Gen Z: The Most Rejected Generation?

By Claire Grusin | May 19, 2025

Yesterday, I was fortunte enough to host Miso Partners' own Brandon Morphew in my Senior Capstone Marketing Course (MRKT499) at Oregon State University College of Business. And, while we did kvell about Generative AI and voice-to-text search optimization, what stuck with me most was what happened in the zoom chat.
For context, if asked whether they would do x or y, my students reply to the chat within seconds.
Brandon was talking about overcoming fear and the discomfort of failure as imperative for success. So, we asked the class, "What are you afraid of?"
It was total crickets. Like, all of the crickets. Maybe every cricket on earth. The radio silence did, in fact, speak for itself. I tried to be light-hearted "No one is afraid of anything?" I said. More crickets. Case in point.

As if the universe picked up on this very void, just hours later, "The New York Times published this op-ed: "We are the Most Rejected Generation." I can't help but think this is part of issue.
David Brooks' op-ed speaks of brilliant, over-qualified college seniors who have applied to more than 350+ jobs, getting rejected from every single one of them. Is conditioned rejection likely to result in disuasion and disillusionment, or even worse, total apathy and paralysis? Are our advances in technology to blame? How can we tell students to take risks, knowing that statistically, rejection is a more likely outcome? I mean, would you want to jump in that pool?

To answer, "what are you afraid of?" you have to be vulnerable. To be vulnerable you have to feel safe to take risks. If the voice of rejection is given an out-sized megaphone in a young person's life, can it inhibit deep questions and critical thinking? What will be the long term effects of this conditioned rejection on their career ambitions and the greater economy? To Gen Z, may you be fearless, and immune from lazy employer communication. A very interesting read, indeed.