Generation Z, a lost or misunderstood generation?

Once again, ESIC Business & Marketing School has held Generation ESIC, a meeting with young pre-university students to guide them in deciding what academic path to follow, inviting them to reflect on the importance of this decision.

"Immersed in a social and business paradigm shift, What do people think of generation Z?"was the question posed by Eduardo Gómez Martín, CEO of ESIC, at the beginning of the meeting. As he pointed out, various forums are warning of the decline in the skills of today's young people, increased by the reduced presence in training that has brought with it the health emergency.

In this sense, Gómez put on the table some of the adjectives that are usually attributed to post-millennial young people: "Ignorant, narcissistic, irresponsible... young people who do not get involved in a long-term project". In response to this, he invited the more than 2,000 young people attending the meeting to make an introspective analysis of this statement: "Is what they say about me true?

Faced with this question, the director general of ESIC encouraged all of them to make this reflection taking into account all perspectives, including the one that places them as a generation destined to transform the world. a generation destined to transform the worldA world that is going through a turning point, a paradigm shift, in which "more than ever, it is important to have another vision of things".

In Gomez's opinion, Generation Z has it, because it is a generation "whose DNA incorporates values and capabilities that previous generations did not have, such as digitality, creativity, nonconformity, critical spirit, empathy, curiosity, self-learning capacity and adaptability".

Along these lines, Eduardo Gómez Martín expressed his conviction that today's young people "are not a new 'lost generation', but a misunderstood generation". And in order to transform this perception, as well as to transform the world, what these young people have to do is, in his opinion, "strengthen those values they already have, which are key to deciding the future of all".

And what is the first step? For Gómez, the "courageous decision to decide on one's own future," for which he invited all young people to start "forging their future, and that of others, demonstrating to previous generations the need to understand that they are a 'different generation,' not a lost one." 

Shared experiences to help make that decision

Generation ESIC was also the setting in which various professionals who, not so long ago, found themselves in the same situation as the young pre-university students of 2021, shared their experience from the moment they had to make the decision about where to focus their professional future until now, when, thanks to their efforts, they are enjoying professional success.

An example of this was the reflection shared during the meeting by Luis Giménez, co-founder of the clothing firm Tipitent: "Entrepreneurship is simply learning by beating yourself up. It's scary, every change is scary, but it will always bring you much more than you think. If you are thinking about it, don't hesitate and take the plunge".

Verónica Jiménez, CEO & Founder at WomanCard Spain and director of the ESIC Higher Degree in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, focused on the role of women in the Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem, encouraging young women to join the increasingly marked trend of not giving up on a business idea, especially because they are women.

"Almost half of the entrepreneurs in Spain are women, leading the parity in the European environment, with nine women entrepreneurs for every ten men", she pointed out during the meeting, in which she also shared her opinion that "we are facing a woman who brings to corporations a creative leadership, who has self-confidence, and who has a strong sense of achievement that, as a consequence, brings to any project constancy and innovation".

Both reflections were also shared by other entrepreneurs such as Pedro Clavería, co-CEO and co-Founder at Playtomic or Hugo Rodríguez de Prada, co-founder of Grosso Napoletano, who also intervened to share their experiences in 'the adventure of entrepreneurship'.

But not only entrepreneurship was discussed at ESIC Generation, but also successful professionals in various companies and multinationals. successful professionals in various companies and multinationals also shared their experience shared their experience about how they have worked from a young age to open a professional path that combines vocation and career opportunities. Among them were Esther Morell, Creative & Social Marketing Manager SEIB at Samsung; Ana Gómez, Head of Agencies ES and PT at TikTok; Alejandro Campos Ruiz, Account Manager at Amazon Web Services; Agnes del Olmo, strategic planner and account manager at Pixel and Pixel Marketing and Design Solutions; Fátima Mrimou , Account Executive at Pixel & Pixel or Paloma Cabral, Director of Institutional Relations and Communication at McDonald's.