Date
8-20-2026
Department
School of Communication and the Arts
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Strategic Media (PhD)
Chair
Andrea Towers Scott
Keywords
symbolic interactionism, theory of organizing, workplace conflict, Baby Boomers, Generation Z, sensemaking, qualitative research, workplace collaboration, communication styles
Disciplines
Communication
Recommended Citation
Harvey, Cynthia P., "Bridging the Gap: Understanding Intergenerational Workplace Conflict and Collaboration between Baby Boomers and Gen Zers" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8720.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8720
Abstract
Today’s information technology (IT) workplaces include Baby Boomer and Gen Z employees whose differing communication experiences and interpretations may contribute to misunderstanding, equivocality, conflict and challenges in collaboration. The problem examined in this study was the limited understanding of how Baby Boomers and Gen Zers interpret and negotiate meaning in everyday communication and how differences in sense-making through the processes of organizing and symbolic meaning-making may generate equivocality and ambiguity that were perceived as missed deadlines and enhanced work processes. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how Baby Boomer and Gen Z IT professionals experienced, interpreted and negotiated intergenerational workplace communication and how these meaning-making and sense-making processes influenced conflict and collaboration. The study was framed primarily by the sociocultural tradition of communication and secondarily by the phenomenological tradition. Weick’s theory of organizing served as the primary theoretical framework and symbolic interactionism served as the secondary theoretical framework. Using a constructivist-interpretivist qualitative design, semi-structured interviews were conducted through Microsoft Teams with 20 IT professionals, including 10 Baby Boomers and 10 Gen Z participants. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis with open and axial coding, facilitated by NVivo and Microsoft Excel. Findings indicated that participants sometimes experienced equivocality when they assigned different meanings to communication channels, technical terminology, documentation practices and workplace expectations. Participants described clarification, patient and active listening, detailed documentation, trust, mentoring and adaptive communication practices as supporting shared understanding, meaning negotiation and intergenerational collaboration within their workplace experiences.
