Solange Lopes* says ageism is the most pervasive form of discrimination against individuals in the workplace and it predominantly affects women.
Have you ever taken a look at the Forbes Under 30 or Forbes Under 40 lists, as you ponder the fact that you need your own list for your own age group?
Do you sometimes (or often) wonder as you climb up the age ladder if you will continue to climb up your own ladder of fulfillment and success as you age?
Or does ageing for the working woman mean that you are giving up on continued career growth and purpose?
These are all questions you may have asked yourself.
I know I have.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ageism as “prejudice or discrimination against a particular age-group and especially the elderly”.
Among the various types of discriminations, including diversity-based, gender-based, and racial discrimination, ageism is actually the most pervasive form against individuals, especially in the workplace.
A whopping 44 per cent of employees reporting experiencing age discrimination, and over US$810.4 million was paid by employers to settle age discrimination-related charges with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
This type of discrimination also predominantly affects women.
Despite the existence of legislation outlawing age discrimination, related discriminatory violations are still rampant in the workplace.
According to the Harvard Business Review, women in their mid-fifties are faced with new, and demeaning, biases in the workplace, including the assumption that their age is making them more tired and less interested in their work.
As a result, they’re being forced out of work at an age where they are still flourishing.
Despite laws targeting age discrimination, women over 50 still struggle with the pressure to maintain their credibility and relevance, especially in industries where women are judged by their external appearance.
You don’t even have to reach your fifties these days to feel the pressure.
Just scrolling through glossy Instagram profiles filled with younger and younger women flaunting photoshopped bodies and borrowed wisdom quotes is enough to make you apprehend the passing of time in your own life and career.
I know when I look at the next 10 or 20 years, a whole new set of questions and doubts haunt me, some of which are a normal part of ageing, while others are imposed by a society that treats ageing with disdain.
What I, and so many other women (because the reality is, we’re all ageing), want to hear more about are ways in which we still can (and are encouraged to, well in our forties, fifties, sixties, and beyond) have fulfilling, successful careers and lives.
We want to show our colleagues what it looks and feels like to gracefully thrive with age.
What we want is more organisations and governments to set up the appropriate systems and infrastructure to foster the flourishing of more working women beyond hurtful and damaging ageing stereotypes.
There are a few ways you and I can participate in this movement.
Acknowledging and pointing out the problem in our own organisations
Ageism manifests in many ways, some more subtle than others.
From job ads that fail to use age-inclusive language, instead referring to new, non-inclusive terminology such as “digital native” (which refers to an individual born or brought up during technology’s age), to lack of training on related discrimination, many (if not most) organisations are dropping the ball when it comes to preventing and remedying ageism.
This is without mentioning open and blatant instances of age discrimination that may happen right in front of us.
As working women, we can help by identifying these instances and offering solutions.
How about transition paths being offered to older working women, instead of simply unceremoniously booting them out of the workplace with semi-compensating retirement packages?
Or the creation of more inclusive job advertisements and in-house training geared at educating all generations on the dire costs of ageism?
Or gathering the data necessary to present to the appropriate governmental, legal, and business bodies to create requirements to counter this issue?
Promoting and leveraging the growth that comes with ageing
There’s a reason some of the best educational programs, including some prestigious Masters in Business Administration, require prior experience.
As much as we may laud the power of influence, social media, and early prominence these days, it’s undeniable that experience and growth play a crucial role in career and business success.
This is all the more relevant as working women age — gathering the benefits of extensive personal and professional experience — and bring these benefits to their workplace, thus empowering other women.
Ageing is a privilege, not just for working women, but also for organisations.
By forgoing the invaluable advantages that come with the experience and growth of working women, organisations also deprive themselves of a major driving force of success.
Fostering increased innovation and reinventing ourselves
Both individuals and organisations thrive on reinvention and organisation.
What many fail to understand is that innovation is not just the product of youth, it’s also a compound of general growth and experience.
A recent study by MIT found that the average age of startup founders is 42, which destroys the myth of the young founder.
As working women, we have the privilege, and also the burden, to experience and handle multiple aspects of life and work from the various hats we wear all throughout our lives, from caretakers, to mothers, to professionals, and so many other roles.
As such, we constantly have the opportunity to reinvent ourselves through our various stages of growth.
Organisations should look more to ageing women for opportunities for reinvention, growth, and improvement.
* Professor Solange Lopes is a writer and founder of The Corporate Sister.
This article first appeared at www.ellevatenetwork.com.
