Millennials’ Expectations of Life at the University and the Workplace: A Malaysian Perspective

Abstract

<p>This study examined the millennial’s expectations of life at the university and the workplace.<br />Questionnaire data were obtained from 142 students aged 20 to 24 in a Malaysian public<br />university from different disciplines. The results showed that most of the participants were<br />highly feedback oriented and expected instant face-to-face feedback from their lecturers,<br />particularly when in emails. They relied on lecture notes to understand the lectures, but would<br />also look for supplementary reading materials. They expected lecturers to deliver interesting<br />lectures but would attend boring lectures to comply with lecture attendance rules. The results<br />also suggest that many participants would not sacrifice their personal time to meet either<br />assignment or work deadlines because they expected deadline extensions. Although the<br />participants preferred positive comments, they also expected to be reprimanded for<br />unsatisfactory work performance. They also expected a fair amount of individual work<br />compared to group work at the workplace. The findings suggest that the participants<br />generally had realistic expectations of university and work life.</p>