I agree that we can’t paint an entire generation with too broad a brush. Yet, I have experience as both a college admissions dean/director (20 years) and as a work supervisor of Millennials. More often than not, I have observed that Millennials in the workplace do carry with them the aura of “I’m special” and seem not to understand the concept of meeting expectations and objectives. For many, merely showing up every day was a feat that they deemed worthy of a raise or effusive praise.

My older employees (and I guess I must include myself in this category) seemed to have a completely different perspective on work. The important thing to us was to pursue the job or task to its conclusion and do the job well. If, at the end, we received a pat on the back or a word of thanks, it was almost always a surprise (and in some cases, we would demur–with no false modesty–that we were merely “doing our job”).

I think, as I noted in my blog piece, that this will have implications in the classroom as well.