Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
A Multigenerational Workforce
written by
Valeria J. Martinez
Age diversity in today’s workforce is the widest in our nation’s history, which means many of us experience employees representing five generations working side-by-side. Commonly called a "multigenerational workforce," the country finds itself in a situation where several generations are working together. Those groups are:
- Silent Generation (Traditionalists) — born 1928–1945
- Baby Boomers — born 1946–1964
- Generation X — born 1965–1980
- Generation Y (Millennials) — born 1981–1996
- Generation Z — born 1997–2012
"In the College of Fine Arts community, we not only work alongside a multigenerational community, but we also serve one," said CFA Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Valeria J. Martinez. Helping all generations to coexist, now and into the future, is one goal Martinez has for CFA, and she has enlisted outside speakers to help.
In October 2022, Dax-Devlon Ross, anti-racist scholar and practitioner, engaged the CFA community in a conversation about generational gaps and their impact on our environment. He discussed distinctions regarding what younger generations want and need, as well as what elders want and need.
In his research, he suggested that younger generations desire:
- information and communication (timely and transparent);
- decision-making, input and agency (authenticity and trust);
- career advancement (clarity and opportunity);
- compensation (fairness);
- equitable access to resources (PD, tools, staffing); and
- equitable, accessible policies and procedures (benefits, etc.).
He argued that older generations want:
- recruiting and hiring diverse candidates;
- being more inclusive in certain processes;
- mitigating implicit bias;
- mitigating microaggressions;
- avoiding “call outs” and “cancellation”; and
- tapping into the race equity economy.
Ross provided two significant pieces of information from his workshop. First, he said, all parties need to distinguish between adaptive and technical problems.
"Technical problems can be resolved through current knowledge, but adaptive challenges require us to challenge ourselves to learn, grow and shift our priorities and tactics," he said. "Unfortunately, we tend to seek resolution of all challenges through technical frames."
His second point focused on people acknowledging the role identity plays in how they see different situations. In other words, it isn’t just age that affects our focus; it’s how age intersects with other social identities.
"Nationally, shifts are taking place across education," Martinez said. "We know this to be true by recent laws under review — cases at the United States and Supreme Court levels — as well as state and local policies in curriculum design. If we are to lead the nation in emotional intelligence and research, we must take age and other social identities into consideration when we aim to teach, learn, engage and connect."
