A benefit of being involved with universities as a faculty member and administrator for nearly a half-century is the opportunity to work with generations of students. I began teaching baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, characterized by popular press—generalizations have some truth but typically miss the mark—as having a wild youth, and parenting models based on Dr. Benjamin Spock. Those students born between 1965 and 1980, commonly referred to as Generation Xers, are frequently regarded as lazy, products of the MTV culture and guided by helicopter parents hovering over their every move. Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, experienced the transition from a world of libraries for insight to the instantaneous world of the Internet. Some popular writers classify millennials as self-centered, impatient and “me” focused. However, history reveals they are community-oriented and conscious of their role as citizens. Generation Z straddles the 20th and 21st centuries, born between 1997 and 2010. They are relentlessly connected with iPhones and tablets, are tolerant of many perspectives and are politically aware, which may be a product of the incessant 24-hour news cycle. Gen Z has never worked on a desktop computer, used a phone booth, turned the knob on a television, used paper folding maps, or had to “be kind and rewind” VHS tapes. The current generation, Generation Alpha, was born between 2010 and 2024. Social media has been ubiquitous in their lives. They are tech-savvy and not afraid of anything with buttons, lights or dials. They believe technology can fundamentally and positively change their lives and the world. Some were born amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Many come from single-parent households. The jury is still out on their aspirations for educational opportunities.
Boiling the pan dry leaves granules of commonality in people’s aspirations, especially those attending college, across the generations. I do not think what college students want has changed markedly in the last 50 years despite the opinions of the popular press. Here is what I see. Career success, academic achievement, personal development, social networks, social contributions, financial independence and the pursuit of passions and deep interests have been alive in every college classroom I have entered since walking into Atkinson Hall at Louisiana State University in 1975.
College students desire career success. Fifty years ago, students talked excitedly about the kind of job they might have when they finished college. An April 2024 study by “Handshake” reported that the majority of college students today feel the same way. They aspire to get a good job, engage in rewarding work and be successful in the career for which they study and are trained. A significant portion of students prioritize securing a job quickly after graduation and place a high value on financial stability. Additionally, financial pressures, such as student loan debt, heavily influence career decisions. Students actively engage in internships, networking events and career services on university campuses. The Mignone Career Center at Harvard University, in a March 2024 report, confirms students invest much energy and focus on career success.
Little has changed. Current students know career opportunities, graduate school admission, personal fulfillment and development, as well as financial aid and scholarships, rest on their willingness to work hard. Students who are successful in school are also successful in the marketplace. According to The Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, career opportunities are enhanced by strong academic performance, signaling potential employers of a student’s skills, discipline, problem-solving ability and relevant knowledge in fields. My experience confirms their findings.
And, lest you think today’s students only care about accumulating wealth, students seek personal and emotional development as part of their educational experience. High emotional intelligence means better stress management, motivation and focus, all of which enhance a person’s ability to perform well academically, according to Rick Bracken in a recent post in CAMPUSPEAK.
Students traditionally value friendships and social networks as an important part of the college experience. These networks provide social and emotional support with connections to peers. Academic success is enhanced through friendships and peer support, according to Science Daily. Social networks lead to involvement in extracurricular activities, an essential aspect of the college experience and demonstrate the most basic form of civic engagement, i.e., belonging to something larger than self. The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities confirms students have valued and will continue to value contributing to society during their college years, which often continues into their adult lives.
And students in 2024 share many of the anxieties with students attending college in 1974, like rising costs, concerns regarding the application of skills learned in college, and trepidation regarding dense campus bureaucracies and regulations not appearing to benefit them directly. These anxieties are often coupled with social pressures to conform to expectations contrary to their worldview.
At WT, we seek to define excellence by addressing the timeless concerns of college students with a tenacity to help them fulfill their aspirations.
Walter V. Wendler, President of West Texas A&M University. His weekly columns, with hyperlinks, are available at https://walterwendler.com/.