1.
Fortunate? Unfortunate? Millennials cannot live better than previous generation.
2.
For Millennials, it is hard to achieve the master status.
a.
Millennials have the highest unemployment rate.
b.
Recession–As soon as Millennials graduated from University, many of them became
unemployed.
c.
3.
Strong Ego–Millennials were educated well.
Practical Implications
a.
Implications for Millennials themselves-They are not satisfied with their own
ascribed status.
b.
Implications for society-If well-educated and informed Millennials are not satisfied
with themselves, the social stratification will be worse.
4.
Evidence
a.
Millennials have lower job-satisfaction and high employment separation rate.
1)
2)
1)
Because they are young, they can be unstable.
3)
b.
Millennials cannot satisfy their goals with current jobs.
Millennials are judged impatient, and spontaneous.
Nut rage incident of Korean air
It stared from the conflict between the employer and employees, and it shows the
social stratification.
2)
3)
5.
It just happened because of the relationship of employer and employee.
It was due to the Korean culture to obey to the Boss.
Conclusion.
Even though Millennials have got benefited by the technology, they cannot achieve many
things like previous generation.
Fottrell, Quentin. (2014). 40% of unemployed workers are Millennials. Retrieved from
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/40-of-unemployed-workers-are-millennials-2014-07-03
Hays, D. (2014). International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research. Examining Differences
between Millennial and All Employee Levels of Job Satisfaction and Importance and Satisfaction
with
the
Immediate
Supervisor
Relationship,
2.
Retrieved
February
8,
2015,
from
www.arcjournals.org
Macionis, J. (2010). Sociology (13th ed.). Prentice Hall.
Park, K. (2014, December 8). Korean Air Chairman’s Daughter Deplanes Crew Over Nuts.
Retrieved February 8, 2015, from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-12-08/koreanair-chairman-s-daughter-deplanes-crew-over-macadamia-nuts
Williams, Ray. (2010). Does income inequality threaten economic and social stability?
Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201007/doesincome-inequality-threaten-economic-and-social-stability
Millennials
Jung Eun Choi
Professor Roderick Linzie
SOC 100 Introduction to Sociology
March 2, 2015
2Millennials
Fortunate or Unfortunate? Millennials, are they satisfied?
The end of the 1900s, PC, personal computer, have been spread all over the world. It
was another innovation which has brought the social changes, and Millennials have appeared.
Millennials, known as generation Y, or the internet generation (iGen), who are people born
between the years of 1980 and 1995 (2015, Urban Dictionary), is the first generation grown
playing with the computer. They have benefited the new era, postindustrial societies which is the
production of information using computer technology (p.93, Macionis, 2010). Millennials are
knowledgeable about technology and learn new technology very quickly. This fortunate
generation indeed lives better than previous generation?
These days, it is hard for Millennials to achieve master status. According to Macionis
(2010), A master status is a status that has special importance for social identity, often shaping a
persons entire life. (p.139) Millennials cannot settle unless they achieve the master status, the
key to direct the whole life. After the subprime loan crisis in 2007, the unemployment rate has
increased (Bernanke, 2013). According to the Fottrell, a personal finance reporter, 40% of
unemployed workers are Millennials (2013). Also, he adds,
Since the recession, the youngest job-hunters are being beaten by the oldest. The number
of jobs held by baby boomers rose by 9% from 2007 to 2013, a gain of 1.9 million jobs,
while the millennial workforce only snagged 110,000 jobs, up 0.3%, according to new
analysis by software firm CareerBuilder and labor market data and software firm
Economic Modeling Specialists International.
3Millennials
Another reason why Millennials cannot achieve master status is that they have high self-esteem.
They are one of the benefited generations who are educated well after the World War;
furthermore, Millennials have educated themselves through the technology which is changing
every day. Therefore, their standard of living is not low.
Because of the expectation of the investment of their hard working, Millennials cannot
be satisfied with their current ascribed status. Macionis says that schooling affects both
occupation and income, since most (but not all) of the better-playing white-collar jobs required a
college degree or other advanced study (p.276, 2010). Also, this problem implies for society, if
well-educated and informed Millennials could not be satisfied themselves, they will feel the
society they belong is unequal. By applying social-conflict approach, unequal rewards only serve
to divide society, creating haves and have-nots. (p.262, Macionis) If unsatisfied Millennials
think their have-nots, they will think that the social stratification becomes worse.
The evidence of Millennials satisfaction is their low job-satisfaction and high
employment separation rate. Marte, a reporter of Market Watch, reports,
Some 78% of baby boomers said they had high job satisfaction, compared with 66% of
Generation Y workers, according to a survey conducted by PayScale, a compensation
data provider, and Millennial Branding, a Gen Y research company (2013).
She also explains that some people may take the part time jobs or position that dont required
degree to pay back student loans. Some people can insist that Millennials cannot stay one job for
a long time because they are impatient and make changes spontaneously. However, like Marte
says, some Millennials are working part time job to pay the rent and student loan.
4Millennials
These high educated and lower income Millennials may think about the unfairness of the
society more than anyone. The United States is supposed to be under the class system, social
stratification based on both birth and individual achievement (p.250, Macionis), but individual
achievement is not that worth right now.
Millennials are benefited generation. They are well educated by their parents who have
gone through the war and great recessions, and based on the previous generations effort,
Millennials can be the first generation who are knowledgeable about technology. However, those
benefit set Millennials expectations high. Millennials are fortunate, but also unfortunate because
they cannot be satisfied with themselves.
5Millennials
Bernanke, B. S. (2013). Subprime Mortgage Crisis. Federal reserve history. Retrieved from
http://www.federalreservehistory.org/Events/DetailView/55
Fottrell, Quentin. (2014). 40% of unemployed workers are Millennials. Market Watch. Retrieved
from http://www.marketwatch.com/story/40-of-unemployed-workers-are-millennials-2014-07-03
Macionis, J. J. (2010). SOC100: Sociology: 2011 custom edition (13th Ed). Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson Custom Publishing.
Marte, Jonnelle. (2013). Why boomers are happier than millennials at work. Market Watch.
Retrieved from http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-millennials-dont-whistle-whilethey-work-2013-10-24
Urban Dictionary. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?
term=Millenials
