Higher Ed Life Coach

Gen Y: The Next "Greatest Generation?"

So much has been said about Generation Y (a/k/a “millennials”) being the next “Greatest Generation.” I have a Google alert set up so that I can keep up with all the latest mentions on the web. After all, this is the generation going to college and coming out into the workplace, and as a life and career coach specializing in working with college students, I better keep up with what people are saying.

What I see mostly are summaries of Neil Howe’s popular books Millennials Rising and The Fourth Turning, some of which barely rise above the level of the regurgitated press release.

Before anyone gets upset, I will have to admit that I read Millennials Rising and actually heard Neil Howe deliver a talk at Penn State. I even spoke to him afterward and got his business card.  He seems like a thoughtful, intelligent man and I find many of his insights to be…well, insightful.

But books like these are a mix of research and speculation, and whether their assertions actually pan out is very much related to whether other things change or remain the same. There’s no such thing as “all things being equal” in discussing generational differences. Since there are many unknown factors at play, speculative assumptions need to stand up to the test of time and new evidence.

Popular culture reinforces this belief that Gen Y’s greatness is factual, and often  compares this to some very negative beliefs about Generation X. But do these stereotypes hold up to the light of day? A recent study suggests that in some ways, the answer is a clear “no,” and that many stereotypes about Gen X should be re-examined.

Gen X: Did They Get a Bum Rap?

The study, by the National Conference on Citizenship, is reviewed in a nice piece on NewGeography.com. Some interesting findings:

• More X’ers (35%) volunteer than Gen Y and Baby Boomers, and 39% of them increased their volunteer commitments last year. Only 29% of Millennials and 25% of Boomers increased their similar commitments.
• Despite the attention paid to Millennials during the last election, they actually participated at a lower rate than any other age group.
• Fewer Millennials give money to persons they are not related to than any other age group, and X’ers actually placed second to the Baby Boomers in this regard.
• There seems to be some truth to the assertion that X’ers are more cynical about government but this is also balanced out by their civic engagement, political participation and volunteering. So you can call them cynical, just don’t call them apathetic.

As a proud member of Gen X, I have always bucked up against many of the negative stereotypes applied to my generational cohort, so I was glad to read this article today to get some reaffirmation of my belief that we are not a wasted generation. And I was also glad to see that some of the hyperbole about Millennials was unfounded. But the real point I arrived at was simple enough…it’s easy to make generalizations when we talk about generational differences, but a stereotype is still a stereotype.

Individuals create their own destinies, despite the labels society places on them. In the end, both generations will exceed some expectations but fall short in others, and only the test of time will tell the tale.