Debbie Beard
ABSTRACT
Just like universities, employers are recognizing significant differences in the current generation - herein referred to as Millennials - of students and graduates compared to Generation X. Unlike in academia, the situation is more complex in the workplace which involves the complex interactions of three generations with managers from Generation X mediating and managing the transition of the new Millennial recruits who are replacing the retiring Baby Boomers. In this paper, the authors select the relevant Millennial generation's characteristics from earlier studies, extract from those characteristics a set of opportunities these characteristics offer to educators and future employers as well as a set of threats those characteristics may pose to their career development process. The authors then suggest, based on the observed career development opportunities, a specific set of strategies for the employers in assimilating the new graduates into the workplace environment. Further, they will discuss a set of support activities, which serve as countermeasures for mitigating the observed threats, academia could use for the Millennial students' career development. The paper attempts to offer suggestions for closing the workforce generation gaps and for preparing the Millennial graduates for a smoother transition as they enter the workforce.
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Index Terms
- Preparing the millennial generation for the work place: how can academia help?
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