Gen Z, are you ready to be the change?

Augustina Tetsola, Animo Associate and Divorce Coach shares her experience of raising two young Gen Z women in an ever-changing world.

I arrived in the UK in 1974 as the child of immigrant parents from Nigeria. My parents placed enormous value on the power of education to transform lives for the better and to improve the world.

I am now the proud mother of two young women aged 20 and 22. I have strived to instil in my daughters the same values of self-belief and aspiration that my parents instilled in me. However, the world is changing. Covid has drastically changed our outlook on life. Extreme climate events are increasingly common. A recession is looming. Investment in youth services is drastically falling. Social media threatens our critical thinking. My Gen Z daughters have a tough road ahead where their resilience will be stretched.

Yet the 2022 Deloitte report states that Gen Zs and Millennials are tired of being resilient. They want support. They are “deeply worried about the state of the world. They are fighting to reconcile their desire for change with the demands and constraints of everyday life. They are struggling with financial anxiety, while trying to invest in environmentally sustainable choices. They feel burned out, but many are taking on second jobs, while pushing for more purposeful- and more flexible- work.” They want genuine change.

The values and pathways that I share with my daughters are intended to strengthen their resilience and prepare them for increasing, continuous change on a global level. Despite the adversities they face, they are still able to see the good in all of this. They know how purpose and service can lead to change for the better. This is what makes me so proud of them.

The Deloitte report also shows that young people want jobs that match their values and beliefs. They don’t necessarily need to follow the traditional educational pathways. As the world is getting tougher to navigate, supporting young people to amplify their voice is more important now than ever.

Below are some opportunities for young people to amplify their voice, create influence and personal power through learning, development and fulfilling work.

Princes Trust runs free programmes and mentoring schemes to help develop young peoples’ skills and confidence to start a career or business.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award supports personal and career development, as can be seen by the fact that several businesses have integrated the award into their apprenticeship programmes. Read people’s personal experiences here.

T levels apprenticeships launched in 2020 are technical based qualifications to follow GCSEs. They offer students practical and knowledge based learning at school or college or on the job experience through industry placement.

Shout Out UK is the ‘multi-award winning home of political and media literacy’.

“Give young people a greater voice. They are the future and they are much wiser than we give them credit for” – Desmond Tutu

Written by Animo associate Augustina Tetsola. You can follow her on LinkedIn