How do millennials learn and why does this matter to aviation academies? This article looks at the specifics of the younger generation. What drives them and what are their specific learning patterns? And how do aviation academies need to adapt to attract the best of them and to qualify them most effectively?
It is commonly known that not everyone learns the same way, and this is where the concept of learning styles come in by grouping common ways that people learn. Each person may have different preferences for how they learn that can be a mixture of different learning styles. Some may have a dominant learning style and use less of other styles or choose other styles depending on the circumstance. Members of certain age groups are also prone to having similar learning styles. One such group in the millennial generation and this is something that aviation academies should be paying attention to attract and retain students.
How Do Millennials Learn and Why Does This Matter to Aviation Academies?
The demand for new aviation professionals over the next decade expected to reach an all-time high. Now the focus is on how to attract and retain millennial students to fill expected vacancies due to baby boomer retirements and expansion within the industry as it continues to rapidly grow.
The millennial generation has surpassed baby boomers as the largest generation of workers in the workforce today. And with this, there is a noticeable change in the work perspective of this group and its members’ preferred methods of learning. Traditional workplace training is not really suited to millennials’ distinctive learning style in which microlearning and on-demand / mobile learning are preferred learning styles of this generation that differs from the styles baby boomers use.
For example, traditional training methods, such as classroom training has been common for baby boomers who are used to memorizing larger amounts of information. This group is used to working in large, hierarchical businesses, and having the ability and willingness to work long hours.
On the other hand, millennials have grown up in a world with the internet and access to mobile phones. This group is more tech-savvy, but it also has a shorter attention span. Millennials are highly interactive, and this is something training centers need to keep in mind when attempting to attract students.
Tools for Aviation Learning That Are Attractive to Millennials
In preparing for the expected influx of millennial students into the aviation industry, training centers need to be prepared with learning tools and programs that are attractive to millennials and their distinctive learning needs because millennials prefer interactive learning and prefer to be engaged with responsive technology which can help keep them focused. Such learning tools include simulators and NextGen radar training equipment that are scalable to meet the training needs of various aviation professions.
References and Further Reading
- Learn more about attracting and qualifying Millennials for ATCO and ATSEP (2019-today), by Dawn Turner, Dennis Vasilev, Ulrich Scholten, Peter Green and more
