Gen Z taking cultural transformation to a new level

Gender and racial fluidity. Social and environmental causes. Smartphone addicts. Social media as news. Less focused multitaskers. Independent. Global. Most entrepreneurial. Most racially and ethnically diverse. Best-educated. Growing up fast, too fast. These are just a few attributes I associate with Gen Z, also known as iGeneration or Pluralists.

In 2015, I wrote an article about Gen Z and their unique characteristics. Since then, there has been a lot more focus and research done on this post-millennial generation, specially since the oldest cohort started entering the workforce, reaching voting age, and gaining buying power.

First, my latest snapshot. Gen Z, those born after 1996, have been exposed to so much technology from birth, they’ve learned to sort through and absorb unlimited, extensive amount of information and data, in a limited amount of time. So, they are growing up faster and faster. They navigate through several screens at the same time, and multitask homework, social media, music, videos and live conversations. I’m sure those of you with or around kids and teenagers are nodding your heads. Given some of the adverse affects of helicopter parenting with millennials, they’ve been given more space and freedom, empowering individuality and independence. Thank you young boomers and Gen Xers for not over-compensating with your kids for how tough you had it. Growing up amid major innovation and social change, and better economic conditions, they’re not as fearful about the future. Unlike millennials who stayed home too long and delayed adulthood milestones by 5-8 years, including marriage, buying a car, house, etc, this generation can’t wait to launch and leave home. They plan on their entrepreneurial future early on and seek reward through purposeful challenges, not constant pad in the back. They share many social, cultural and political viewpoints with millennials, but they’re taking the culture and societal transformation to a whole new level.

Let’s take a look at the demographic portrait of Gen Z based on the latest Pew research. I know numbers are not exciting to many, but some of these facts are exciting and valuable information.

They are the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in America, nearly half are non-whites (48%). 1 in 4 are Hispanics (25%), much higher than millennials around the same age in 2002 (18%).  Majority of Gen Z Hispanic population were born here–only 12% were immigrants born outside of the US compared to 24% for millennials. Although the overall share of foreign born youth hasn’t changed much from millennials to Gen Z (8% and 7%), nearly 1 out of 4 Gen Z’s (22%) has a parent who is an immigrant, compared to only 15% for millennials. Even with lower immigration flow, the racial and ethnic diversity of Gen Z is expected to increase in the future as new immigrants add to their numbers. Today’s Gen Z is projected to become majority non-white by 2026–only 7 years from now.

Stop and let this sink in. 1 out of 4 has a parent who is an immigrant and in 7 years they will be majority non-white. This is most telling about our nation’s future socially, politically and culturally.

This generation has the most college enrollment (59%) and most likely to live with a college educated parent. This results in the lowest high school dropout rates compared to millennials in 2002 (6% vs. 12%), and least employed (58% vs. 72%).  Roughly 1 out of 3 live with a single parent (31%), higher than millennials (27%).  Although high school completion for this generation showed modest gain (80% versus 78% for millennials), Hispanic youth had the biggest gain, from 60% to 78%, followed by Blacks increasing from 71 to 77%–closing the gap with whites at 81% (Asians remain highest at 90%). The same is true for college enrollment. Modest gains for whites (61%) and Asians (80%), but big gains for Hispanic youth (55% vs.34%) and Black youth (54% vs. 47%).

Gen Z women continue to outpace men in college enrollment and have shown big gains compared to millennials. Their enrollment in college increased to 60% compared to 57% for millennials, which means 2 out of 3 Gen Z women enroll in college. Men showed similar gains (49% to 55%), but it is still roughly 1 out of 2 men enrolling in college. It’s still too early to determine college completion for Gen Z, but we know that for every 2 millennial men graduating from college, almost 3 women did.  This Pew report provides exact numbers for millennials in the workforce with a bachelors degree or more, reporting 46% for women in 2016, and 36% for men.  I expected this rate to continue, so I decided to research it. According to the Department of Education, in 2017, for every 100 men, 134 women received a bachelor’s degree and 140 obtained masters (the gap narrowed for PHD at 109).  And they predict relatively similar numbers for class of 2026, with 140 women receiving bachelor’s degree for every 100 men, and 140 masters degree.

I read an interesting Atlantic article that described some of the reasons why men enroll and graduate from college at an alarmingly lower rates–ranging from not seeing the benefit financially to invest time and money, to disparities starting at young ages, specially in low-income families. I think there are some cultural and social factors too. Perhaps girls at a young age feel happier and more satisfied when pleasing their parents with good grades, and enjoy the social aspects more. And boys who may be feeling the pressure of being and acting masculine, don’t find school as attractive or pleasing, and find more satisfaction with physical activities specially if they see their male role models working blue-collar physical jobs. Whatever the reasons, by the time they are seniors in high school, it’s too late to change their minds. It needs to start sooner. (For more on this, you can also my 2012 article, evolving archetypes & rise of women, should men fall behind?)

While Gen Z shares many social, cultural and political viewpoints with millennials, this Pew study revealed higher shifts in cultural liberation. Two-thirds of both generations disapprove of Trump presidency. Both generations are likely to believe blacks are treated less fairly than whites, support NFL players kneeling as a protest, and believe racial and ethnic diversity is a good thing for society. And about half of both generations believe same-sex and interracial marriages are also good for society. But here’s where Gen Z starts pushing the cultural transformation to a whole new level.  A third of Gen Zs know someone who uses a gender-neutral pronoun compared with a quarter of millennials. 6 out of 10 believe profiles and forms should include more options than man and woman, compared to 4 out of 10 millennials. And Republican Gen Z’s are more likely than millennials to believe blacks are treated unfairly, see the link between human activity and climate change and support government doing more to solve problems. Think of the social and political impact all this will have on political and corporate policies in the future. Our future workforce, voters and leaders are inspired by social justice and environmental causes.

It’s not all fluffy and there are some down sides too. A majority of U.S. teens (59%) have experienced some form of cyberbullying. A majority of U.S. teens (57%) fear a shooting could happen at their school, and most parents of teens share their concern. There are myriad of studies that report an alarming increase in depression and suicide rates among teens caused by social media overuse. Sure, there were concerns about kids watching too much TV in the old days too, but they couldn’t take the TV everywhere with them. This smartphone addiction is causing antisocialism, relationship and job problems, as well as anxiety and depression. But who said we can have it all good.

I am optimistic about our younger generations and the cultural evolution they bring. I encourage business leaders, primarily occupied by baby boomers, to get trained on generational differences, and for policy makers to pay attention to the young voices. We can and should always build on commonalities, but first we need to acknowledge and embrace our differences.