Back to College - Changing Mindsets

Posted by Admin Admin on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 Under: Trends & Society
Seasons are important milestones in our lives.   Back to school is one of those seasons that I find useful to consider how things in the world are changing.  It is easy to consider that the grad students who taught classes 20 years ago are now being replaced by online courses taught by professors.  Is it better or worse - probably hard to tell. 

What is different is the mindset and insights of the students who arrive in any class.

A brief article in Inside Higher Ed by once again Beloit College  has released its annual "mindset list" -- helping all of us understand that freshmen students didn't experience the same things that may have shaped their professors. Some highlights of the new list, released today:

For the entering class, most born in 1994:

  • Kurt Cobain, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Richard Nixon and John Wayne Gacy have always been dead.
  • They have always lived in cyberspace, addicted to a new generation of “electronic narcotics.”
  • If they miss "The Daily Show," they can always get their news on YouTube.
  • Robert De Niro is thought of as Greg Focker's long-suffering father-in-law, not as Vito Corleone or Jimmy Conway.
  • Bill Clinton is a senior statesman about whose presidency they have little knowledge.
  • They have never seen an airplane “ticket.”
  • For most of their lives, maintaining relations between the U.S. and the rest of the world has been a woman’s job in the State Department.
  • Their folks have never gazed with pride on a new set of bound encyclopedias on the bookshelf.

The full list, plus previous year's lists, may be found here. [1]

Consider this list carefully and think about the implications for your business.  Remember do not assume that your mindset is the same as your customers or in the case of Freshmen - the same at all.


In : Trends & Society 


Tags: higher education  parenting  marketing  college marketing  mindsets 
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About Me


John Fees John Fees is an entrepreneur, strategic marketing executive and business leader in the fields of affinity, collegiate and partnership marketing. During the course of his career, John has founded and led successful companies specializing in strategic marketing and media, affinity, partnership marketing and financial services. Currently, he serves as the co-founder & managing director of NGI Group. NGI Group is a large shareholder in portfolio companies including GradGuard, MassDrive & MyLifeProtected.