Global Girl

Why This Generation Y Talk:

Global Girl, embracing my "Gen-Y-ness"

I recently joined a new group called Brazen Careerists. It is a great blog community talking about the new challenges and innovative solutions that Generation Y (born between 1977 – 1998) has brought to the table. In Brazen Careerists there are tons of groups for people of all types. With half my life currently existing in Brazil over the last few years, I joined the Brazil group.

I met Eline Kullock through this group. Eline has a blog “Foco em Gerações” and runs a business helping large firms hire, among others, Generation Y’ers. She recently asked me how I viewed the generation gap in Brazil versus the United States. This was a challenge because it is hard to describe generation gaps in another country where one hasn’t experienced the changes of generations first hand, but she sparked my interest.

I decided to write how I see the generation gap in the United States, and then make some commentaries on how this might be different in Brazil. I welcome everyone to add in their two-cents, correct me if I have perceived something with which you don’t agree, and let me know what you think!

The Legacy of “When You Grow up You Can be Anything you Want:”

Many people have talked about how my generation is so different because of technology. People have also commented on how we are more progressive, we are more accepting,  and that we are less patient (“We are the NOW generation”). I believe that all these characteristics describe our generation well, but I would say what has truly  distinguished my generation comes from a simple phrase that has strongly marked our childhood:

“You can be ANYTHING you want when you grow up.”

Our parents, The Baby Boomers (1946-1964) and Generation X (1965-1976), saw and experienced many changes in the world: The end of the Vietnam War;  social movements from civil rights to woman’s rights and everything in between; and more. These changes strengthened the idea that nothing is impossible. So, in turn, they hammered this new ideology into the dreams of their children.

This simple phrase gave Generation Y a lot of idealism, optimism,  motivation, but also gave us a whole lot of confusion. We listened to  ” you can be ANYTHING you want,” but often heard “you can do EVERYTHING you want.” This is what happened:

Generation Y is…

Interdisciplinary: We haven’t let this confusion stop us, however. Generation Y has begun to change the tendencies in education, pushing for an “interdisciplinary education” instead of a narrow path; we insist that our education includes learning many different methods of thought in order to look at the world from various different angles. More than any other generation, our generation has embraced the idea that one major/coursework isn’t enough. The majors themselves have even begun to change and embrace an interdisciplinary materials.

Generation X might not quite understand this interdisciplinary concept. When I tell Boomers or Gen X people my undergraduate major, “Latin American Studies,” they continue to look at me blankly, give a little smile, and ask “Oh…Well…What exactly do you plan to do with that major?”

Even Medical Schools want interdisciplinary students. It used to be that to go to Medical school one majored in Biology or Chemistry. Now students that have majored in History, Theater, and Latin American Studies go to Med School. These schools recognize that these students have new skills that allow them to think about medicine in an innovative way.

Innovative Problem Solver: This demand for a different kind of learning has taught our generation that in order to solve problems, we must approach them from many angles: To solve an international problem, it is not longer enough for one country to just look at its own well-being; Or to solve an economic problem we cannot simply look at the GDP but social factors too. Generation Y has started to demand a line of thought much more open that breaks the limits of the box.

Not a 9-5′er: Unfortunately for those worker-bee Generation X’ers, Generation Y also wants to break the limits of the 9-5 work schedule. Because Generation Y has so many interests and wants to take part in all of them, we have really embraced the idea that we should have a job we love, but it shouldn’t impede on other things that we love! Generation Y believes in the rule: if you can get the work done, who cares when exactly you worked? I think some older crowds, Boomers and Generation X’ers, may complain, but others are moving towards this lifestyle as well. Take my Baby-Boomer mom, Judi Knight and her friend Dene Shepherd with New Tricks for example!

Maybe a Little Contradictory…: This Generation Y has faced challenges as well. Often we Generation Y’ers have our hands in everything, and so we get big ideas but have a harder time carrying out these big ideas. (We like to break the box of problem solving, but implementing we have a harder time carrying out. We still want lines and structure!)

Sometimes Settles for Less: Many people of Generation Y get lost trying to find a path to a job. Although Generation Y knows they can do anything, they often feel pressured to do something, to have a title. This makes it hard to really find out what they want to do, and sometimes Gen Y’ers wind up settling for less.

Sensitive Perfectionist: Generation Y people also might have a more difficult time finding our strengths and focusing on those strengths. (A good example is myself: I’m a terrible writer yet I decided to start blogging…) Generation Y has a tendency to be a perfectionist, in all areas. Because my generation wants to have their hands in every thing, sometimes we have a hard time being constructively criticized. We take it personally if we don’t excel in every aspect of the work-place or school.

Finally, there is the good ol’ question about interdisciplinary work: Are we teaching ways to be more well-rounded, or are we just teaching people a little of everything which leads to a large group of mediocre talents?

Differences in Brazil:

I think that my description might differ a little than how the generation gap has evolved in Brazil.

Possible Causes of the Differences:
First, both Baby Boomers and Generation X’ers in Brazil experienced a dictatorship from 1964-1985 that left a huge impact on the lives of this group and closed many paths to liberty and social movements. Counterculture movements did exist during this period, however social movements starting to peak towards the end of the dictatorship and the beginning of the re-democratization period (78-90), a lot later in Brazil than it did in the United States. This affected the age group of the generation these movements impacted.

Another important aspect of Brazil that left a huge impact on how people perceive the world were the inflation crisis occurring when many Generation X people were really getting into their careers and at the beginning of many Generation Y’s lives. Inflation certainly doesn’t leave a lot of room for much optimism, which affects how Gen Y views their future.

Despite inflation and the dictatorship, Brazil had grown significantly in the last fifty years (especially in the last twenty years). This rapid growth has caused the generation gap to be larger in Brazil, especially when talking about technology. (For example, my grandmother is on facebook and emails me sermons ever day, whereas my Brazilian boyfriend’s grandmother doesn’t have email). What is amazing however, is that there are not many differences between Brazilian and American youth’s  technological abilities. (Brazil has the highest percentage of twitter users of all of the non-English speaking countries polled.)

The Brazil-US Gap of the Generation Gap:
The one big difference that I see that in Brazil is that you still have this idea that at the age of 17/18 one has to pick a career and follow it. I could never imagine picking what I was going to be at 17! Interdisciplinary education still hasn’t really caught on

(Trust me, I know first hand. Even though I majored in Latin American Studies, International Development, and Brazilian Studies, I tell people in Brazil that I majored in “International Relations.” First, they wouldn’t understand that I majored in more than one thing at a time, and second they wouldn’t have a clue what exactly is interdisciplinary coursework).

Although this gap is also changing. Brazilians are going and getting many degrees, post-graduate, Master’s, Doctorates, and Post-Doctorates in things that don’t always have obvious connections. Also to be a journalist you no longer need to have a diploma in Journalism. The Ministry of Education has created  a new test in the last few years, Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (ENEM), that in the coming years might replace the traditional Vestibular test. ENEM will allow students to take one test and apply to various colleges with the liberty to pick a major afterwards, whereas with the Vestibular test is both college and major specific. With the ENEM, students might not have to pick their career path at 17.

What other similarities differences do you all see? What do you Brazilians think?

Conclusion:

I am going to end this post with more of a question: It seems that as are world is getting smaller, with technology and international knowledge, the systems and ways of approaching work are coming together and becoming similar. Do you all agree that is happening? If so, is this a good thing? If interdisciplinary education is really an important aspect of enriching the workplace, should we embrace cultural differences in how to approach education as well? Or is it necessary to come together with similar systems of education in order to work together better?