Welcome to the

CMED Conference!

Don’t Miss Your Upcoming Lifelong Learners While Clinging to the

Learners You Know Today

• Learn characteristics of the four generations in the workforce today

• See your programs and events through lenses other than your own

• Ways for instructors to engage future lifelong learners

Facilitator

Vickie Maris, lifelong learner, blogger, Web 2.0 explorer, educational solution providervjmaris@purdue.edu www.reachlearners.blogspot.com

765-496-6845

Engineering Professional Education

Purdue University

My Influencers

Multi-generational workforce

• More than one generation in a single position within a company

• No longer older staff running the office with youngest staff in entry level jobs only

• Longer life expectancy means people are continuing to work later in life

• Demise of job security has changed how Gen X and Gen Y think about work

Multi-generational workforce

• Organizations can profit from the varying generations around the table

• For U.S. to compete globally, we have to be an innovation-based, knowledge-based workforce (about 20% of workforce is college graduates working in knowledge-based occupations)

• A lot of companies competing for a finite pool of highly-skilled workers

Four generations in the workforce

• Veterans – 1922-1945, totaling about 52 million

• Baby Boomers – 1946-1964, totaling about 76 million

• Gen X – 1965-1980, totaling about 44 million

• Gen Y – 1981-2001 – born to the younger Baby Boomers totaling 69.7 million

Who are your influencers?

How will you engage one or more of your influencers to learn more about a generation

other than your own?

Characteristics of Gen X

• Things can be done any way, but merely must get done

• Latchkey kids; left at home earlier in life, matured faster

• Prefer informality in the workplace; jeans, t-shirts, anything less corporate is good

• Work to live; enjoy a balanced life

Characteristics of Gen Y

• High parent involvement in big decisions

• Most loved generation

• Unconsciously competent with technology

• “…not that you know how to use technology; it’s that the way you use technology causes you to think and act differently.” Plugged In

• Work to live; enjoy a balanced life

Characteristics of Gen Y

• Strong relationships with family and confidence in parents creates a safety net for Gen Y

• Plugged in since birth

• Entrepreneurs and independent adventurers

• Product of the most child-centric, child-rearing practices

• Geysers of energy, creativity and leadership

Characteristics of Gen Y

• Rapidly adopting and popularizing uses for technology that begin by lowering quality standards, but in ways that fundamentally change patterns of use – Printing to photocopy– Email to texting– 35 mm to camera phone

• Plugged in since birth• Entrepreneurs and independent adventurers

Characteristics of Gen Y

• Product of the most child-centric, child-rearing practices

• Geysers of energy, creativity and leadership• Highly accomplished at time shifting (doing things

when convenient rather than on the world’s schedule)

• When new to the workforce, surprised by all the inefficient corporate processes

• Ys don’t schedule; use technology for constant coordination

Ys comfortably assume a degree of personal ownership and control over their technology. In their world, technology is not the domain of the specialist, and it is as much an extension of them as a handbag or briefcase may be to their parents.

Tamara EricksonPlugged In: The Generation Y Guide to Thriving at Work

• 2010 – Gen Y equal in size in the workforce to the Boomers

• Number of jobs designed for people with advanced degrees is growing faster than the number of Gen Ys attaining this level of formal education

• Only 25% of Gen Ys are finishing college• 31% of Ys rate “chance to learn new skills” as

most important part of career development• Technology is all about efficiency to Ys

Table Discussion

Identify potential opportunities for hiring or retention practices in your center or potential areas for new programs

Representative from your table to share idea(s) with larger group

Upcoming workforce challenge

• 2010 – Gen Y equal in size in the workforce to the Boomers

• Number of jobs designed for people with advanced degrees is growing faster than the number of Gen Ys attaining this level of formal education

• Only 25% of Gen Ys are finishing college• 31% of Ys rate “chance to learn new skills” as

most important part of career development• Technology is all about efficiency to Ys

“…clear protocols and explicit, simple rules, communicated among your friends, for technology use; use email only if you must send a document (and don’t expect a response); send a text message to coordinate or address an immediate need; share general information, updates and photos on Facebook; and never leave a phone message (unless it’s for someone’s parents)”

Tamara EricksonPlugged In: The Generation Y Guide to Thriving at Work

Blog http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/erickson/

An observation of technology uses along the sidewalks of Purdue University

• 5 minutes on the sidewalk between classes under the Purdue bell tower

• Photos taken: Sept. 28, 2007

Social network users• Facebook – lifestyle play, more than 300 million

(60 million last year) active users; 65 million engage with FB through a mobile device; 50% active users log on daily; fastest growing demographic - users 35 years and older; 2 billion photos uploaded monthly (…Facebook statistics)

• MySpace – 110 million monthly active users globally; 1 in 4 Americans on MySpace; 300,000 new people sign up every day (…TechRadar blog)

• Twitter – microblogosphere; only 40% of its users return a month after signing up

Fans of the page

Photo albums

Different Faces of Lifelong Learners

Look back on the old days and old ways or you can lead in a brand new way from a position of

understanding this next generation

LinkedIn Reading List

See ya’ at CMED in 2010!