Millennial Students What do We Know and What does it Mean for Admissions? 2007 College Board National Forum
Richard A. Hesel Principal, Art & Science Group
John H. Pryor Director, Cooperative Institutional Research Program UCLA Higher Education Research Institute With Gratitude to
Edward F. D. Spencer Associate Vice President for Student Affairs & Associate Professor of Higher Education Administration Virginia Tech
Today
• • • • •
Brief overview of generational / Millennial theory Reason for concern about the theory and the empirical evidence (or lack thereof) that supports it What reliable longitudinal data (CIRP) reveals about the current generation of college students in comparison to previous generations (using Millennial theory hypotheses as a reference) Top-line research findings from College Board / Art & Science Group studentPOLL study on generational attitudes of college-bound high school students What it all means for admissions
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Millennial Generation Theory
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Strauss & Howe (1991)
•
A repeating cycle of four types of generations
•
Traced back to 1433 in England and to 1584 in this country
•
Each generation is framed around social movements lasting about 10 years
• • •
SECULAR CRISES – focusing on reordering the outer world of institutions + public behavior, e.g. Civil War and September 11, 2001 SPIRITUAL AWAKENINGS – focusing on changing the inner world of values + private behavior People/students develop a “peer personality” – shared events in their formative years (ages 10-18) have an impact on generational value systems
Each Generation:
• •
Breaks with the young-adult generation whose style no longer functions well Corrects for what it perceives as the excess of the current midlife generation
•
Fills the social role being vacated by the departing elder generation
•
(Howe and Strauss, 2003)
Caveats / Warnings:
•
Generations do not abruptly change – there are transitions
•
Descriptive norms/trends; gross generalizations about an entire generation do not begin to capture important differences
•
Generational theory and many Millennial characteristics not strongly supported by serious scholarship, in fact, much of it contradicted
•
Belabors the obvious -- e.g. this generation is more technologically oriented
•
The “Forer” effect. Discovered in 1949 by psychologist Benjamin Forer.
•
People are highly disposed to accept vague, generalized, positive personality descriptions as uniquely applicable to themselves
It is human nature to gravitate toward answers which simplify and order our world
Don’t confuse astrology with sociology
Caveats / Warnings:
•
Research for Millennial hypotheses based on two surveys conducted in the public school system in Fairfax County, Virginia
•
Fairfax is not representative of the U.S.
•
No comparable student survey from 1980s that would make possible inter-generational comparisons
•
Student survey administered in classroom by teachers
•
“Don’t know” and “Not sure” responses discounted
•
Authors do not report contradictions within their own findings
Better Methodologies and Sources
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Cooperative Institute Research Program (CIRP)
‣
Conducted annually since 1966
‣
Administered during orientation to college freshmen
‣
Nationwide, 700 colleges, universities and 2-year colleges participate
‣
400,000 students respond each year
•
Provides a longitudinal view of trends over the last 30+ years
•
Represents true inter-generational research
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Better Methodologies and Sources •
Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood (RNTA)
•
Established in 2000 to examine the changing nature of early adulthood
‣
Phase of life that has been largely neglected by social and behavioral scientists and policy makers.
•
Funded by the MacArthur Foundation
•
Network of psychologists, economists, sociologists, and others
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Summary of Millennial Characteristics
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Conventional Confident Special Sheltered Pressured Achieving Team oriented
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What
Summary of key CIRP data on Millennial hypotheses
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Introduction
CIRP surveys have been used for decades to understand and illustrate the impact of college.
Can use the surveys as crosssectional surveys, but the key advantage of CIRP surveys is that they are longitudinal.
Higher Education Research Institute
CIRP
Funded Research
Cooperative Institutional Research Program
Freshman Survey
YFCY
CSS
• Ford Foundation • Templeton Foundation • National Institutes of Health
Faculty Survey http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri
Pace of Life
Millennials Rising Hypotheses: Kids are increasingly “busy, very busy,” doing activities relating to school, family, and other supervised activities
Free time and unorganized play is down TV watching and media-use (except the internet) is down
CIRP TFS data show: Virtually no change among college-going students in the time spent on any activity
100
% of students spending 6 or more hours per week during senior year of high school… Socializing with friends
80
Exercising or sports
60
Watching TV
40
Student clubs/groups
20
Reading for pleasure
0
Housework/childcare
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
Millennials’ first college year
2006
Volunteer work
Homework
Millennials Rising Hypotheses:
Average time spent on homework per week is up
CIRP TFS data shows:
100
Hours per week spent on homework for collegebound high-school seniors is down Average hours per week spent on homework senior year of high school
80 60 40 20 0 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 Millennials’ first college year
6+ more hours
Confidence
Millennials Rising Hypotheses:
“Sunniest age bracket”—9/10 feel positive about themselves
CIRP TFS data show:
100
Approximately 5/10 college-going seniors have rated themselves in the “top 10%” of their peers in terms of intellectual and social confidence since 1987
% of college-going freshmen rating selves in top 10% compared to other students of their age
Self confidence (intellectual)
80 60
Self confidence (social)
40 20 0 1985
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
Millennials’ first college year
2006
Family “Success”
Millennials Rising Hypotheses:
Marriage/family declined in importance
CIRP TFS data show:
100
Virtually no change in importance of raising a family to first-time college students; if anything, more collegebound Millennials considered raising a family essential or very important than Boomers or Gen-Xers % first-year college students indicating that a raising a family is “essential” or “very important” to them
80 60 40 20 0 1980 1982 1984 1986 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 Millennials’ first college year
Career Success
Millennials Rising Hypotheses:
Career success declined in importance
CIRP TFS data show:
% first-year100 college students 80 indicating 60 that each goal is 40 “essential” 20 or “very important” 0 to them 1977
Only measure of career success that has declined in importance to first-year college students is “becoming an authority in my field,” but this trend started in the early ’90’s
1981
1985
1990
1994
1998
2002
Millennials’ first college year Becoming an authority in my field Obtaining recognition from my colleagues for contributions to my special field Being very well off financially Becoming successful in a business of my own Having administrative responsibility for the work of others
2006
Career Success Millennials Rising Hypotheses:
Career success declined in importance
CIRP TFS data show:
No significant recent change in the percent of students saying they went to college to get a better job, to make more money, or to prepare for graduate or professional school “Very Important” reasons for going to college
100 80 60 40 20 0 1976
1979
1982
1985
1988
1991
1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 Millennials’ first college year
To be able to get a better job To be able to make more money To prepare for graduate or professional school
Millenials and General Success
Millennials Rising Hypotheses:
CIRP TFS data show
% first-year college students indicating that each goal is “essential” or “very important” to them
“Making a contribution to society” has become more important while “having lots of money” has become somewhat less important “Being well-off financially” has increased in importance to college freshman over the years; making a contribution to society has risen in importance only in the past 3 years
100 80 60 40 20 0 1971
1975 1978
1981
1984
1987
1991
1994
1997
2000 2003
2006
Millennials’ first college year Being very well off financially Influencing social values Participating in a community action program Helping others who are in difficulty
Millenials and “Success”
Millennials Rising Hypotheses:
Teen view of success has become “better-rounded and less exclusively focused toward one life goal.”
CIRP TFS data show:
The top 5 life goals for college-bound students have not changed much over the years
1986
1996
2006
Becoming an authority in my field (73.7)
Raising a family (73.3)
Raising a family (75.5)
Being very well off financially (71.9)
Being very well off financially (72.9)
Being very well off financially (73.4)
Raising a family (68.3)
Becoming an authority in my field (65.7)
Helping others who are in difficulty (66.7)
Helping others who are in difficulty (59.1)
Helping others who are in difficulty (63.6)
Becoming an authority in my field (58.2)
Obtaining recognition from my colleagues for contributions to my special field (56.8)
Obtaining recognition from my colleagues for contributions to my special field (54.8)
Obtaining recognition from my colleagues for contributions to my special field (53.8)
Millennials and “Achievement” Millennials Rising Hypotheses:
CIRP TFS data show:
% first-year college students indicating that each goal is “essential” or “very important” to them
Millennials “expect to focus more on outer-world achievement, and less on inner-world spiritualism, than their boomer parents.” Boomers “made their biggest mark in the arts and humanities,” while “Millennial kids show the opposite bent,” and prefer math, science and “active things” over “imaginative, creative tasks” Fewer Millennials say developing a meaningful philosophy of life is important to them than late Boomers/early Gen X-ers
75 60 45 30 15 0 1975
1978
1981
1984
1987
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
2006
Millennials’ first college year Developing a meaningful philosophy of life Making a theoretical contribution to science Creating artistic work (painting, sculpture, decorating, etc.) Writing original works (poems, novels, short stories, etc.) Becoming accomplished in one of the performing arts (acting, dancing, etc.)
Millennials and Politics
Millennials Rising Hypotheses:
Large majority expects “to keep up with politics and to vote” more than their parents do
CIRP TFS data show:
College-bound Millennials are more interested in keeping up with and influencing politics than their immediate predecessors, but boomers were more interested in keeping up to date with political affairs
% first-year 100 college students 80 indicating that each goal is 60 “essential” or “very 40 important” to them
Keeping up to date with political affairs Influencing the political structure
20 0 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 Millennials’ first college year
Millennials as “Junior Citizens”
Millennials Rising Hypotheses:
“A new millennial service ethic is emerging”
Collegial action (not individual) Support for civic institutions
CIRP TFS data show:
% first-year 100 college 80 students indicating 60 that they “occasionally” 40 or “frequently” 20 did these 0 activities 1990 senior year of high school
Slow, rising trend of high school seniors participating in organized demonstrations and performing volunteer work since 1989
1992
1994
1996
1998 2000 2002 Millennials’ first college year
Participated in organized demonstrations Performed volunteer work
2004
2006
Millennials and “Team Orientation”
Millennials Rising Hypotheses:
Kids are anti-individualistic – have an increased team ethic
CIRP TFS data show:
100
No change in first-year college student self-ratings of cooperativeness or competitiveness from 1990-2001
% of college-going freshmen rating selves in top 10% compared to other students of their age
80 60 40 20 0 1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
Competitiveness
1995
1996
1997
Cooperativeness
1998
1999
2000
2001
Millennials’ first college year
Millennials and Race Relations
Millennials Rising Hypotheses:
“Least prejudiced about race” “Most dissatisfied with race relations” 90% of kids “have friends of a different race”
CIRP TFS data shows:
Generally, college-bound Millennial generation does not show a sharp departure from previous generations in terms of opinions on racial relations
100 80 60 40 20 0 1990
1992
1994
1996
1998 2000 2002 Millennials’ first college year
2004
Helping to promote racial understanding is important or very important Frequently socialized with someone of another racial/ethnic group during past year Agree strongly or somewhat that racial discrimination is no longer a major problem in America
2006
Millennial Girls Millennials Rising Hypotheses:
Girls and boys have “about the same” self-esteem
CIRP TFS data shows:
100
College-bound women lag behind their male counterparts in terms of ratings of intellectual and social self confidence
% of college-going freshmen rating selves in top 10% compared to other students of their age
80 60 40 20 0 1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
Intellectual self confidence - Women Intellectual self confidence - Men
1995
1997 1999 2001 2003 Millennials’ first college year Social self-confidence - Women Social self-confidence - Men
2005
Millennial Girls Millennials Rising Hypotheses:
females are “more ambitious than boys” - 3x more girls than boys say their top career choice is medicine or law
CIRP TFS data show:
More college-bound first-year females than males do want to be a doctor or a lawyer; however, this has been the case since the early/mid-90’s % Indicating probably career is:
10 8 6 4 2 0 1976
1979
1982
1985
1988
Doctor (MD or DDS) - Male Lawyer - Male
1991
1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 Millennials’ first college year Doctor (MD or DDS) - Female Lawyer - Female
Millennial Girls
60
Millennials Rising Hypotheses: “Girls are the generational pathbreakers, setting the standards for their peers” Girls get better grades Girls do more homework CIRP TFS data show: This has always been the case
% students getting an A, A-, or A+ GPA 60
40
40
20
20
0 1966 1974 1982 1990 1998 2006 Women
Men
Millennials’ first college year
% students doing 6 or more hours of homework a week during senior year of high school
0 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 Women
Men
Millennials’ first college year
Millennials and Religion
Millennials Rising Hypotheses: More and more kids are identifying with a religion CIRP TFS data show:
Only increase in religious preference among collegegoing students is “none” No increase in percent of students identifying as Roman Catholic, Jewish, or Protestant % Indicating their religion was:
100 80 60 40 20 0 1966
1970
1974
1978
Protestant (Christian)
1982
1986
1990
Roman Catholic
1994 1998 2002 2006 Millennials’ first college year Jewish
None
Religion
Millennials Rising Hypotheses:
4/5 teens say they have prayed at least once in the past week
CIRP TFS data show:
50
Fewer students report praying - from 1996-2005, increasing percentage of students saying that they spent no time praying during senior year in high school (although changes were relatively small) % Students reporting they spent zero hours per week in prayer/meditation senior year of high school
40 30 20 10 0 1996
1997 1998
1999
2000 2001
2002
Millennials’ first college year
2003 2004
2005
Millennials and Religion
Millennials Rising Hypotheses: “Millennials think and talk more about faith, and do more with it, than older people realize. It matters to them.” CIRP TFS data show:
100
Attendance at religious services is down, % of teens rating themselves in the top 10% in terms of spirituality compared to their peers is down, % of teens frequently discussing religion is up only in 2005
% Students who frequently or occasionally attended religious services during senior year of high school
% of college-going freshmen rating selves in top 10% in terms of spirituality compared to other students of their age
100
80
80
60
60
40
40
20
20
0 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 Millennials’ first college year
0 1996
1998
2000
2002
Millennials’ first college year
2004
2006
Summary of Preliminary findings from College Board / Art & Science Group
studentPOLL study* of Millennial behavior and attitudes
Based on 1,200 completed online surveys of a national random sample of registered SATtakers entering the senior year of high school
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
The Other Millennials Key RNTA Network Findings on Current Generation
•
•
More disconnected from society
‣
Less likely to read a newspaper, attend church, belong to a religion, vote for president, or identify with a political party
‣
Less opinionated
More cynical or negative about people
‣
Less likely to believe that people are trustworthy, helpful, and fair, and that humans are naturally good.
‣
Greater expectation of world war
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But not more pessimistic about their own lives
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The Other Millennials Key RNTA Network Findings on Generational Change
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More liberal
‣
•
Stronger support for civil liberties, modern gender roles, racial equality, and secularism
Less stable and settled family circumstances
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Twice as many from broken homes
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Slippage in socioeconomic status relative to that of older adults
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Somewhat further behind older cohorts than generational counterparts used to be
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Implications for admissions
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Avoid hyperbole and clichés
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• • • • • • •
Meaningless taglines and brand hype will play to cynicism and undermine credibility
Don’t look like just another high priced commodity good Set and communicate high standards and expectations Don’t dwell on history and traditions Appeal to honor and integrity Build basis for trust in your institution Demonstrate a sense of humor Reduce pressures of admissions process without compromising sense of standards
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Implications for admissions
• •
Provide sound information about campus safety and security Involve and channel parents in constructive ways
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Special web pages and other communications
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Opportunities to meet faculty and senior leadership
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Communicate larger developmental goals of education relating to the institution’s mission
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Keep parents informed (with student’s consent) about application status/progress
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Work with parents to help them let go
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Encourage parents to visit campus, with student or separately
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Offer separate events/channels in campus visit
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Provide personal assistance with cost and financing issues
12
Implications for admissions
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Create bonding experiences in admissions process (with staff, faculty, current students, alumni)
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Express progressive views on gender, racial equality, and civil liberties
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Build connectedness
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Provide strong social and emotional support
• •
Simplify communication of complicated information, e.g. price, fees, financial aid Encourage adventure and imagination, starting in admissions process itself
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Other approaches
• • • • • •
Examine CIRP data thoroughly -- national, regional and peer comparisons – to begin to understand how your students differ and then develop hypotheses about why Track results of RNTA studies/reports Get to know your own students though surveys, informal meetings, and planned interactions Do your own research Beware of pop sociology and “one size fits all” generalizations about complex socio-cultural patterns Remember the Forer Effect
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