Will the Echo Boomer Generation Save Graduate Business Education?

Career College Central Summary:

Echo boomers are different from their parents and have different expectations. According to survey research, echo boomers are more interested in doing work that helps others than they are in making money. They demand mentorship and expect a high-tech fast-moving workplace. They desire flexibility and fair treatment. Compared with their parents, echo boomers have been exposed to more technology-enhanced learning, have experienced a greater emphasis on standardized tests, face more pressure to build the right resume and are more attentive to high-quality brands.
At the same time, echo boomers seem to be competitive and impatient. Maybe this is because they've grown up in an era when long careers at the same company have disappeared as quickly as company-funded pensions. This has fueled interest in entrepreneurship, as younger workers seek to offset the uncertainty caused by job switching and shorter careers. It has also fueled a decline in trust of corporations, business leaders, and colleagues.
The echo boomer generation will expect graduate business programs to give more attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR), namely discussion of ethics in applied forms as it relates to wage policies and societal inequality, corporate responses to climate change, LGBT rights and corporate political action. These issues will need attention alongside and within traditional coursework, such as accounting, finance and marketing. This generation will be interested in interdisciplinary approaches to issues relevant to its ideas and goals. The manner in which echo boomers have been educated will create a conflict for graduate business programs. echo boomers expect large doses of technology to be present in their graduate programs. Schools must incorporate mobile and digital media in the learning process outside of the classroom to meet this generation's expectations. Because of both exposure to technology and the emphasis on building the right resume, this generation must have many opportunities outside the classroom to practice concepts.

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