With the 22nd century in their sights, the newborns of 2025 are turning a new generational page, at the dawn of a life saturated by technology. While their parents often belong to generations Y or Z, they are the initiators of the beta. Relevant ranking or managerial rubbish?
Their counter shows barely a few days of existence, and they are already given the status ofbeings of a “new era”. Since the transition to the year nine, in the four corners of the planet, human births do not just constitute an addition of new isolated lives which are revealed to the world: together, they propel the departure of a new generation. This is what Australian demographer Mark McCrindle postulates, for whom the babies of 2025 thus initiate the development of the beta generation. In 2035, this generation will constitute 16% of the world population. Its representatives will be born until 2039.
Generation Beta: Welcome to an Infusion of Technology
Immersive virtual environments, portable health technologies, acceleration of population growth on a planet where habitability decreases ever fasterlarge-scale autonomous transport… Mark McCrindle identifies a long list of benchmarks charged with societal impact to outline the contours of the beta generation. Although far from being the first to grow up in a highly technological environment, the demographer predicts that the beta generation, in addition to looking at the 22th century as a probable horizon of life, presents the specificity of being immersed in a world where artificial intelligence is structured and no longer emergent. In this respect, it is preparing to experience the physical and technological worlds as merged into a single entity.
At the origin of the literate categories of generations, two authors seem to be identified, Charles Hamblett and Jane Deverson, familiar with the notion of generation historical events or evolving sociotechnical contexts – what sociologist Karl Mannheim calls “the spirit of the times” – lead to sociological dynamics legible by the establishment of successive distinct generations. This is also the point of view of Mark McCrindle, who for his part initiated the use of the Greek alphabet to pursue the categorical approach. “These transitions are not just chronologicalasserts the Australian. The alpha and beta generations differ from previous generations given the total technological integration they experience upon their arrival in the world.”
Generations and age effect
«Distinguishing generations, regardless of the labels we add to them, makes sense from a scientific point of view», Confirms Laura Merla. For the sociologist, professor at UCLouvain and director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Research on Families and Sexualities (CIRFASE), the succession of historical contexts gives scientific relevance to that of distinct generations. Bernard Fusulier, professor of sociology at UCLouvain and FNRS honorary research director, confirms the relevance of generational division, in contrast with the age effect: “The age effect refers to the changes in behavior that occur as individuals age. Sociologists and demographers nevertheless wonder whether what is perceived as an age effect, would not rather be a generational effect. For example, one might think that older people use smartphones less because they are less comfortable with technology, which would be seen as an age effect. In reality, this difference is often better explained by a generation effect, in the sense that today’s older people have grown up and lived much of their lives without smartphones or the Internet. Conversely, the generation labeled “millennials” or “Z,” who grew up with these technologies, will likely continue to use them widely. even as you get older.»
Generations: more than filial successions, sections of centuries
In families, it is more common to describe generations in relative terms. Children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren classically label reasoning and reflections as “compared to youis it a niece or a cousin? In this context, does setting absolute terms, hinges fixed to specific years, make sense? “Dated hinges are a simplification of comfort which make it possible to situate generations in a broader socio-historical context, explains Bernard Fusulier. For researchers, this makes it easier to compare and synthesize the results of different research, sometimes theorizing. However, the important thing is not the date itself, but the more or less defined period which expresses a state of society,” he adds. For the researcher, differentiating between generations can, for example, help to pursue policies linked to observed changes, thanks to the light they shed on the phenomenon. This is the case regarding the general transformation of the relationship to learning and educationwidely debated currently in education-related reforms.
Labels, these designations of uncontrolled origin
“People like to be part of a group,” recalls Sarah De Gieter, work psychologist at the VUB, for whom these generation divisions by letters actually cover “a whole business“. Bernard Fusulier tempers in his turn: “There is a side arbitrary in the fixing of dated hinges and a homogenizing side, hence the need for careful and nuanced use of the concept so as not to tip into the stereotype.” Regarding the beta generation, the sociologist is cautious about the “2025 hinge”, preferring to observe the generations by possibly categorizing them on condition of looking back at the time in question, as is the case when talking about baby-boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964). “I cannot deny that one of the characteristics of this new generation is to be born into a world where artificial intelligence and virtual realities will be common elements,” he admits. The fact remains that depending on the social environment of origin, ethnocultural affiliation, gender, place of life, etc. important internal differentiations in this generation labeled will always be more interesting to analyze.”
Behind the clash of generations, a “sociologists-HRD” clash
Among numerous publications of the genre, a study emphasizes the weight of generational differences in field of work. According to its authors, successive categorized generations do indeed carry very different values, motivations, objectives and behaviors over time. Their investigation shows the existence of tangible hinges located in timecomparable to pivots between generations, with regard to entrepreneurial and managerial approaches. If the construction of generational labels widely echo In research publications related to human resources, some social science researchers take a more critical look at the subject. For sociologists François Pichault and Mathieu Pleyers, this labeling rarely stands up to the test of facts, more often relaying conclusions based on snapshots only basic trends. “The latter can even generate perverse effects for the proper functioning of organizations,” they argue.
Although there are numerous denunciations of “managerial rubbish” or “meaningless commercial bullshit” when mentioning generational categories, the strength of their relay imposes them according to Bernard Fusulier as an object of study, regardless of one’s opinion of it. “If the media even takes hold of them in a critical way, if marketing campaigns mobilize them, if they circulate on social networks, if politicians mention them… they end up anchoring themselves in the collective consciousness and, consequently, become a social phenomenon, that is to say a real subject of study for sociologists.” It remains to question the first representatives of the beta generation, who are still not very talkative to this day.
What changes for which labels? Overview of generations since the interwar period
• 1925-1945: THE builders
Its members have largely built the so-called “modern” societyits institutions, its infrastructure. They were born in the crisis years, heard their parents talk about the First World War and then experienced the Second World War themselves.
• 1946-1964: THE baby-boomers (or boomers)
Their birth coincides in particular with that of the social model of the welfare state and with the aspiration to democracy as a common fortress. They are marked by the economic growth of the 1950s and 1960s, which has tended to shape their attitudes towards consumption, family and the environment.
• 1965-1979: generation X
Two working parents, changing and competitive environments, work as a social engine…it is sometimes referred to as the “lost generation”.
• 1980-1994: Generation Y (or millennials)
She grew up with internet and computing» and with the advent of dominant neo-liberalism. It would initiate a broader consideration of cultural, ethnic or religious diversity. September 11 marked a turning point in the lives of its members by “changing their view of the world.”
• 1995-2009: generation Z
Trained during the period Covid-19it is subject to greater economic and social flexibility. Its members are shaking up the world of work in numbers by demanding more balance between private and professional domains.
• 2010-2024: the Alpha generation
This is the iPad generation, because it appeared from its birth in 2010. It marks the beginning of the existence of a population which evolves in an environment where the technology is fully integrated from the outset and structuring.
• 2025-2039: the beta generation
She is immersed in a world where artificial intelligence is installed and no longer emerging. In this regard, she is preparing to experiment the physical and technological worlds as if merged into a single entity.
