Gender, Care, and Gen Z Work Culture
摘要
As Generation Z more fully enters the work force, employers must be conscious of how this generation’s upbringing in a shifting sociocultural and technical landscape may influence their professional decisions and contribute to broader changes in business culture across industries. Generation Z (Gen Z) includes individuals born after the year 1996 (Parker & Igielnek, 2020), with sources placing the cutoff birth year variously amid the early 2010s. This means that many “Gen Zers” have not yet begun seriously considering their careers. But along with Gen Z’s social and professional coming-of-age, researchers have been studying this generation as college students, consumers, and junior employees for over a decade (Igel & Urquhort, 2012; Holton & Fraser, 2015). While no generation is a monolith, there are some notable defining characteristics and experiences of Gen Zers that may influence their experiences and behaviors in the workplace, and understanding these may help cultivate healthy and productive relationships in intergenerational work environments. In this chapter, I offer an overview of the cultural, historical, and technological factors that have contributed to Generation Z’s collective coming of age experience. I review recent research that highlights patterns in relational behaviors, social attitudes, psychological phenomena, and personal values among working-age Gen Zers, all of which may have implications for their professional expectations and choices. I then consider how employers can integrate and welcome this new generation of workers and future leaders with care.