Millennials and leadership: a systematic literature review

Abstract

In this article, we report on the findings of a systematic review of the literature on leadership and the Millennial generation (alternatively known as Generation Y). The purpose of this systematic review was to further our understanding of this cohort by exploring how Millennials are defined and understood within the leadership literature. We reviewed a ‘bounded set’ of journal articles (n = 162) published between 2000 and 2018. Data analysis focused on analysing identified modal trends as well as examining patterns of knowledge production. This article begins by situating our review in previous generational and leadership research. It then moves on to outline the method of review adopted, and our key findings. We reflect on the implications of these key findings for the recruitment, retention and professional development of Millennial leaders (both current and future). The paper concludes by identifying a series of issues requiring further research, discussion and debate.

Keywords:

• Millennials
• Generation Y
• leadership
• systematic review

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2020.1812380.

Notes

1 The keywords ‘leadership’ and ‘Millennial(s)’ guided our search. Given the exploratory nature of the project, we aimed to conduct an open and inclusive search.