Ageism could be defined as the stereotyping of people or particular groups based on their age. According to Todd Nelson (2004), ageism is a socially constructed way of thinking concerning the negative attitudes as well as stereotyping of the age of older people. This socially constructed way of thinking tends to structure the society based on the provision that everybody is young. The context of this social construction could assume a tripartite view that is based on mechanisms such as the attitudes of individuals concerning their prejudices, their discriminative tendencies and stereotyping (Hinton, 2013). At the foundation of stereotyping are the impulse of individuals to assign different events and people to meaningful classes that have been established from their beliefs and expectations.
The population in developed nations, including the United States is aging. This trend is anticipated to continue into the future. The demographic shift has an impact on the workforce in the sense that the average age of employed individuals is increasingly becoming age diverse (Parry & Tyson, 2011). For this reason, there is a generational gap in the contemporary workplace. The generational gap can create significant issues to an organization is misguided attitudes, behaviors, and biases, regarding the age of employees in the workplace, can lead to ageism (Cadiz, Pytlovyany, & Truxillo, 2017). The issue can be a derivative of the discrimination against as well as the stigmatization of individuals based on their age. In this case, older workers are more likely to struggle to find employment, to receive training, engage in career development opportunities. These provisions might inhibit older people from advancing their careers since prospective employers discriminate against them.
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Various studies have identified differences in stereotypes associated with older workers. In this case, some of the common stereotypes that can be identified, all of which are commonly associated with older workers are inclusive of poor work performance, resistance to change, having a reduced ability to learn, being more dependable on other workers, and having a short tenure in the workplace (Cadiz, Pytlovyany, & Truxillo, 2017). The stereotypes are largely associated with the cognitive categorizations between a group and interpersonal interactions. However, the stereotypes remain to be persuasive, consequently influencing the decision making and relational processes that affect older workers. For instance, Cadiz, Pytlovyany, and Truxillo (2017) posit that in the United States, job interviewers rely on age stereotypes when they are cognitively distracted. Their reliance on age stereotypes affects the general evaluation of a candidate for a particular position in an organization.
The persistent discrimination of individuals in different workplaces based on their age led to the passing of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) that banned age-based discrimination in employment (Rothenberg & Gardner, 2011). However, it is vital to take note of the idea that universal acceptance of the definition of old age is nonexistent. Even though Americans are not likely to consider themselves as old people after reaching 40 years, the implementation of ADEA begins at that age. Regardless of the implementation of these protections at this point, estimations on the pervasiveness in age discrimination in employment are difficult. One of the court cases that could be cited to indicate that ageism is becoming a significant issue in the United States is the case filed against Staples Contract and Commercial Inc. by Bobby Dean Nickel in the year 2016.
In Nickel v. Staples, a jury awarded the respondent, a 66-year-old man, $26 million after finding that he was discriminated against as well as harassed by his supervising managers based on his age. After losing his job at Corporate Express, he secured employment as a facilities manager at Staples. Even though the pay scale was higher at his former place of employment than the pay scale at Staples, Nickel filed a complaint against the managers in the company, claiming that they wanted to discharge the older and higher paid employees. After being prompted to resign, the managers made several false accusations against him, a factor that increased the level of harassment he received from the manager and the co-workers. The harassment included his suspension for taking pepper from the company’s cafeteria. In spite of his known history as a hardworking and ethical employee, he was terminated in the year 2011. The court entered a judgment against the defendants, in this case, Staples Inc.
To conclude, it is vital to point out that ageism in the United States has received much attention from researchers, employers, and other different institutions. The increased attention from different workplaces is related to the provision that organizations are facing an increasingly age-diverse workforce. The age diversity in the different workplaces is increasingly influencing age-related biases, behavior, as well as attitudes from different employees. An example of the manner in which ageism affects the current workplace has been provided, including the details of a court case that was based on ageism. These examples prove that the idea of ageism has led to the development of different issues in the workplace environment.
References
Cadiz, D., Pytlovany, A., & Truxillo, D. (2017). Ageism in the Workplace. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology . doi: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.2
Hinton, P. R. (2013). Stereotypes, Cognition, and Culture. Psychology Press.
Nelson, T. D. (2004). Ageism: Stereotyping and prejudice against older persons . Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Parry, E., & Tyson, S. (2011). Managing an age-diverse workforce . New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Rothenberg, J. Z. & Gardner, D. S. (2011). Protecting Older Workers: The Failure of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 38 (2), 9-30.
