Giving Compass' Take:

· Education Dive explains that society is influencing youths and provides a few tips for higher education institutions on how to best prepare for the incoming Generation Z students.

· How are today's students different? What is the best way to approach Generation Z students with technology? 

· Read more about preparing for Generation Z students.

Generation Z students are tech-savvy, entrepreneurial and socially aware —and though most contemporary language still refers to them students as millennials, it is actually Gen Z students who are coming to campus this fall.

As these students make their way to campus, here are some important things to consider:

  1. Put an increased emphasis on high-touch, personalized approach — even online. Recent research shows this group of students prefers to communicate in person rather than by email or phone. On social media and digital channels, they want to be personally engaged and recognized as individuals. These students thrive on communication and collaboration, which underscores the importance of ditching the traditional lecture in favor of a more interactive, collaborative classroom structure that educators at the University of Maryland call “the future of education.”
  2. There will likely be more protests. The new generation of students is demanding more information and accountability about their institutions’ investments and funders. They are more vocal about demanding racial and gender equity — and populist movements in social media and otherwise empower them to push on these issues. And as the student population becomes increasingly black and brown and lower income, these students are bringing their perspectives with them to campus and looking to their college experience to change some of the negative realities they have experienced or witnessed first-hand in their communities.
  3. Flexibility is key. Data show that Gen Z students value flexibility over just about anything else — and as higher education as a whole does not have a reputation for being particularly flexible, this is particularly important to note. Some institutions are doing a good job of providing a more flexible experience, working to provide smooth on and off ramps to allow students to enter into higher education, obtain a credential to go back into the workplace and return smoothly when they are ready to secure the next level of education.

Read the full article about Generation Z students by Autumn A. Arnett at Education Dive.