Los Angeles-based assessment company Criteria recently asked more than 350 hiring managers if they believe people born between 1997 and 2012 are ready for the workforce.
Though few said yes, Emily Sturge of Campus Reform does not think a lack of intelligence is the problem.
"I think it's about a lack of preparation," she tells AFN. "I would say that the education system has failed Gen Z for real life, for the workforce, and for society."
Noting the increase in things like gender and sexualities studies, she thinks what Gen Z is learning in the classroom is evidence of that failure.
"At Harvard, tuition is $87,000 per year for a degree in Women, Gender, and Sexuality studies," Sturge gives as an example. "At Bowling Green State University in Ohio, students can major in pop culture for over $30,000 a year."
She says those are not career pipelines; they are "impractical degrees that are failing to prepare students for the workforce and society."
Another problem is many universities, especially during the COVID lockdowns, made tests like the ACT and SAT optional and began judging students by their gender, sexual orientation, or skin color.
"From kindergarten through college, Gen Z has spent nearly two decades in classrooms where busy work replaced critical thinking and ideological narratives replaced objective learning," Sturge recently wrote. "We were rewarded for participation, not performance, and as a result, young adults lack the ability to think critically or operate independently. Today, many young adults can chant protest slogans but can't draft a professional email."
She says instructors need not stop pushing ideological narratives and stop "handing out A's like candy."
"We need to bring standards back to our education system," Sturge insists. "We need to prioritize meritocracy."
