PHOTO:MENTATDGT / PEXELS
the YOLO – You Only
Live Once – generation “
“So it seems like prospective students and that Gen Z
audience has been inspired by everything that’s going on in
the world at the moment.”
As unpredictable as the future of the sector seems right
now, the consensus appears to be that students continue
to see value in study abroad and wish to pursue an interna-tional
ISSUE #26 | THE PIE REVIEW | 13
education.
“I witnessed it with the 2008 financial crash and again
with devastation around 9/11: long-term academic students
have amazing resilience,” adds Golding at TAP. “And if study
abroad is part of their career development ambitions and
strategy, many students will be prepared to accept a degree
of risk to further their career – albeit perhaps with online
learning as part of the plan.”
“None of us are sure what education is going to look
like this time next year,” notes Stephens. “I think the key
takeaway is that yes, prospective students are still out there,
they’re still interested, and they’re motivated to learn and be
part of a global solution.
“So for marketers, it’s an opportunity to re-evaluate, fix
gaps in our strategies and to enhance relationships with
our students.”
Gen Z expects to have a
personalised approach and to
be spoken to on a one-to-one
basis, even if it’s automated
But the level to which family figures are involved again co-mes
down to demographics, and also a shift towards career
paths that will give them autonomy, leadership opportunities,
and a chance to prove their dedication to the causes they’re
passionate about.
“In Hong Kong, they call them the YOLO – ‘You Only Live
Once’ – generation,” says Crisp. “These are the students say-ing
to their parents, ‘no, I’m not going to do what you want
me to do. I’m not going to be a doctor or an accountant; I’m
going to do what I want to do.’”
Conversely, Golding at TAP tells The PIE, “every fifth
conversation we have in America, we’re asked about and
how can we help parents who are involved in the decision-making
process”.
“Unlike Indonesia where a lot of students are prepared
to study abroad quite early on or Europe where it’s almost
a rite of passage that students will leave their families to
go to university, in America students have generally stayed
home or continued their schooling in the US, and parents
are traditionally more involved in the college decision
making process.”
As a result, Golding adds, the business has been asked by
several partners whether they can put parental ambassadors
online to talk to the parents of prospects abroad, which TAP
may consider down the line.
And given the catastrophic situation that the sector has
found itself in recent months due to Covid-19, undoubtedly
safety and security will be top of mind for many families
when considering where to send their children abroad for
study in the future.
“Trust is absolutely going to be brought to the fore,”
agrees Crisp at Carrington Crisp. “Institutions and brands
that parents and students feel they can trust because they’ve
seen the way they’ve been behaving or perhaps spoken to
students and alumni there, they’re the ones I think are going
to be successful.”
Additionally, many post-millennials are beginning to shift
their focus towards careers that match this generation’s de-sire
to build a more humane society and a resilient economy.
“We have been examining real-time data to see what cour-ses
people are searching for internationally, and some of the
top searches for courses at the moment are around nursing,
midwifery and paramedic courses as well,” Hickman at
Crunch tells The PIE.
They call them