Generation Y and Z

Project lead
Prof. Dr. Paulina Jedrzejczyk

Project duration
November 2017 – November 2021

The findings of current studies (Shell-Studien 2015, 2019, McDonalds Ausbildungsstudie 2019) show that the 15 to 30-year-olds of today are very different to their peers in the previous "generational form" in terms of their individual abilities, attitudes, desires and needs. They experience a significant amount of insecurity with regard to their choice of career and type of training in the career orientation phase, which is in contrast to their clearly expressed expectations of employment and their employer, such as security, good resources and work-life balance. The number of options and the flood of information are perceived as stress, and fuel the fear of making the wrong career choice. Support from parents, counsellors, teachers and employers is becoming more important.

The research project deals with the following research questions:

• What characteristics show career-orientation and decision-making behaviour among the generation of 15 to 30-year olds?
• What demands are made of professional career counselling?
• How should professional career counselling be organised in terms of concept and content to meet current demands?
• Do parents and employers also want to receive professional career counselling to be able to support adolescents/young adults better?

The research questions were examined from the perspective of six target groups: the young Generation Y and Z (average sample size c. 300), parents and representatives of Generation Y and Z (c. 100), employers (c. 150), career counsellors (c. 50) and teachers (c. 50).

The project also examines, amongst other things, how 15-30-year-olds, parents and employers as well as career counsellors view future career counselling provided by teaching staff and career counsellors, and what key points can be derived from this for professional career counselling, parental counselling and employer counselling by career specialists and teaching staff.

The results of the survey offer an interesting insight into the career orientation and decision-making behaviour of representatives of both generations. The analysis of various viewpoints of the aforementioned parties - with a special focus on the employers - makes it possible to identify the differences in how various aspects of career orientation and counselling are viewed and allows initial considerations for a possible division of roles in the career counselling process as well as the expansion of the focus to include new target groups.

The findings from the study also provide important input for the professionalisation of HdBA students in the context of elective courses as well as the lifelong counsellors and placement officers as part of the ZP "Professional Counselling". Academic utilisation will initially be in the form of a contribution to the publication "Diversity & Dialog". Contributions in German and English journals are to follow.