Generation Z wants to learn like this, so how do we adapt in Explorer?

Most people participating in Explorer today belong to Generation Z; in continuous evolution, the programme tries to adapt to their expectations and their way of understanding learning processes. So how do we in Explorer adjust to what young people expect so that their first contact with entrepreneurship is as valuable as possible?

Generation Z is looking for a purpose, a goal. This is something that the Glocalities trend study confirms and that we at Explorer are also aware of, as our community shows its concerns, and we take note of them. Young people feel alienated and pessimistic about their future. The mental health crisis we are experiencing is part of their concerns (proof of this is that many of the projects presented to the programme have to do with wellness and psychology). They want quality of life; they are looking for spirituality.

This generation is the most connected and educated in the history of humanity. And it will lead to a cultural revolution to which we do not want to (nor should we) be oblivious; we have to understand it if we want to be at the height of what its protagonists are looking for. For example, emancipation is one of its demands. This factor has manifested itself in Explorer, so we have adapted our content to let them know that entrepreneurship is a form of economic independence they can experiment with in our programme without running any risk. But there is much more.

Understanding the future is understanding its values

Generation Z’s aspirations, lifestyles, and values are key if we want to understand the future of education and the world that will surround us in a few years. A simple note is an eye-opener: young people are under-represented in politics (only 2.6% of parliamentarians are under 30 and, among them, the ratio of women is less than 1%) and, therefore, so are their interests: human rights, climate change, and severe poverty are currently the focus of their concerns, their activism; and a good part of the projects in Explorer, in line with the SDG 2030.

In our programme they learn that these concerns can lead them to design their future while helping to change the world. But traditional methods of teaching them the necessary tools no longer work; continually adapting is challenging. And sometimes, it means bridging the gap between the participants’ point of view and what proves to be a more effective methodology, even if they are opposing views.

In the face of procrastination, deadlines

What is better: a single delivery of tasks at the end of a course or several deadlines to deliver them little by little? The variety of Explorers’ situations (some are still studying, some are still in education, some are working alongside a job or are employed full-time) might suggest the first option, as it offers greater flexibility. However, science contradicts this assertion, as a single “distant” deadline can undermine the success of programme participants. In the case of young people (the majority of Explorers), the ability to self-regulate and manage time is still developing. Procrastination invites you to defer everything to the very last moment, so stress and anxiety levels soar as the deadline approaches. Frustration grows at the same rate as the number of drop-outs. 

We have opted for deadlines because they help to improve time management and allow us to turn them into a motivating element. Each time the deadline to upload one or more deliverables is met, the teams participating in Explorer are rewarded if they are among the top ten in the programme’s ranking. This ranking (several tables also measure performance by country, university, or group) gamifies the experience; our aim is that the deadline does not become something that “undermines morale” but, on the contrary, increases engagement.

We are no strangers to the “collateral advantages“ of these deadlines (four over the 12 weeks of Explorer): avoiding procrastination as far as possible and; almost more important for the programme’s objective, showing participants that deadlines (tight or not) and the responsibility of meeting them is something they are going to face if they want to move their entrepreneurial project forward.

As Explorer progresses and the tasks deal with more complicated subjects, one would expect the drop-out rate to increase. But the trend indicates that participants who pass the second checkpoint, located right in the middle of the programme, are very likely to finish successfully. Of course, it is not only the deadlines or their gamification that influence these figures; the work of the coordinators is also essential.

This support function leads us to another reflection: despite the autonomy they enjoy and the fact that peer-to-peer learning is one of the elements most valued by participants, in recent editions (those corresponding to the arrival of Generation Z), we have observed a repeated demand: the intervention of a figure to grade, validate and correct the tasks. Therefore, in the next instalment of this article, we will focus on the training advantages of not offering this resource at such an early stage of entrepreneurship.

Sources:
https://glocalities.com/reports/trends2022

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2023/02/10/should-professors-eliminate-deadlines

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/research-reveals-global-youth-stepping-152500916.html