First InSight Report 2002
September 17, 2002
In August 2002, Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology developed the First InSight Report to provide faculty at Canadian colleges and universities with relevant information about the changing perspective of their first-year students. The report summarizes research looking at the attitudes and behaviours of these students including their current culture, education, technology, fashion and demographics.
The report is aimed at helping bridge the generation gap between faculty and first-year students. On average, faculty at Canadian colleges and universities are 49 years of age1, while most students entering college or university in the fall were born in 1983 or 1984, making them between 18 and 19 years of age.
Background
- On average, most of these students spend $500 per month on food (pizza, pop, and fast foods) and clothes2.
- About 58 per cent of Canadian females and 71 per cent of Canadian males in this age group consume alcohol "regularly"3.
- More than half (55 per cent) of these youth have never smoked, however 18 per cent report being daily smokers4.
- About 58 per cent of Canadian youth have made direct financial donations to charities, and 37 per cent volunteer their time at charities - this is the highest volunteer rate of all other age groups in Canada5.
Education
- When these Ontario students were 12 years old, their classrooms began to receive computers from the Ontario government.
- They are the last class to complete Grade 13 (OAC) in Ontario.
Fashion
- Brands that you'll see on fashionable low-slung jeans, zip-up hoodies and retro running shoes include Miss Sixty, Fubu and Puma.
- The grunge look is out in Ontario - rather, teens are wearing baggy designer clothes (from brands such as Lugz) or the clean-cut Roots style.
- '80s fashions are making a comeback - you'll recognize Adidas running shoes, stonewashed jeans and t-shirts with retro-style numbers on 18- and 19-year-olds this fall.
Technology
- These students were born the same year as the Apple Macintosh computer.
- They have never had the opportunity to take a typing class, but rather are proficient in "keyboarding".
- They were born five years after Asteroids and Space Invaders were introduced as the first mainstream video games, and even after Pac Man and Ms. Pac Man invaded video consoles.
Current Culture
- Some of the bands featured in this group's MP3 files (CD's - How '90's!) include: Pink, Simple Plan, Sum41, The Strokes, Alien Ant Farm and Moby.
- Film stars popular amongst this group include: Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbor), Julia Stiles (Save the Last Dance), Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen (Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones).
- On Tuesday nights, young women tune in their TVs to Gilmore Girls and are then joined by their brothers, friends, and even parents to watch Smallville. Other popular television shows include Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and reality shows such as The Osbournes.
- Most of the new students in college classrooms this fall will have seen the films Spider Man, Scooby Doo and Goldmember (Austin Powers) over the summer.
Nostalgia
- These first-year students were born at least five years after Wayne Gretzky's rookie year in the NHL.
- They have never known a world without HIV and AIDS.
- They were a year old when Pierre Elliott Trudeau resigned as Prime Minister.
- They were born at least three years after Terry Fox was forced to end his marathon of hope.
- They have never lived without the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which was enacted in 1982.
- The oldest of this group was only three years old when the space shuttle Challenger blew a few seconds after takeoff.
- They were six years old when the Berlin Wall came down.
- These university and college first-year students are younger than Diet Coke.
- This cohort was in grade 10 when the Columbine High School massacre took place.
- "The number one song when they were born was "When Doves Cry" by Prince.
- Ali" is a movie, not the name of a legendary boxer. To this generation, Ali has always been retired.
- "E. T. Phone Home" is a phrase only heard in the cinemas this spring - the original film was released before they were born.
- And, they have never been afraid of Jaws while at the beach.
Sharon Loverock, PhD. and Senior Research Officer, Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology conducted the research for this report during August 2002.
References:
- Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, Trends, The Canadian University in Profile, 1999.
- Canadian Securities Administrators, www.csa-avvm, April 2001.
- Statistics Canada, Guide to Health Statistics, Catalogue No. 82M0009XCB.
- Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2000/01.
- Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, 2000.
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