The Working Week 115

We hear a lot about Generation Y: but what about Gen Z? As Wayne hears on the Working Week this week, today's 16-20 year-olds are sufficiently different to Gen Y that we really ought to give them their own label. So Generation Z it is.

To explore the Gen Z phenomenon, Wayne is joined by Dinah Bennett, Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning at Durham University in the UK .

As she explains, today's students know that they'll face far more uncertainty and complexity, more frequent job changes and more fluid organisational structures than their predecessors did just five years ago. With companies curtailing or even halting graduate recruitment altogether, they also know that they are unlikely to walk into their dream job: which is why 17 per cent – one in six – are already thinking of starting their own businesses.

It is this entrepreneurial attitude which marks out Gen Z, Dinah says. But being entrepreneurial means more than just starting your own business. It means someone who is optimistic, creative and a problem-solver, someone who can create something from nothing. It's more than self-employment, it's an attitude of mind.

What's more, those employers who are recruiting are looking for graduates who are innovative, creative, have commercial awareness and take the initiative – all essential parts of the same mindset.

So what can universities and colleges can do to harness this entrepreneurial spirit> What sort of help do students want and need? Listen to this week's show to find out.

Subscribe Links

Share this: 

SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THIS? TELL US HERE