How Students Have Changed In The Last Decade

Young people always stand for progress and changes. It is especially noticeable today when students take a very active part in political and social shifts. Why wouldn’t they? This world is clearly imperfect yet, so it is our job to take things under control and offer some changes. However, any past generation would not be ready to become a student in today’s world. The cultural difference between the generations would be rather shocking in this scenario. 

Modern students have changed the campus culture so much that it resembles the society of the future more than it does of the past. Here are some of the major changes that one can notice in students of the present that were not there a decade ago. 

Openness about mental health

Not so long ago, the conversation about mental health was a strict and terrible taboo. You shouldn’t have spoken about it at all, and if people did, they used a highly judgmental and negative tone. This is no longer true for the current generation of students. We understand the importance of mental health. After all, this is why we have days off and things like speedy paper discount, for particularly hard days. Also, we understand the need to talk about those issues to relieve the stigma from this conversation completely. 

Overall, social acceptance of mental health conversation has come a long way. In this era, students know that they can talk about being depressed or anxious without fear of being misunderstood or bullied. 

Conversation about gender 

The open conversation about gender and all its variety (or even necessity) is surely something rather new to colleges, though not so new to the students. The current generation has surely largely expanded people’s understanding and awareness about gender. Modern students can enjoy bigger freedom than those of the past when it comes to gender expression and its fluidity. 

Moreover, today colleges teach more females than they had ever had before. This change is the result of strong feminist movements of the past, of course. It is also a reflection of greater social changes of the present, where more women are willing to have a career rather than following the traditional expectations.   

Inclusiveness 

When we talk about inclusiveness and tolerance, the world is far from what we would like it to be, but way better than it used to be in the past. So it is fair to say that we have already achieved a lot of progress, though merely enough to stop. Students these days are a great example of inclusiveness. We don’t rush to judge. We don’t encourage bullying, and we are definitely not ready to put up with things like sexism, racism, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination. 

In general, it is fair to say that today's students are much less about conformity and more about self-expression. We can tell it by the way young people dress for classes, talk to each other, and express their thoughts, beliefs, and ideas. These days, students are more willing to stand by the truth they believe in and support others in their fight against injustice. That’s why students and activism have become almost inseparable in recent years. 

Diversity

Overall, this generation of students is a pure celebration of diversity. If in previous generations minorities would usually make less than 20% of the total number, then these days they make almost a half. Though, it is not all about different races and ethnicities. Age diversity is also on the rise. More people over 25 are enrolling in colleges for the first time. Plus, once again, in today’s college, there are many women, if not just slightly more, than there are males. Modern students are on their way to build true equity on campuses. 

Working students

With all the positive changes we have just covered, it would be fair to acknowledge some downsides as well. For one, these days, there are more working students than ever before. This is probably one of the reasons why expertwriting.org reviews and similar sites are growing in popularity. Yes, the current generation of students usually has to work to keep up with the student debt. 

Getting a higher education is getting increasingly expensive and financially challenging. Not many people are ready to even consider college due to that fact. These days, more than half of the students must combine their studies with part-time jobs. 

Also, it’s not just the cost of the education that forces young people to seek jobs during their college years. In this modern age, colleges produce way more graduates than there are open positions for new specialists. Hence, those who want to build a career need to start working on that resume early on in their studies.