Dr Rebecca Huntley is a researcher and author with a background in publishing, academia and politics. She holds degrees in law and film studies and a PhD in Gender Studies.
Rebecca is a social researcher and an Executive Director of The Mind and Mood Report, Australia's longest running social trends report. She is the author of three books, The World According to Gen Y: Inside the New Adult Generation, Eating Between the Lines: food and equality in Australia, and her most recent memoir, The Italian Girl.
When Rebecca isn’t talking to Australians about their lives, she is working
on her fiction and non-fiction projects, cooking and knitting.
We can’t have it all. Gen Y has seen that
with the Gen X’ers. With this in mind, do you think Gen Y will have a more
lifestyle-orientated approach to career and social goals?
Absolutely.
We are seeing this already in both young men and women in Gen Y even before
they get married and have kids. The desire for a life outside work, activities
that promote health and wellbeing, travel, time with friends, passions and a
like-long commitment to learning.
Gen Y characterizes the notion of the
individual as his or her own brand identity. How do you see this unfolding
within setting of large corporations and companies where you are just a number,
where the individual is discouraged in favor of the collective personality of
the workplace? Do you think there will be cultural and organisational revisions
to allow for this?
Yes,
we can already see this in terms of how consumers, younger and older, are using
social media and creating their own content, lobbying or bypassing big media
and corporations.
On the contrary, do you think the
self-confidence and can-do attitude of Gen Y will see a meaningful shift
towards a more mobile, multi-skilled and self-determined workforce?
Yes
but only the very skilled and very adaptable will thrive in this market. I
worry that those without those skills will get duded along the way.
As a legacy of graduating high school and
university during the decade of the crisis’s, crunches, recessions and
downturns, Gen Y has, it’s fair to say, never experienced economic confidence
that was a fixed feature for the Gen X’ers and Baby Boomers. How do you think
this will result in the decades to come, as Gen Y’s start to become leaders in
politics, business and culture?
The
theory is they will be more flexible and adaptable but again the comment above
still holds true. Will Aussie Gen Y’s still support the idea of a social safety
net for those who aren’t on the upside of the changing economy?
From your observations, what do you think
it takes to be an effective and influential leader in the creative and cultural
industries of today?
Passion.
Education. The ability to take risks. And again, adaptability.
Gemaine Greer’s advice to women is to stop
cleaning, or just do once a month at the most. What’s your advice to young
women, who want big, satisfying careers as well as big, fulfilling lives?
Choose
a supportive partner! Realise there will be tides in your career, big waves and
little ones, so learn how to body surf and don’t get dumped when you aren’t
paying attention. Be honest but assertive with your employer. Lean in as Cheryl
tells us.
Last question, you can choose any piece of
art in the world to own. What will it be?
Guernica.
I would then sell it and fill my house with less expensive but nevertheless
important work by Italian futurists like Giorgio Morandi and Giocoma Balla.
Also a few Emily Kame Kngwarreyes please.
