Bentley University News

With more than 5,000 employees in 60 offices worldwide, marketing-services company Epsilon has a huge opportunity for impact with each of its policies and practices. When the company made the decision to introduce fast-paced raises and promotions in order to attract recent college graduates a few years ago, as recently reported by the Wall Street Journal, people took notice, especially millennials whom Epsilon hoped to recruit.

It seems like whenever older and younger generations try to understand each other, there’s a language barrier. If you’re a parent who has tried to reason with a teen, you understand all too well. It’s also true when it comes to millennials in the workplace, mostly because of the labels that come along with them: entitled, lazy, demanding.

Too often, millennials are condemned for their high expectations on the job, especially by the baby boomers who are doing the hiring. Younger workers want more family time, well-paying jobs, rapid promotions and raises, praise for their performance, respect from colleagues, and the chance to make a difference in the world. (I bet older workers want all that too!) Are millennials being realistic or are they reaching for the impossible dream?

Forthwith, some random thoughts prompted by Bentley’s PreparedU research … ruminations on gender and success, workplace skills, accomplishment, surveys themselves and helicopter parents — even as we begin to turn to “Millennial Minds,” which will move center stage next month.

Traits traditionally associated with gender may be becoming less relevant, and even less accurate.

When it comes to their careers, millennial women want the same thing as men: to be successful. And while the path to success may differ on some levels, the two sides are converging more than we think.

The reality that professional women face subtle biases in the business world has entered the public consciousness of late. A major Hollywood studio bought film rights to Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. A movie based on the gamble that the American public will come out in droves to see a fictionalized version of a powerful woman rising to be chief operating officer at Facebook.

Bentley's PreparedU Project is periodically presenting profiles of companies that are helping themselves by helping women to thrive. Here, Jennifer Allyn, managing director of diversity at PricewaterhouseCoopers, shares how her company creates a culture of open dialogue about what women need to succeed in her organization.  

Bentley’s PreparedU Project will periodically present profiles of companies that are helping themselves by helping women to thrive. Here, Diane Danielson, COO of Sperry Van Ness International Corporation, discusses how her organization advocates for gender balance in leadership.

In this final installment of our seven-week Careers of the Future Series, Fred Ledley, professor of Natural and Applied Sciences and Management as well as director of the Bentley Center for Integration of Science and Industry, explores what exactly it takes for millennial students to prepare for tomorrow's careers — including those can't even be imagined today.