Sociology

The digital generation yearns to be baby boomers

Today’s youth are not looking to reinvent the world. “What they want is stable, well-paid jobs. They want to work 35 hours a week, Monday to Friday,” states Prof. Jacques Hamel of the Department of Sociology at the Université de Montréal. 

This conclusion is part of a huge study involving 6464 students. Between the ages of 18 and 35, these students were all registered between 1996 and 2001 in a Quebec college or university program related to the “new economy” (biochemistry, microbiology, computer science, multimedia integration technology and specialized biotechnology techniques) and agreed to participate in Prof. Hamel’s online survey in 2003. On the basis of their answers, the sociologist built a sample of graduates and non-graduates who were working in their field of study. Of this group, 135 respondents then participated in a two-hour interview in order to take the pulse of the digital generation.

The results of the study showed that the image of these young people does not correspond to that conveyed by the media, where they are apparently inclined to remain for a long time with one employer. “In the multimedia production sector, for example, workers have a lot of personal skills and try to use them to their advantage in negotiations with their employer. As a result, they have greater professional mobility,” explains the sociologist. “In this sector, diplomas are less important than portfolios.” This personalized file, containing all of a candidate’s projects and accomplishments, is sent to the future employer when applying for a job.

In order to diversify their experience and build up their portfolio, young “digital” workers may change companies several times in any given year. This, however, occurs less in the more traditional field of biotechnology, where hiring depends more on a diploma. The term “digital generation” was coined by Canadian Don Tapscott and applies to individuals born between 1977 and 1997. “This is a generation that grew up with video games, computers and cell phones and is familiar with new information and communication technologies,” explains Prof. Hamel. “As children, they experienced interactive media, unlike the preceding TV generation.”

The study, conducted by Jacques Hamel and his team—Bjenk Ellefsen, Caroline Dawson and Maxime Marcoux-Moisan of UdeM as well as four researchers from the Observatoire Jeunes et société, namely, Claude Trottier, Madeleine Gauthier, Marc Mongat and Mirshea Vuntur—nuances the thesis put forth by André Gorz on dissidents of the digital age. André Gorz argues that young people who studied in this field are often disappointed when they start working for a company. After investing in their careers for some years, they abandon the digital sector altogether. “With very few exceptions, we didn’t find any such dissidents. If this phenomenon exists, it’s marginal in Quebec,” states Prof. Hamel, who has had a longstanding interest in issues of professional and social integration.