NYU’s Jonathan Haidt (SHS '81) explains the problem with Gen Z

On the latest episode of Pivot, NYU’s Scott Galloway spoke to his colleague from the Stern School of Business, Jonathan Haidt, the co-author of The Coddling of the American Mind.

In the book, Haidt and his co-author Greg Lukianoff argue that Generation Z — the group born after 1995 — have been raised to avoid taking risks and to earn “prestige points” by objecting to subjectively controversial jokes in the workplace. He claimed college professors like him are now walking on “eggshells” because they’re afraid of being reported and shamed by their students.

“My prediction is that all the problems that we have on campus, the endless conflicts over words and clothing and food, these endless conflicts are coming to you in corporate America,” Haidt said. “Depends on the industry; I hear they’re already there in journalism and tech actually, but I think they’re gonna enter just about every industry. I mean, maybe not mining or something, but any industry that hires smart kids from the elite schools, especially in the Northeast and West Coast, is going to be importing this conflictual attitude.”

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