Generation on a Tightrope

Today’s college students feel as if they are crossing an abyss between their dreams and the reality of an uncertain future. They are a generation seeking stability in a time of profound and accelerating change. They want government and our other social institutions to work in a time when they’re broken; they cling to the American Dream in an age of diminished expectations. They are walking a tightrope, attempting to balance digital connectedness and personal isolation, global citizenship and local vision, commonality and difference in the most diverse generation in American history, and a desire to be treated as mature adults while being more dependent on their parents than previous college students. Generation on a Tightrope offers a compelling portrait of today’s undergraduate college students that sheds light on their attributes, expectations, aspirations, academics, attitudes, values, beliefs, social lives, and politics. Based on research of 5,000 college students and student affairs practitioners from 270 diverse college campuses, the book explores the similarities and differences between today’s generation of students and previous generations. The authors examine the myriad forces that have shaped these students and will continue to shape them as they prepare to meet the future. The first two volumes in this series exploring the psyche of college students, When Dreams and Heroes Died (1980) and When Hope and Fear Collide (1998), offered thoughtful and accurate profiles of the students of the 1980s and 1990s. As Generation on a Tightrope clearly reveals, today’s students need a very different education than the undergraduates who came before them: an education for the 21st Century, which colleges and universities are ill-equipped to offer and which will require major changes of them to provide. Painting a realistic picture of today’s college students, the authors offer guidance to higher education professionals, researchers, practitioners, policymakers, employers, parents, and the public. The book’s insights can help them equip students for the world they face and the world they will help to create.

Preface ix Acknowledgments xix The Authors xxiii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The Past Is a Foreign Country 11 Chapter 2: Academics: The Internet and the Blackboard 37 Chapter 3: Life Outside the Classroom: The New Tribalism 53 Chapter 4: Parents: Helicopters, Lawnmowers, and Stealth Bombers 79 Chapter 5: Multiculturalism: The Demographics of Comfort 95 Chapter 6: Politics: Talking Global, Acting Local 117 Chapter 7: The Future: Clinging to the American Dream 147 Chapter 8: Conclusion: The Future Is a Foreign Country 155 Appendix A: The Life and Times of the Class of 2012: A Chronology 199 Appendix B: Studies Used in This Book 205 Appendix C: Campus Contacts 209 References 213 Index 219 We dedicate this book to our spouses, Linda Fentiman and John Giglio, both educators, and to our children, Jamie Levine, who is teaching today’s college students; Rachel Levine, who graduated from college in 2010 and is one of the people we are writing about; and Andy and Katy Giglio, who are the college students of the future. We love you very much.