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Reviews
Generation on a Tightrope: A Portrait of Today's College Student by Diane R. Dean, Arthur Levine
bloodravenlib's review against another edition
2.0
I gave this book two stars not because it was bad but because a lot of it is redundant. If you work in education, and you have been doing so for a while, you probably already know a lot of what has been written in this book. When I started reading it, my initial reaction was, "do we really need another book on the Millenial students and how different they are and how they have to be treated with kids' gloves because they have been coddled all their lives? How clueless can administrators and educators be on a topic that, to be honest, has been tossed around and dissected for a while now?" So, unless you have been living under a rock for a while, you can safely skim this book for the few good insights it has and move on to other things.
At times they can't even get their generational labels right, such as what is commonly agreed to be Generation X versus Generation Y for example (at least the sources they use for their definitions do not seem to be the best based on all the others I have seen and read, and I have read a lot in my line of work). I think at that point the authors were just grasping at labels to make the point that a generation is hard to label. Yes, we get it.
I did take some notes because I often found myself arguing with the authors or just plain wondering about some things. I will likely post those to my blog soon. However, for now, I will say the book is ok, but it is not great. The authors are drawing on a more recent study of undergraduates that covers them after the Great Recession of 2008, but again, it is stuff that we have heard before. A lot of it has already been on the news even. So, unless you really need a primer on this topic, you can probably skip this book. However if you do need a reminder, this may be a book for you.
At times they can't even get their generational labels right, such as what is commonly agreed to be Generation X versus Generation Y for example (at least the sources they use for their definitions do not seem to be the best based on all the others I have seen and read, and I have read a lot in my line of work). I think at that point the authors were just grasping at labels to make the point that a generation is hard to label. Yes, we get it.
I did take some notes because I often found myself arguing with the authors or just plain wondering about some things. I will likely post those to my blog soon. However, for now, I will say the book is ok, but it is not great. The authors are drawing on a more recent study of undergraduates that covers them after the Great Recession of 2008, but again, it is stuff that we have heard before. A lot of it has already been on the news even. So, unless you really need a primer on this topic, you can probably skip this book. However if you do need a reminder, this may be a book for you.
selinamarcille's review against another edition
3.0
This book didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. It was very readable, but I didn't find it really enlightening.
poetkoala's review against another edition
3.0
Easy to read. In some ways, it confirms a lot of stereotypes about this generation of college students. According to the years they're talking about, that includes me which makes me sad and defensive.
suzannemsabol's review against another edition
3.0
For required reading it wasn't so bad. It makes me fear for the future though. YIKES!
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