The WSJ had a great interview recently with the VP of Industry Relations at the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) about how business schools are adapting to the preferences and quirks of Gen Y. She talks about the same tendencies I've noticed about Gen Y in the workplace ("Memo to Corporate America"), although it's clear to me that some of those tendencies have special significance for MBAs in particular. As I've asked here before: how do you develop leadership in MBA students when they're showing up at orientation with mommy and daddy, even at places like Harvard Business School? What does it mean when a generation of people expects to be doing CEO level work within a few years of graduation and thinks it's above grunt work?
On a related note: I had a conversation with a law school professor the other day who told me, in shock, how a parent had called to argue with her about a grade she had given a student on a contracts exam. I wonder whether those parents are also going to call up and complain to the judge when he rules against little Karen or little Jon on a 12(b)(6) motion? Not to mention that most parents aren't in a position to debate the finer points of contract law with a law school professor (have they even heard of promissory estoppel?), but that's where we are right now. I warned her that she is going to hear from many more parents in the coming years.