Teen Subcultures & Management

Reflecting on teen subcultures allows for the opportunity to discuss the potential impact teen subcultures have on valuing diversity, how they bond diverse people together and help them understand one another, and discover how they can also result in the formation of cliques and foster stereotypes. By discussing these developmental, teenaged experiences; long-term, adult social impacts can then be concluded. Such conclusions can then be applied to the workplace to address the following questions: What are the challenges for organizations that are seriously attempting to value diversity? What are the benefits to these organizations? How do organizations train people about cultural and subcultural differences without falling into stereotyping?
Teen subculture experiences can result in individual value of diversity. The common theme among teen subcultures seems to be the feeling of belonging. Although, the general environment of schools may not be very diverse, for example some schools are predominately made up of African American or Caucasian students; subcultures can allow for some degree of diversity by bringing together teenagers of different cultures, demographics or personal differences. For instance, in the subculture of the “in-crowd,” popular students were more interested in partying than achieving good grades. This common focus can allow for teenagers with varying cultural backgrounds, financial situations or personalities to experience diversity and therefore appreciate individual differences because of being brought together with something in common.
Teen subculture experiences can also bond diverse people together and help them understand one another. Another example of being brought together due to common interests, the “grunge” subculture brought students together that commonly appreciated similar music and art. For those that were artists, art classes often brought numerous subcultures together and thus bonds were formed through the common