- I've been a college professor for 20 years, and Gen Z gets a bad rap.
- This generation is more welcoming to neurodivergent people and mental health issues.
- They are more interested in unique education paths.
I've heard all kinds of stereotypes when it comes to Gen Z: They're lazy, they don't want to work, or they lack commitment.
But I've been a university professor for over 20 years in medical sociology, so I encounter this generation daily and see evidence to the contrary.
Gen Z has a unique way of learning, and they seek a different path to navigate college.
One thing that strikes me is that our youngest collegiates are more accepting of different educational strategies and clearly understand their roles in the future.
Gen Z is more interested in neuro-inclusive learning environments
Gen Z is particularly accepting of neurodiversity. While neurodivergent students were once separated from traditional classroom settings, today, their presence shapes it.
Student-centered approaches like tech integration, adaptive learning, and the allowance of flexible due dates have long been used to boost the learning of a smaller number of students. However, I've found that these methods bolster learning for everyone. My students now tell me they feel more comfortable in neuro-supportive environments.
Rather than categorizing their peers as "different" or "other," neurotypical Gen Z students are more apt to encourage and take interest in their classmates who explore novel ways of presenting, interpreting, and processing information.
To me, this celebration of neuro-individuality is one of the most inspirational characteristics of Gen Z.
This generation mostly prefers tech-first learning
These students are unquestionably drivers of technology. As the first generation to grow up fully connected, they're not just digital natives but a generation of digital integrators.
Many of them embrace a continuity of their online identity, with no hard lines between work, school, social, or digital life. Some students express to me that social media is an extension of themselves in a very personal way.
This translates to the classroom — where they want to direct their learning in self-defining ways. For example, Gen Z highly favors a teaching method known as the flipped classroom, where students watch online videos and expert-narrated demonstrations before coming to class. This allows students to self-teach the material at their own pace and use class time to explore practical applications with their instructors.
While this kind of highly individualized online learning is somewhat new on the scene to educators, it represents an area of fluency for younger students.
They're more likely to be mental health advocates
I've noticed Gen Z values interpersonal communication and engagement on mental health issues. Many students now openly focus on their psychological well-being and intuitively concern themselves with their classmates' mental health.
We now see student-led advocacy that correlates with mental health initiatives across college campuses nationwide.
Young people indicate that they feel access to such services is tied to their overall academic and personal success, and colleges are now becoming more receptive to this demand.
Gen Z is looking for unique ways to get an education and earn money
Being quite entrepreneurial, conversations with my students reveal that they want to determine their destinies as business innovators. Having witnessed the student debt crisis of preceding generations, these students are looking for updated, alternative educational pathways that have immediate outcomes linked with paying jobs.
Modernized programs have set colleges on a course that includes competency-based tracks, allowing quicker, more efficient degrees and certifications. This helps students forego classroom hours and zero in on apprenticeships and job training, with some now labeling Gen Z the "tool-belt" generation.
They have a bright future ahead
While the media chatters about the perceived lack of engagement and potential employment concerns assigned to Gen Z, as someone who works with these students daily, I feel like many of their collective strengths are often overlooked. I see them through a different lens, one that is genuinely filled with optimism and hope.
The future, for all of us, looks pretty bright to me.
