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Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I've read some survey data which suggests that young adults are no longer interested in tackling some of the toughest global problems (such as inequality and partisanship), and are instead going into narrowly-focused finance jobs.

I was wondering if someone could speak to:

  1. Why this phenomenon was happening
  2. What can be done to resolve this issue?
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  • While this is a great question in general, it's clearly not about the topic of project management and is off-topic.
    – jmort253
    Jul 8, 2012 at 20:40
  • Is it worth migrating to Workplace SE? Jul 9, 2012 at 18:39

4 Answers 4

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I do not view the situation as you do and I don't expect we will find an answer to your question since it is a large and opinionated topic, but in my experience I see more and more of today's generation pushing back and refusing to work in the "old way" because it is not socially responsible or does not respect their desire for mastery, autonomy or purpose.

Ready Daniel Pink's Drive or watch the youtube video about it.

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html

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I would suspect that, every generation for the last 200-300 hundred years could produce a survey that says essentially the same thing - "These kids today, they don't care about/appreciate/take seriously things the way we used to/do."

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  • You dropped a zero. 2000 to 3000. ;) Apr 25, 2012 at 9:48
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There are two related questions, you are going to find great answers there:

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The first thing I would question are the surveys. "Young people" would be a population that would be tough to capture a unbiased sample. So likely the results are skewing that conclusion.

I have argued in the past that these attributes applied to labels like generation x, y, AA, whatever, are broadly swept generalizations that sell books but do not really aid in predicting future behavior. But, I do think some beliefs or things that a specific generation may find important cycles a bit due to the signs of the times. I would not be surprised if some of the answers the surveys yielded were secondary to the economic issues our world is facing now. If that's true, it will not be a sustained belief. It will cycle back, like everything else.

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