Gap years are traditionally those brief periods of parental indulgence when we allow post-school adolescents to take a breather before we expect them to enter young-adulthood.
With working life now lasting so much longer gap years are going to start coming up during later life too. A gap to work through the Quarter-life crisis. A gap when my children are born. A gap to further my education. A mid-career retirement gap that I’ll return from and carry on working again…
Tip
Begin to think about top talent who leave your business as going away for a gap period, rather than resigning forever. With this shift in perception think through how you could manage the exit process differently. If you view them not being in your organisation as just a gap away and anticipate that they will come back, how will you engage with them while they are outside of the organisation? What about creating alumni groups for past employees as a way of keeping them engaged with your business, and a platform to pull them back when they, and you, are ready.
Watch Ray in the video below for some information on the Quarter-life crisis.
I like your idea of a gap year or gap quarter at various other periods in one’s life. I think the head of Naspers did that a year or so ago.
But I take a little exception to your description of gap years as ‘parental indulgence’, ‘allowing our children to take a breather’ ‘before they enter young adulthood’. That may be true of some or a few. I can only think of one such example in my experience. Maybe that’s true among the rich in Jhb if that’s where you’re writing from.
In Christian circles back in the 70s the Baptists had a give a year of your life programme, YFC I think had something similar, & coming closer SU had (has?) a year programme in the 2000s for those coming out of school, & the Newfrontiers churches had (& have?) a year programme I think called FYP. Those are probably the tip of the iceberg.
Numerous young Christians from the UK give a year of their life in Africa. Canada has their peace movements, the US is big on mission trips though I don’t know how many do a year after school.
And in the US youngsters volunteering is big & much wider than Christian circles. And in SA out of school youngsters work in schools overseas, do au pairing, work on ski slopes, on golf courses, etc. This is usually hard work not taking a breather. It is growing up into young adulthood.
And some travel for a year seeing the world enlarging their perspective & working on & off to pay their way.
All 4 of my children chose to do a gap year, raised all their funds for the year, left home & served cross-culturally. Katharine taught for a year in a Zulu pre & primary school in Manguzi near the Mozambique border, David worked with SU in underprivileged schools for a year, Jonathan worked in a Newfrontiers church in Harare for a year at nearly the worst time in Zim, & Sarah went on her own 2 days after her 18th birthday to Mumbai just after the Mumbai bombings to work with the Newfrontiers church there, including work in the slums. A huge culture shock for her.
My children did not have a breather, they planned, raised money, went into the unknown, served the poor, developed a sense of justice, became independent, became adults, grew in their faith & then went to UCT & did well.
My point is not to boast about my children; many many others have done similar things in their gap years. My point is that just as you value gap years in business & adult life so we should value our children taking gap years after school. In my days we had to do military service; now the choice is wider. The gap year is to serve, to see the world & other cultures. Taking time off & doing nothing is not a gap year. It is just idleness or not knowing what to do with one’s life. That may be a parental indulgence.
I haven’t taken offence so don’t worry. I do though want to defend the gap year after school as it is intended to be.
Thank you for the time and thought you put into your response to my article. An interesting note is that in 1990 I was on one of the church teams you mentioned – I was on WOW team with the Baptist Union 🙂
On reflection, what stands out to me in your email is the reality that the gap-year concept is not a particularly new one, but has roots going back to the late 20th century. I think national service as a gap year may be stretching the concept a little as it was conscription based with little freedom of choice, it was also restricted to white males.
You make several valid points and I don’t disagree in principle with anything you point out. I do, however, think that the concept has evolved further than what it was in our youth.
The parental indulgence perception relates to the creeping of the gap year window beyond the period after school to now begin to include the period after university, when Millennials have their first job change, and also as a response to the quarter-life crisis. The perceived indulgence is that parents are less likely to resist the additional gaps, but to engage with and enable the gaps. The concept of Millennials as the “Boomerang generation” flying back home in their 30’s is reflective of this trend / trait.
While it is true that for many the gap year is socially invested in activity that leaves a legacy or improves the lives of others – and this social conscience is an important part of the Millennial world view and value system – there is also a narcissistic paradox at work in that they do this because of how it makes them feel too. The social investment activity is primarily a self-development activity. Christian Millennials may have an overarching mission mandate or ethos to the types of activity they choose, but they do so in a way that is sociologically consistent with their generational peers.
Thank you for your interaction on this topic, it does leave me thinking that the title of the article “Re-thinking….” is reinforced by this conversation.
I have really appreciated your tone and open engagement, I look forward to any future interactions on this, and other topics.
I am going to copy your email, and my response, into the comments field of the article on the blog. Please feel free to get back to me directly, or to use that forum to include others in the discussion.
I like your idea of a gap year or gap quarter at various other periods in one’s life. I think the head of Naspers did that a year or so ago.
But I take a little exception to your description of gap years as ‘parental indulgence’, ‘allowing our children to take a breather’ ‘before they enter young adulthood’. That may be true of some or a few. I can only think of one such example in my experience. Maybe that’s true among the rich in Jhb if that’s where you’re writing from.
In Christian circles back in the 70s the Baptists had a give a year of your life programme, YFC I think had something similar, & coming closer SU had (has?) a year programme in the 2000s for those coming out of school, & the Newfrontiers churches had (& have?) a year programme I think called FYP. Those are probably the tip of the iceberg.
Numerous young Christians from the UK give a year of their life in Africa. Canada has their peace movements, the US is big on mission trips though I don’t know how many do a year after school.
And in the US youngsters volunteering is big & much wider than Christian circles. And in SA out of school youngsters work in schools overseas, do au pairing, work on ski slopes, on golf courses, etc. This is usually hard work not taking a breather. It is growing up into young adulthood.
And some travel for a year seeing the world enlarging their perspective & working on & off to pay their way.
All 4 of my children chose to do a gap year, raised all their funds for the year, left home & served cross-culturally. Katharine taught for a year in a Zulu pre & primary school in Manguzi near the Mozambique border, David worked with SU in underprivileged schools for a year, Jonathan worked in a Newfrontiers church in Harare for a year at nearly the worst time in Zim, & Sarah went on her own 2 days after her 18th birthday to Mumbai just after the Mumbai bombings to work with the Newfrontiers church there, including work in the slums. A huge culture shock for her.
My children did not have a breather, they planned, raised money, went into the unknown, served the poor, developed a sense of justice, became independent, became adults, grew in their faith & then went to UCT & did well.
My point is not to boast about my children; many many others have done similar things in their gap years. My point is that just as you value gap years in business & adult life so we should value our children taking gap years after school. In my days we had to do military service; now the choice is wider. The gap year is to serve, to see the world & other cultures. Taking time off & doing nothing is not a gap year. It is just idleness or not knowing what to do with one’s life. That may be a parental indulgence.
I haven’t taken offence so don’t worry. I do though want to defend the gap year after school as it is intended to be.
Thank you for the time and thought you put into your response to my article. An interesting note is that in 1990 I was on one of the church teams you mentioned – I was on WOW team with the Baptist Union 🙂
On reflection, what stands out to me in your email is the reality that the gap-year concept is not a particularly new one, but has roots going back to the late 20th century. I think national service as a gap year may be stretching the concept a little as it was conscription based with little freedom of choice, it was also restricted to white males.
You make several valid points and I don’t disagree in principle with anything you point out. I do, however, think that the concept has evolved further than what it was in our youth.
The parental indulgence perception relates to the creeping of the gap year window beyond the period after school to now begin to include the period after university, when Millennials have their first job change, and also as a response to the quarter-life crisis. The perceived indulgence is that parents are less likely to resist the additional gaps, but to engage with and enable the gaps. The concept of Millennials as the “Boomerang generation” flying back home in their 30’s is reflective of this trend / trait.
While it is true that for many the gap year is socially invested in activity that leaves a legacy or improves the lives of others – and this social conscience is an important part of the Millennial world view and value system – there is also a narcissistic paradox at work in that they do this because of how it makes them feel too. The social investment activity is primarily a self-development activity. Christian Millennials may have an overarching mission mandate or ethos to the types of activity they choose, but they do so in a way that is sociologically consistent with their generational peers.
Thank you for your interaction on this topic, it does leave me thinking that the title of the article “Re-thinking….” is reinforced by this conversation.
I have really appreciated your tone and open engagement, I look forward to any future interactions on this, and other topics.
I am going to copy your email, and my response, into the comments field of the article on the blog. Please feel free to get back to me directly, or to use that forum to include others in the discussion.