeownership, and having children are financially impossible for most of us, many in my age group are too financially burdened to leave home. Due to the economic down turn jobs that have historically gone to recent college grads are being gobbled up by 30 to 40 somethings."
Perhaps my biggest beef with the millenials is the incessant whining.
Part deux:
But I'm confused on one point, AnnArbor ... first, it's "yourself included", but then its "I was not speaking specifically about myself". First, it's "I'm working day and night", but then it's "I work a very well paying job". Can you clarify that?
"Your comments about my spelling, punctuation, etc ARE silly and have no relevance to our discussion."
Yeah. They do. Poor word usage which is the case here (much more so than spelling or punctuation) points to an inability to write and communicate effectively - even for a college graduate and even on a mb. If you can write well, you can write well anywhere. Sorry you can't see that. I'll leave you with one piece of advice, AnnArbor. You're 25. There are people older, more experienced, and therefore wiser than you. Instead of blowing them off as "irrelevant", you should try listening up for a change. When you are a little more mature, you will realize that you can use the experience of others to benefit yourself.
I'm a Boomer with 2 Millenial kids. Every generation faces their own set of challenges. I have had mine just as Millenials will have theirs too. Life is what you make of it and YOU are in charge of your own happiness! Not the government, your employer, your parents, your friends or anyone else!! I do find that many young people today are "stuck" without a clear direction forward mired in overthinking everything and with way too many choices to consider. My father did a fabulous job in helping me select a college degree that resulted in meaningful employment for me. I in turn have helped my kids make similar choices that will result in minimal college debt and rewarding careers. You get to go around once in life so enjoy it!!
Actually, aren't you one of the Boomers. As in Baby boomers, one of the people born just after WWII. People talk about you folks ALL the time.
Yeah, drugs, sex and rock and roll, are you sure that wasn't you? :-)
"Not that guy again wrote:
How college students think they are more special than EVER: Study reveals rocketing sense of entitlement on U.S. campuses."
You lost all credibility by quoting Dailymail as your source. That news media is a filth and most would agree with me. No I am not a millennial and pay more to the system than take in. While I understand the criticism of millennial generation having self-worthy attitude that's not achieved but rather a birth right, you need to blame it on their parent generation that created such an culture. After all we are a product of our environment. No need to demonize them. If the way they live or think is bad for their future, they will learn it the hard way eventually. Unfortunately no one talks about the scam colleges run in giving them worthless degrees and charging them boat loads of money and the parents who are unable to advice their children as to whats good and economically feasible for their future. Its a collective failure and that's what needs to be discussed here.
Ecgberht2: I am in sales, therefore in order to cover as much ground as possible, I work around the clock. While it is likely not the case I hope you have more important things to do than critique my grammar.
Furthermore you are not owed my respect because you are older. The world is headed in a different direction. Your views, my friend, are antiquated. I would be curious to see how you are qualified to teach me a thing.
I like your attitude. Hope things get better for you soon.
As a fellow Gen Xer, SO AGREE with you!!!! So arrogant just like the Boomers! And yes they are whiners. Were they really whining about turning down a full scholarship and incurring $100,000 worth of debt? And how our promise to them was not fulfilled?? What "promise"? Feel blessed you were able to enjoy a childhood that occurred during good economic times instead of whining that those times have ended. This is life as an adult. Grow up.
25inAnnArbor wrote:
"Furthermore you are not owed my respect because you are older. The world is headed in a different direction. Your views, my friend, are antiquated."
AnnArbor, not only do you lack writing skills, you lack reading skills as well. I did not say I was owed your respect - and certainly not just because I am older. I said you could benefit from the experience and wisdom of those who have been there before you, and that is true whether you like it or not. But perhaps you lack critical thinking skills as well.
The world is headed in a different direction? Last time I checked it was till turning around the sun - under which there is nothing new. That advice is about 3000 years old ... and still true. My views antequated? I remember saying the same thing when I was 25. I was wrong too.
You remind me of the story of the 18 year old who thought his parents were such idiots. By the time he was 21, he was amazed that they had learned so much in just three years!
I wish you luck. With your attitude, you're going to need it.
Listened to Diane this morning on my way to the gym. I am 55 with two children--daughter, 26 and son, 22--both with undergrads. One went public, another private. Both are working, both are happy. I guess they and all their friends are the exception??
My responses to the show are as follows:
1) Comparing the fairness of millennials education benefits to those who earned GI education benefits was absurd. Invest 2-3 years of your life in active military--particularly those who serve in wartime--and I believe the country is obliged to help you. Simply showing up doesn't earn you anything.
2) It is too bad someone didn't sit down and counsel the young man who took on $100K in debt to "leap frog" his family's economic status. He was accepted to one of the best public universities in the country, with a 100% scholarship. Unfortunately, he got caught up in pursuing a gold plated education, believing that its benefit would be expotential to its cost. A simple risk-reward assessment would have shown him that he would leap frog his family's status by simply not incurring debt. Shame on his counselors and the University of Chicago.
I was surprised that no one on the show, Diane included, remarked about that comment regarding how earlier generations "got to go to college on the GI bill". What's disturbing is that this woman apparently has written a book and has been interviewed several times, yet still makes such an uninformed comment. Perhaps people are trying to be as "polite" to her as apparently these kids parents were when they made all these promises to them in the 90's?
People who grew up in the 20's didn't have the burden of such "promises", or the 30's or 40's for that matter. They were fortunate to have come of age during times of depression, war and misery thus their expectations were lower than these poor children - how fortunate they were. The older generation is robbing them blind with social security, medicare and medicaid - yet they think they are being treated unfairly because they don't have their college tuition subsidized. Their naivete is worrisome.
At 24 minutes in on this story- Hannah Seligson Makes a comment that her grandparents generation was entitled because they went to College on the GI Bill thus we should wipe out college debt for these millennial whiners- Her grandparents generation went to college on the GI Bill because they fought in WWII, Made a sacrifice to this country, by their service to it. Don't take out student loans if you can't pay them back!!!!! And don't expect Government to pay for your decision to attend a college you can't afford.