What Can We Learn From #GenZ About Gender and Authenticity?

A few weeks ago, I was a guest on the #GenZ podcast, hosted by my friend and Gen Z researcher Dr. Meghan Grace.

During our conversation, she asked me:

“What is one of your favorite things about Gen Z?”

My response: “I love how Gen Z finds unique ways of expressing their individuality while continuing to celebrate the uniqueness of others. They really have this mindset of:  

‘The more that I get to celebrate me, the more I get to celebrate you.’”

Gen Z has a huge impact on our workplaces and is the generation that is calling for significant changes in our organizations and society at large. They have a value for greater authenticity, social change, and community. They’re impacting the way we think about work, relationships, and especially gender.

In late 2020 and early 2021, Gen Z was the only U.S. generation in which a majority believed there are more than two genders. Additionally, 25% of Gen Zers expect their gender identity to change at least once during their lifetime.

However, many of us in older generations (ugh, I’m so sorry to call us *older*) didn’t grow up with some of the norms and values that this younger generation has.

Most of the time I provide workshops for employers, I’m speaking with Millennials and above.

During my workshops, I often ask participants to reflect on this question:

“When was the first time you learned about gender?”

A few years ago, I had a participant who had something big come up as he examined this question.

He was a cisgender straight man, and he told me that when he was young he loved to make flower arrangements and bake. His mother had a beautiful garden he would slip flowers from and reflected fondly on getting to do this as an activity together.

When he reached high school, however, something changed. His peers made fun of him for these activities. They called him some… not so nice names, questioning his masculinity, leading him to question both his gender and sexuality.

After being called names and experiencing ongoing exclusion from his peers, he stopped doing these things that he so genuinely enjoyed.

As he recounted this experience to me, he realized how gender expectations and expectations of masculinity led him to disconnect from key aspects of himself.

This is a common experience for folks of all gender identities. While many focus on how gender expectations impact trans and gender expansive folks, the reality is that these expectations impact everyone and can lead to us being severed from parts of ourselves that are critical to our authentic joy.

We know that disconnection, whether from ourselves or others, can have a huge impact on how we show up in the world and how we show up at work.

So how do we reconnect with ourselves when this severing has occurred?

Take a listen to the latest episode of the #GenZ podcast where we dive into this exact question.

During the episode, we discussed what it means to be authentic at work, the impact of gender expectations, and the critical role of self-connection in organizational leadership.

Interested in diving deeper into how gender and authenticity impact your organization? Join our TGX+ Inclusion Roundtable for HR, DEI, and ERG leaders. Bring your questions, quandaries, and real-world scenarios for us to work through together.