Dissertation Defense Announcement by Stephanie Van Dellen

This event occurred in the past

Dissertation Defense Announcement by Stephanie Van Dellen

This event occurred in the past

Date and Time

  • Tuesday, April 23, 2019 at 1:00 p.m.


Mother Rosalie Hill Hall, 139

5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110





By: Stephanie Van Dellen


       There are approximately 58 million Millennials working for corporations in the United States. Millennials generally born between the years 1980 to 1995 are said to have been shaped by events such as the invention of the Internet and cell phones. Given that the make up a large percentage of the active workforce, it is important to understand the perceived stereotypes of Millennials and how they may impact their engagement and effectiveness at work.
     This research aims to better understand how managers perceive Millennial employees, how Millennials self-identify with their generational stereotypes, and how they differ from other generations. The dissertation further seeks to better understand the factors that engage Millennials at work. 1,097 employees of two private, service-based organizations participated in the survey that collected information on stereotypes and engagement preferences. The results indicate that managers hold nine of the common Millennial stereotypes (entitled, disloyal, lazy, creative, multi-taskers, passionate, wanting work/life balance, needy, and sensitive) while Millennials’ view themselves as passionate, multi-taskers, who value work-life balance. Further, Millennials who identify as Millennials saw themselves as less creative and placing less value on work-life balance than Millennials who do not self-identify as Millennials. When compared to other generations, Millennials only differ in their responses to the following stereotypes: entitled, lazy, needy, creative, and passionate. Finally, the relationship between eleven engagement practices and stereotypes, controlling for role in the organization (manager vs. non-manager), generation, gender, and highest level of education is presented in regression models. Key findings indicate that the more an individual self-identifies as a multi-tasker, the less likely they are to want a flexible schedule and ability to dress casually in the workplace. Also, those who self-identified as sensitive, have a decreased desire for healthy team competition.
     This study indicates that not all Millennials see themselves as exhibiting the commonly held stereotypes and confirms previous studies that managers hold specific stereotypes of Millennials. Additionally, building upon previous studies and the results suggest that Millennials’ self-identification is not as consistent as expected. Moreover, recognizing how an employee self-identifies with the stereotypes can aid managers in employing specific practices to increase engagement.    



*Note: Dissertation defense is open to USD faculty, students, staff and alumni.

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