Ageism, employment, and older adults

Ageism, employment, and older adults

1. Research Question

What are the effects of ageism at work for older adults?

1. Introduction

All over the industrialized nations, the general population and the workforce are aging at a faster rate. With this comes increased rates of discrimination of older employees have become a significant focus for policymakers, trade unions, and politicians. Even though there have been efforts to prevent behaviors of discrimination through employment policies and laws across Europe, Central, and North America, it is still prevalent in companies and organizations. Ageism in the workplace has both negative consequences for the older workers themselves as well as the performance and productivity of the companies (Naegele et al. 2018). It impacts the careers of older employees by limiting job opportunities, performance evaluation, and promotions.

The main aim of mitigating these consequences and improving company performance is to eliminate any occurrence of ageism. In doing this, it’s essential to investigate and identify the factors that mitigate or allow ageism to thrive in the workplace. That is because its impacts are not only limited to older workers but also the economic performance of the organization and society in general. It investigates the complex implication of ageism and informed practices and policies that push back against ageism.

• Investigation plan

The paper will present a review of previous gerontological studies that address ageism and the implication it has on the employment experiences and works placement opportunities. Aging has undergone both scientific research and philosophical reflection for decades. For that duration, it has been explained in two ways, including old age, as a loss sometimes considered synonymous. As such aging people are considered passive agents excluded from the labor and social settings. The second view aging as a stage in which individuals have more experience in a given field.

Gerontology

One of the conventional current studies is gerontology, defined as the study of aspects of aging such as social, psychological, cognitive, cultural, and biological (Maldonado et al. 2016). Gerontological is essential in informing the choices of the individuals going through aging while at the same time, inform public policies that would improve the quality of life of these individuals. Unlike other studies like the medical approach to aging, which only focuses on the biological aspects of the organism, the gerontology study focuses on all elements using different theories. Numerous theories have been formulated.

Theoretical perspective

The study will focus on activity theory, informing their social activity in work and the disengagement theory, which will explain their level (Hillier). The research will then examine social exchange theory to explain ageism in the workplace resulting from the shift in roles, skills, interaction, and resources that accompany aging. The study will further provide a scientific view of the aging process and simultaneous processes that occur at each level.

Method

Data will be retrieved from credible online resources with the keywords, age discrimination, an aging workforce, work environment, organizations, ageism policy, theories on gerontology studies.

Results

Most of the articles were cross-sectional quantitative surveys with different types of participants, including human resource managers, older workers, and younger workers. The materials reviewed showed the existence of stereotypic views and perceptions towards older workers, which lead to intended and actual behavior towards older workers.

1. Conclusion

The subject of discrimination has moved into the spotlight due to the aging society and the accompanying aging workforce. It has negative consequences, among them lower worker productivity and reduced commitment to organizational goals. It is, therefore, essential to fight ageism to mitigate its effects.