Leadership for Intelligence Professionals   

                              Not All Commentators Are So Positive About the Traits of Gen Y

Paul Greenberg is the Pulizter Prizewinning editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.  Recently, he has written that today, those who:

…appeal, growl, grovel, or whatever it takes to raise a student’s letter grade…{are} the students themselves.

Naturally enough, a team of academics has written a paper about this sad trend. (“Self-Entitled College Students: Contributions of Personality, Parenting and Motivational Factors” )  The syndrome now has an name (Academic Entitlement) and an abbreviation (AE) just like Attention Deficity/Hyperactivity Disorder.

…the saddest aspect of these kids’ condition is that they’re unaware of it.  They actually think they’re pretty darn good, and deserve those good grades.  More to be pitied than scorned, they may have no idea of what real accomplishment is, or the intrinsic satisfaction of doing something well.

…But why should they be any different?  Raised in an age when self-esteem is all, they’ve been told how great they are from K to 12 and may graduate without the faintest idea of what greatness is, or demands.

To quote a deluded young senior at the University of Maryland: “I think putting in a lot of effort should merit a high grade. What else is there than the effort that you put in?”

Well for starters there is talent, insight, intention, humility, tolerance, and openness to criticism and a determination to learn from it.  There is an appreciation for what is noble and contempt for what is base.  And the love of knowledge for its own sake, not the rewards it might bring,…well, you get the point.  Unless, of course, you think you are entitled.

Another commentator, perhaps a guilt-ridden parent, has written:

…as Jean Twenge  and W. Keith Campbell point out in their excellent book “the Narcissism Epidemic”…we’ve built up the confidence of our kids, but in the process, we’ve created a generation of hot-house flowers puffed up with a disproportionate sense of self-worth (the definition of narcissism) and with out the resiliency skills they need….

Indeed, when Twenge addressed students at Southern Connecticut State University…their generations narcissism was taken as a given by her audience....When they’re faced with the straight-out question---do you agree with this research, that you guys are the most narcissistic generation ever---there are uniform head nods and knowing grins at each other.  At the end of the day, “ I love me and I don’t think that’s wrong.” Says …a 21-year-old senior…a self-professed narcissist. “I don’t think its a problem having most people love themselves. I love me.”

But as Twenge goes on to illustrate, all that narcissism is a problem that can range from the discourteous…to the disasterous….[creating] abusive work environments.

…Treating the whole world as if it works for you doesn’t suggest you’re special, it means you’re an ass.  As an antidote for a skyrocketing self-worth, Twenge recommends humility, evaluating yourself more accurately, mindfulness and putting others first.  Such values may seem quaint, maybe even self-defeating, to those of us who think were special, but trust me: it gets easier with practice.

Sources

-Paul Greenberg “A Plague of Entitlement: College Campuses are Rife With the Syndrome” in the Wilmington News-Journal, April 6, 2009.

-Raina Kelly with Sarah Kliff, “Generation Me”, in Newsweek April 27, 2009.