Challenging-Ageism

 

Ageism: It catches up with you

Biased beliefs or assumptions held by others mean that our physical characteristics, for example gender, appearance, or ethnicity, have the potential to be a huge advantage or disadvantage in the workplace. One such characteristic with the potential to affect virtually all employees during their working lives is age. Ageism has been defined as “stereotypes, prejudice, or discrimination against (but also in favor of) people because of their chronological age”. While ageism can be positive or negative for an individual, ageism generally has negative connotations. The typical experience of ageism is U-shaped across the lifetime, with both the youngest and oldest workers more likely to suffer from age-based discrimination. That said, how harmful it is to be outside the optimal ‘middle age’, will vary by role, industry, and the economic environment at the time.

It is often not just one’s age that matters. Intersectionality with gender, race or other characteristics can also play a key role. Research covering nine European countries found that access to training opportunities was affected by the interaction of both age and gender, with older female workers the most disadvantaged. A separate study found rates of downward mobility from managerial and professional jobs were higher among older workers who were African-American relative to their white counterparts.

What drives ageism and how harmful is it?

Multiple studies have linked age-based discrimination to negative beliefs and assumptions. Younger employees can be perceived as lazy, less reliable, less conscientious, less organized, selfish and poorly motivated simply because of their age. As a result, they can be overlooked for training opportunities, greater responsibilities, and promotions. Younger workers also tend to receive lower pay and benefits relative to similarly experienced older workers, and to be more at risk of layoff during a downturn.

Turning to older workers, which is where the bulk of the research on ageism has focused to date, a review by Harris, which aggregated findings from 43 separate research papers, demonstrated that it is common for older workers to face stereotyping in the workplace. The review noted that the assumptions made about older workers can be favorable. They can be seen as more reliable, more loyal, and as having a stronger work ethic. However, Harris et al. found that it was far more common for older workers to face negative stereotypes; including perceptions that they are less adaptable, lack physical capabilities, have limited technological competence, are less trainable and are resistant to change. These negative stereotypes, although they are largely unfounded, persist and result in significant discrimination. Older workers are less likely to be shortlisted for interviews, hired, offered training opportunities, or promoted. Older workers who lose their jobs tend to be unemployed for longer, and may end up taking lower skilled, lower paid jobs as a result.

The presence of negative age-related stereotypes does not only result in direct discrimination. It can also result in worker underperformance, even for employees who have previously performed strongly. This can occur through two routes – one external and one internal. The external route occurs when an older worker becomes so worried about confirming a negative age-based stereotype that it impedes their ability to focus, causing their performance to suffer. Thus, a vicious spiral is created, and the stereotype becomes self-fulfilling. The internal route occurs when the worker internalizes a stereotype via repeated exposure to it. If you grow up continuously hearing that older people are less competent, when you become older, you might believe that you are now less competent. Such internalized stereotypes create self-imposed constraints. The impact of such age-related stereotypes, whichever route they stem from, is not trivial. They have been shown to cause damaging psychological and physiological changes, ranging from a deterioration in memory and weaker cognitive performance to poorer cardiovascular stress responses.

How can ageism be addressed?

Among countries with ageing populations, raising retirement ages, and extending working lives is widely viewed as an economic necessity. Age diversity in workplaces is higher than ever, with up to four generations working alongside each other. Against this backdrop, it is critical that organizations consider how to ensure that their workplace is inclusive for all age groups and that the individual, interpersonal and organizational harms that can otherwise occur are avoided. Given the complexity of this issue, the most successful initiatives will probably be those that take a systematic and wide-ranging approach.

- Alok Singh