Orientation to the Student Role

Abstract

This article explores and challenges the idea that today's college students (Millennials) are substantially different and more difficult to work with than past generations of students. To investigate students' college preparation and performance, researchers examined data collected by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) and by the National Department for Educational Statistics. Researchers compared this data to college professionals' attitudes of current students using a survey developed from the HERI data. The comparison revealed misperceptions of both student academic attitudes and performance which highlight the need for skepticism regarding generational differences in Millennials. This study examines misconceptions about college students, explores how these misconceptions are detrimental to student development, and offers ways to move beyond these misconceptions.

Keywords

• millennial
• higher education research institute (heri)
• cooperative institutional research program (cirp)
• role theory
• transition
• social validation
• self-fulfilling prophecy
• authoritative
• dependent
• collaborative