Thea Tselepis
Abstract
The ‘hustle culture’ is a phenomenon that is embraced by Generation Z. Generation Z is hustling for economic survival, but those who are in their early careers are also choosing to take part in by the so-called ‘quiet quitting’ movement (disengaging) to pursue their own passion projects on the side. What this ‘hustle culture’ entails from an entrepreneurship/intrapreneurship point of view is unclear. This paper aims to explore ‘hustle culture’ as it relates to Generation Z and their entrepreneuring to make recommendations for entrepreneurship education. A qualitative approach was used to explore 34 media sources that were trending between 2020 and 2023 around the ‘hustle culture’ of Generation Z. Two main themes were identified from the data set: 1) making work and 2) making it work. Findings indicate that Generation Z is redefining ‘the hustle’ to make their work-life balance work for them and also to create meaningful jobs. Implications for entrepreneurship education are that skills and competencies around problem solving that enable students to innovatively balance work and life may be required for current and future entrepreneuring.