- Between weeks 8 and 12, each student should provide a weekly reflection (500 words) on the data you have collected to date.
- What data did you collect?
- What is your initial impression of the data?
- How have the data you have collected this week changed/progressed your thinking about your research project?
- What challenges did you encounter while collecting the data?
- What are your next steps?
I began my inquiry by examining what popular economic news sources and research institutions like Forbes, Gallup and Fortune are reporting about Millennial workplace trends and habits. Articles and reports pointed overwhelmingly to Millennial interest in finding “special meaning” (Lewis-Kulin and Peters 2017) and pursuing purpose and development through their work (Gallup 2016). These articles did not bash these changes, but rather suggested adaptations for workplaces.
A 2016 report by Gallup noted six important shifts for Millennials in the workplace: 1) Millennials don’t just want a paycheck — they want a purpose. 2) Millennials are not pursuing job satisfaction, but development 3) Millennials want “coaches” not bosses 4) Millennials don’t want ongoing conversations about performance rather than annual reviews 5) Millennials don’t want to fix their weaknesses — they want to develop their strengths. 6) Millennials think of their work as their life, not their job.
I also found a set of studies on Millennials in the workplace conducted by Bentley University. Interestingly, the primary challenges reported by Millennial parents who are managers in the work place, “Finding time for me” (76 percent), “Getting enough sleep” (67 percent) and “Managing personal and professional life” (67 percent) are logically connected to the kinds of changes Millennials want for their work lives (Center for Women and Business, Bentley University 2017). Millennials prioritize time allocation, relationships and job security, all of which can be understood as values flowing from what they saw their parents lack (Center for Women and Business, Bentley University 2017). I was surprised to read that Millennials are as satisfied in their jobs as older generations (Inc 2017) and that they expect to work more hours per week—which is not to say they find that acceptable or right—than the previous generation (Friedman 2013). To me, these two things point to Millennials not feeling entitled to better more meaningful work conditions, but rather advocating for them with a degree of awareness about the hard work demanded of them.
Millennials are often positioned as the tech-absorbed generation, but as was shown in Masters of Craft, it seems as though Millennial workplace trends are a backlash against the depersonalization we associate with technology: According to Marx’s theory of alienation, freely deciding to work and the nature of that work is required for man’s body to belong to himself. Under other conditions, man is alienated from his body and spirit, making him akin to an animal (Schutzer 2016). When Millennials seek purpose over paycheck, ongoing conversations instead of annual reviews and prioritize their development over their satisfaction, they are exercising agency directing their work life.
A Marxist framework appears increasingly central to my research. Thinking about the proliferation of communist and socialist-themed memes, I am curious about the degree to which millennials can trace their own workplace ideals to academic texts like Marx’s Capital and The Communist Manifesto. While these ideas would have been not only taboo but threatening under the bipolar political realities of the Cold War, perhaps these ideas have made an explicit comeback for Millennials who are more distant from the Cold War.
I started my research considering what information might be missing in order to discern what I might want to include in my survey. There is an incredible amount of existing data about Millennials in the workplace, but so much of it seems malleable and subjective both in interpretation and from the perspective of respondents. I don’t know how I am going to string together politics, economics and history in a meaningful way given the immense room for interpretation.
Next Steps:
- Develop survey
- Research how to develop questions that may get at where Millennials have developed their ideas about the workplace
- Evaluate Gallup’s assertions about Millennial trends
Kendall,
You have done some extensive research already on Millennials at the workplace, and you are discovering that this field is pretty saturated. You are right in assuming that the interpretation of these data is more malleable than how scholars have interpreted them. Your discussion about entitlement is particularly interesting to me. You are right in asserting that Millennials may feel more entitled to advocating for themselves in the workplace, which in itself, is more nuanced than simply saying they want access to material benefits on the job.
I also liked your discussion of Marx’s alienation here. This maps onto the previous strand nicely. As college graduates, who have likely been taught to become entrepreneurial with their education, they recognize that their jobs should enlarge their capacities. This perhaps is also the reason why Millennials will likely have multiple different careers over their life course.
The third fascinating strand comes from Millennial parents, who must manage Millennials and would likely have divided feelings over how to treat them in the workplace. These parents are likely between a rock and a hard place, as they would likely support their children advocating for themselves in ways they would likely not their employees.
In short, there are some very fascinating directions you can pursue here. I can see how you feel overwhelmed by the available data, and I wonder whether a survey might be the best conveyance for understanding how Millennials develop their ethic in the workplace (I doubt they themselves might be as reflective). Interview data might prove more helpful in narrowing the gap in interpretation, perhaps even alums from Bowdoin who might be interested in sharing their struggles and triumphs as they transition from school to the workforce.
This is great stuff so far, Kendall. Keep up the great work!!