Patrick O’Donnell (he/him) is the CEO of Making Waves Education Foundation. In this article, Patrick spotlights how Gen Z is ringing the alarm bell, saying current education and workforce systems aren’t working. He shares about listening to learn from Gen Z and some new approaches happening at Making Waves – from mentorship to AI to internships.
Hearing from students is always my favorite part of graduation season. At Making Waves Academy’s high school graduation last month, three seniors spoke, and there was a common thread throughout their remarks that was so striking.
With confidence, comfort, and ease, they expressed love, care, and gratitude to their community – their families, siblings, friends, and teachers. They expressed a commitment to support their community, particularly by leading the way for their siblings and future generations.
It’s hard to fully remember what I was like as a senior in high school, now almost 30 years ago, though the empathy and emotions these Making Waves’ seniors expressed seemed much more open than my classmates and I revealed. It’s so inspiring to listen to this generation of students and to hear them leading with such clarity of their values, with empathy, and with love.
And yet, Gen Z is ringing the alarm bell. They’re telling us that they’re feeling lost, that their future is uncertain, and that the current high school, college, and workforce systems aren’t working.
In The Reinvention Lab’s recently published paper, Crossing the Canyon, young people consistently shared that they think “life after high school is confusing, undersupported, and risky.”
Relatedly, a recent report from Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation shows that high school students aren’t feeling engaged in learning, they don’t feel like schools are preparing them for their future, and they’re unclear on their purpose.
Most striking to me is that only 13% of Gen Z teens feel prepared to make a decision about their future, according to the ECMC Group’s Question the Quo Education Pulse survey.
Listening to learn from Gen Z
At Making Waves, we’re focused on increasing economic and social mobility, so we partner with young people from low-income backgrounds to help them set goals, make decisions, and navigate and thrive in their education, career, and life paths.
To meet the moment, we need to do some things differently.
Over the past year, my team has been talking to students to better understand how we can reimagine our support structures and support Gen Z. To do this, we’re listening to learn because empathy is the first step in any design process.
We’ve intentionally leaned into this in a few ways:
- Conducting discovery interviews with both our high school students who are using our AI copilot for personalized education and employment coaching and our college students in our college and career success program.
- Launching a student advisory committee so our students can share their insights on their college experiences and ideas to better meet their needs.
- Sending surveys, aligned to our measurement framework, to better understand how our programming is (or isn’t) positioning students to achieve their goals.
Listening to students has led to some amazing insights that sometimes confirm what’s working. At other times, it illuminates pain points. All of this is then informing evolutions we’re making.
We’re in the middle of this work, but I thought I would share how we’re approaching it and what we’re learning.
Gen Z is looking for mentorship and belonging
Research shows that students feeling a sense of belonging on their college campuses is a significant predictor of persistence and college graduation, especially for students from low-income backgrounds, students of color, and first-generation college students.
Our students are repeatedly telling us this too, and it’s coming through in different ways:
- When Gen Z feels connected to people on campus and builds a community, they experience delight and know they have allies to help them navigate challenges.
- Without this connection, they feel like outsiders, unsure where to turn for help, which threatens their engagement, commitment, and ability to overcome obstacles.
- Gen Z wants to network and build connections both with peers and adult mentors, and they worry that a lack of these important relationships will hold them back.
Based on these insights, we’re piloting evolutions to our traditional 1:1 college coaching model, including:
- A monthly in-person 10:1 cohort coaching model with community college students, facilitated by Making Waves college coaches.
- A monthly in-person 10:1 peer coaching model at several Cal State University campuses, facilitated by college juniors and seniors in the Making Waves program.
Gen Z wants to access information and personalized guidance on their own time
Gen Z is growing up in an era where information – and specifically information that is relevant to them – is at their fingertips 24/7.
We’ve heard these same themes in our discovery interviews with the high school students using our Making Waves AI copilot. Some don’t have access to a college counselor (only 29% of public schools have a full- or part-time college counselor). Others do have college counselors, but using our copilot complements their experience. Here are a few insights we’ve learned:
Young people are nervous to talk to an adult about their goals.
- For example, some students say they feel shame about wanting to pursue a career track vs college. Technology helps them explore independently and prepare for potentially difficult conversations.
College counselors aren’t always available when students turn their attention to postsecondary planning.
- Even more interesting, students see how stressed their college counselor is managing high caseloads; they don’t want to bother them. They turn to the Making Waves AI copilot, which is always accessible.
They appreciate that our copilot provides hyper-personalized support in meaningful ways.
- One of our users, an immigrant from Nigeria, shared that the copilot answered her detailed questions about FAFSA, choosing a major, and understanding college offerings. This guidance was more specific than what she received at school, and it made her feel prepared and confident.
AI is a powerful tool for building students’ agency to learn on their own time and leverage personalized coaching; this is an approach to learning that resonates with Gen Z. We’re leaning into that and helping young people drive their own learning as they pursue their goals.
Gen Z is seeking internship opportunities and real-world career experience
When we ask students what brings them “delight,” they often describe their internship experiences. On the flip side, we hear that students who aren’t actively networking with professionals or landing internships feel adrift compared to their more affluent peers who are gaining those experiences.
For students with clarity on their career goals, they’re worried that their lack of real-world experiences will hold them back.
Strada Education Foundation’s Talent Disrupted report affirms the importance of real-world career experiences, especially internships.
There’s a strong correlation between internship completion in college and securing college-level employment after graduation.
I’m inspired by organizations like Brooklyn STEAM Center and Sturm Collaboration Campus who are reimagining their models to provide real-world, career-embedded experiences.
We hear our students loud and clear, and this is an area where we have work to do. Historically, the prevailing rallying cry of “college for all!” has been well-intentioned. It also missed the mark. We want every student to have the option to go to college, which is why Making Waves Academy aligns its curriculum with California’s A-G standards so nearly 100% of students graduate eligible to attend college.
But getting accepted to college isn’t the end goal – a fulfilling adult life with choice and economic mobility is.
Today’s labor market is demanding exposure to real-world career experiences and a range of college and career pathways – and students want these things too.
In response, we’ve set a goal for next year that 55% of our college students will participate in an internship, and we’re collaborating with companies and nonprofits like Allen Matkins, Studio Bondy, Zygo, and Braven to make that happen.
This spring, Allen Matkins hosted an event for Making Waves Academy seniors to visit their San Francisco office, part of our broader partnership to diversify the legal profession. Students spent a day engaging with attorneys and learning about the legal profession.
The response from students was overwhelming – students expressed that the experience changed their perspective, from broadening their view of what it means to be a lawyer, to building their comfort and confidence that they could excel in this profession, to providing the tipping point to confirm that becoming an attorney is the right path for them.
Imagining the future
What if we created a world where high school seniors at graduation ceremonies express with comfort and ease their love, care, and gratitude for their community AND express confidence in knowing where they’re heading next, assured of the support they need to achieve their goals?
How can we make this a reality?
Students should have the support systems and the mentorship to navigate their college and career experiences.
- These support systems are critical to overcoming challenges, reaching goals, and paving the way for siblings and future generations.
AI should be accessible for all young people for personalized coaching on college and career options.
- Armed with this information, they can engage in deeper conversations with teachers and family members, leading to a college or career plan that truly excites them.
Students should have opportunities to participate in internships at local organizations and virtually.
- This exposure helps them explore various career fields, refine their interests (and discover what they don’t want to do), and build the skills and confidence necessary to succeed.
It’s exciting to imagine this world, and it is happening in pockets at schools, nonprofits, and colleges around the country.
All Gen Zers should feel this sense of purpose, clarity of their path forward, and assurance that they can lean on people and systems to reach their goals.
To achieve this, we must lead with empathy and curiosity, actively listen to students, and continuously adapt our support to meet their evolving needs. Together, we can create a future where every student feels prepared and supported to pursue their dreams.
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