The Millennial Generation

What to expect from the next generation in culture, art, and

education

Dr. Pete Markiewicz

Indiespace.com & Lifecourse AssociatesArt Institute of California, Los Angeles

Consequences for Education I

• Positive trends in this generation:– Better behaved students/easier to manage– Respect for institutions, authority– More interest in long-term, stable careers – Social/political engagement instead of apathy– Better team players– Higher academic achievement

Better behavior - violence

SOURCE: National School Safety Center Report, http://www.nssc1.org

Grade/High School Shootings, 1992-2004

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Rat

e p

er 1

,000

yo

uth

s, 1

2-17

Offender Rate

Victimization Rate

Serious violent crimes are murders, rapes robberies, and aggravated results

SOURCE: US. Department of Justice ·Bureau of Justice Statistics (2005)

Playstation I

GTA 1

GTA 3

Playstation II

Serious Violent Crime, age 12-17*

“Recently, the offending rates for 14-17 year-olds reached the lowest levels ever recorded…”-US Department of Justice

Better behavior - violence

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

Rat

e p

er 1

,00

0 W

om

en, 1

98

0 =

10

0

Birth Rate

PregnancyRate

AbortionRate

Rates of Pregnancy, Abortion, and Birthfor Girls Aged 15-17, 1980 to 2000*

Source: NCHS; Alan Guttmacher Institute (2001)

* 1996 for Pregnancies and

Abortions

SOURCE: Lifecourse Associates, Millennials Rising

Better behavior - sex

Generations and abortion

US Abortion rates, 1973-2005, all age groups

GEN-X

Childhood

MILLENNIAL

Childhood begins

Oldest Millennials

begin having children

• American teen-age girls are having babies at the lowest rate since 1948.

• The downward trend occurred despite a rise in the number of US teens

• The fastest decline has occurred among African-American teens (down 8% versus 5.4% for whites)

• 18-19 year-olds showed a 4% decline, while rates for 15-17 year-old dropped 8%.

• Older generations showed a rise in unmarried births

SOURCE: CDC Youth Risk Surveillance Report, 2003

More on teen pregnancy

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999

Per

cent

of

All

Kid

s, 1

2-17

Share of Kids Aged 12-17 having Specified Drugwithin Last Month, 1979 to 1999

Source: U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (1999)

Alcohol

Cigarettes

Binge Alcohol

Marijuana

Cocaine

SOURCE: Lifecourse Associates, Millennials Rising

Better behavior - drugs

Respect for institutions

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Parents Teachers Police MusicCelebs

Athletes

SOURCE: ZOOM and Applied Research & Consulting LLC 2001 survey of ~10,000 kids aged 9-13 for PBS

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

SchoolPrayer

Fed. Aid toReligion

RestrictAbortion

TeensAge 27-59

SOURCE: UC Berkeley Survey Research Center Public Agendas and Citizen Engagement Survey (PACES) project, 2002

Millennial religious orientation vs. older generations

Respect for institutions

Social engagementYouth volunteer activity, 1976-2004

Political engagement

Respectable ProfessionsAdult attitudes, listed by year

1977 1982 1992 1997 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

% % % % % % % % % % % % %

Firefighter NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 55 48 56 63 61

Teacher 29 28 41 49 53 53 54 47 49 48 47 52 54

Military NA 22 32 29 34 42 40 47 46 47 49 51 52

Police NA NA 34 36 41 38 37 40 42 40 40 43 46

Clergy 41 42 38 45 46 45 43 36 38 32 36 40 42

Congress NA NA 24 23 25 33 24 27 30 31 26 28 26

Lawyer 36 30 25 19 23 21 18 15 17 17 18 21 22

Athlete 26 20 18 21 20 21 22 21 17 21 23 23 16

Journalist 17 16 15 15 15 16 18 19 15 14 14 16 13

Entertainer 18 16 17 18 19 21 20 19 17 16 18 18 12

Actor NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 13 16 16 12 9

SOURCE: 2007, Harris Interactive Inc

MORE POPULAR UNCHANGED LESS POPULAR

An achieving generation

460

470

480

490

500

510

520

530

540

550

MathOnly

CriticalReading

SOURCE: College Board 2006 Report

http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/sat/archived

SAT Scores of College-Bound Seniors – 1967-2006

Consequences for education II

• Negative trends in this generation:– Entitlement…entitlement– Everything is negotiable– A mile wide, an inch deep– “The wisdom of the crowd”– Under pressure/cheating– The boy problem– Health problems

The entitlement generation

• Derive from the “special” and “sheltered” core traits– Millennials see their needs as “rights” – Every Millennial is a “micro celebrity” worthy of

special treatment– There are no losers – just the “last winners”– Always-on communication increases re-

negotiation, reduces advance planning– Close to their “Helicopter parents” – who will

rush in to defend their “rights”

Wi-Fi - A Millennial ‘right’…

"We might not exactly need it, but it is one of the main ways our generation communicates. And when that feels threatened, we get mad…We like to stay connected."

- Jeff Mich, Analy High School student, opposing a Boomer-led ban on free Wi-Fi for health reasons in Sebastopol, CA

Everything is negotiable

“…Older people use their mobile phones to

"micro-co-ordinate" with partners during

the day in order to run their errands more

efficiently and … younger people, who have

never known paper diaries or an unconnected

world, micro-co-ordinate in order to avoid

committing themselves to any fixed meeting time,

location or person at all. After all, a better

opportunity might yet present itself…

-The Economist,” Homo Mobilis, April 10, 2008

A mile wide/an inch deep

• Derives from “always on” media

– Millennials adapt to information overload by communicating in frequent, short bursts

– Value shuffling of vast amounts of information rather than deep knowledge of a specific topic

– Attempt to multitask – but research shows they are no better than older adults

The wisdom of the crowd

• Derives from the “team player” core trait• The Millennial group is the highest authority, not

• Instructors• Books

• Social networks, not experts or authorities are viewed as having the best answers

• Privacy is not a major value• Teamwork is good – but so is “mashup” media and cheating

“Inner compass” vs. “The wisdom of the crowd”

Older generations have an “inner compass” - they have a feeling

(excitement, sadness), and call a friend to share…

Millennials call a friend to get their next feeling…

Millennials consult the group to know what to think/feel next!

– Sherry Turkle, MIT

Calling the crowd for a feeling…

“Students can’t go for even a few minutes without talking on their cellphone. There’s almost a discomfort with not being stimulated – a kind of ‘I can’t stand the silence’…”

-Donald Roberts,Stanford Professor, quoted in “Generation M”, Time, March 27, 2006

Crowd art - Mashup media

– Millennial media is “cut and paste”

• Social networking pages• Widgets• Mashups

– Authenticity less important• One of my avatars can

stand-in for me

– Viewed as original work• Internet content provides the

worlds for our “visual language”

Under pressure

• As a “special” generation, Millennials have been under pressure to achieve since birth

• Standardized tests make life into a set of hurdles to jump

• Knowledge of peers increase feeling of competition

• Belief in the value of jobs, institutions causes scramble for best positions at school/work

Under pressure…

“Kids as young as 6 are tested, and tested again—some every 10 days or so—to ensure they're making sufficient progress. After school, there's homework, and for some, educational videos, more workbooks and tutoring, to help give them an edge.”

SOURCE: Newsweek, Sept. 11, 2006

Why Millennials cheat• Cheating is just us helping each other…

"I actually think cheating is good. A person who has an entirely honest life can't succeed these days."

"We students know that the fact is we are almost completely judged on our grades. They are so important that we will sacrifice our own integrity to make a good impression."

"I believe cheating is not wrong. People expect us to attend 7 classes a day, keep a 4.0 GPA, not go crazy and turn in all of our work the next day. What are we supposed to do, fail?"

SOURCE: CNN report on Millennial cheating

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/fyi/teacher.ednews/04/05/highschool.cheating/

The ‘boy problem’

• Self-esteem for girls worked!– “Girls rule, boys drool”

• Millennial boys are falling behind girls in academic performance– Lower grades– Fewer are entering college– Less participation in student activities– Less focus on life goals?

Boys, 18%

Boys, 31%

Boys, 45%

Boys, 64%

Girls, 32%

Girls, 49%

Girls, 60%

Girls, 81%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

I earn mostly A's

I give priority to homework

I take the most challengingcourses

I try to do their best in allclasses

Survey of Students Aged 14-18 in 1998-99,Answers by Gender

Source: Horatio Alger Association (1999)

SOURCE: Lifecourse Associates, Millennials Rising

Millennial trends – gender gap

Millennial gender gap in college

Low-income (Less than $30,000)

Middle-income ($30,000 to $69,999)

Upper Income ($70,000 or more)

  1995-96 1999-00 2003-04 1995-96 1999-00 2003-04 1995-96 1999-00 2003-04

White 46 42 42 50 46 43 52 48 49

Black 32 36 36 48 42 42 41 48 48

Hispanic 43 43 39 46 51 42 50 52 49

Asian 53 51 47 57 48 50 52 54 51

All 44 42 40 50 47 44 51 48 49

Data: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Postsecondary Student Aid Studies, 1995-96, 1999-2000, 2003-04

Income ranges adjusted for inflation to 1995-96 dollars; Source: ACE Center for Policy Analysis

SOURCE: USA TODAYhttp://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-10-19-male-college-cover_x.htm

College “gender gap” by age, 1995-2004

Health issues

• Large numbers of Millennials have documented disabilities

• Take drugs to get “better” (Boomers took drugs to get worse)

• Lack of physical activity = obesity

Less physical activity…

169%

138%

86%

58%

38%

-11%

-13%

-24%

-51%

-100% -50% 0% 50% 100% 150% 200%

Weekly Hours of Children Aged 3-12, by ActivityPercent Change, from 1981 to 1997

Source: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan (1999)

Outdoors

Free Play

TV

Eating

School

Studying

Organized Sports

Household Work

Visiting / Traveling

Percent Change

SOURCE: Lifecourse Associates, from US 2000 Census data

How do we as educators…

• Encourage the following?– Respect for institutions, authority– Interest in long-term, stable careers – Social/political engagement – Ability to work in teams– Higher achievement by both boys and girls

• Discourage the following?– Excessive entitlement– Negotiating the non-negotiable– Reading versus “texting”– Shallow knowledge versus deep understanding– Relying on “the wisdom of the crowd”– Cheating– Health problems related to physical inactivity

More Millennial reading…Millennial Makeover: MySpace,

YouTube & The Future of American Politics (2008, Rutgers) ISBN: 0-8135-4301-0

Millennials and the Popular Culture http://www.lifecourse.com/pubs/books.php

Millennials Go to College (2nd ed)http://www.lifecourse.com/pubs/books.php

Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation (2000, Vintage), ISBN: 037570719-0

13th Gen: Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail? (1993, Vintage), ISBN: 0679743650

Generations: A History of America’s Future 1594 to 2069 (1992, Harper) ISBN: 0688119123