Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Leadership Studies

The purpose of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore how the public service millennial leader's lived experiences influence their workplace expectations as it relates to workplace longevity as public sector employees. 12 public service leaders within the City of Detroit were selected for this study because they voluntarily agreed to participate, they self-identified as a millennial, and they held a leadership position within the City of Detroit at the time of the study. Millennial leaders were chosen for this study because they are the future leaders of the U.S. workforce. By 2025, 75% of the workforce will comprise of millennials (Ng & Gossett; Fry, 2016; Henstra & McGowan, 2016). However, millennials are changing jobs every 18 months to 3 years, while many change industries completely. Local government is most threatened by this trend, reporting a 3-4% loss in workforce annually (Ng & Gossett; Fry, 2016; Henstra & McGowan, 2016). The existing literature indicates a disconnect between millennials who want to lead in the public sector, and their ability or willingness to be retained long-term. Key findings from the study indicate that millennials who work in the public sector have a defined life mission and purpose that is deeply rooted in familial and early life experiences. Millennials are also constantly seeking ways to fulfill their purpose and life's calling to serve. Adult development and public service motivational theories were used to frame the study. It was recommended that organizational leaders should understand the connection between familial influences and the millennial's mission, implement cultural honesty, understand what millennials are constantly seeking, provide clear pathways to success and goal attainment, and promote positive peer relationships. Recommendations for future research included understanding psychological contracts and their implications on unmet expectations, understanding millenn (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Paul Johnson Ph.D. (Advisor); Hyungsuk Choo Ph.D. (Other); Christy Galletta Horner Ph.D. (Committee Member); Joyce Litten Ed.D. (Committee Member); Ralph Murphy II Ed.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership; Public Administration

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2021, Higher Education Administration

Student affairs is a field compromised of employees representing several generations, each of which has different experiences, preferences, and expectations for the workplace. With these differences comes the potential for misaligned expectations between colleagues and supervisors. Employers need to consider how to understand these differing workplace expectations in order to reasonably manage expectations while balancing the needs of all employees, regardless of generational status. The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics and expectations of Generation Z student affairs employees, understand their experiences as student affairs employees, and examine how those characteristics, expectations, and experiences compare with those of their non-Generation Z colleagues. Generation Z includes individuals born between 1995 and 2010. This general inductive qualitative study was situated at a mid-sized, public university and participants were student affairs professionals currently employed at the institution. Ten participants completed two semi-structured interviews intended to better understand the individual experiences of employees of different generations in the workplace. Participants ranged in age from 23 to 66 years old and represented Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers. The following themes emerged from the study: Generation Z employees are seeking to balance their individualism with clear expectations. Generation Z, Millennial, and Generation X employees would all prefer to see increased opportunities for professional development throughout their career. Employees of all four represented generations are willing to learn from employees of other generations and to share their own experiences and expertise with their colleagues. There are several implications for practice, including the need for supervisors within student affairs to be prepared to exp (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Maureen Wilson (Advisor); Abhishek Bhati (Committee Member); Michael Coomes (Committee Member); Joshua Lawrie (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education Administration