Leading and working with millennials in Universities: A case of delicate dancing or “you’re not the boss of me!”

Abstract

Universities are now facing the strengths and challenges of a multi-generational workforce that includes staff who belong to the so-called millennial generation. While millennial workers possess a breadth of talents and insights that workers from other generations may not, there can be dissonance, incivility, and even aggression directed by these staff members toward their supervisors. In universities, the problem may be exacerbated by a culture of academic freedom and freedom of speech. In addition to these freedoms is the reality that universities are deeply committed to equity and inclusion. Based on a review of the literature and extrapolating from case studies in Canadian universities, the authors propose that there is much work for all university stakeholders to do to achieve high functioning and respectful multi-generational teams.