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My name is Gabrielle Hines and I am a Public Health major and a Human Resource Development minor at the University of Houston. Ageism is associated with poor physical and mental health, as well as greater financial insecurity. Advocating against age discrimination can improve the livelihood of older adults and our community's businesses.
I am Maridiat Sanwo, I attend the University of Houston and I am a Communications Major. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are must haves for me when entering the workforce after I graduate. As a black woman I am already at the bottom of the totem pole and have to work my way up and fight for everything I want. I want to feel supported and included in any company I work for and in order for that to happen they have to implement DEI. I want to know that the company I am working for values my presence and opinions. Age is nothing but a number, it does not define the limits of your abilities. It is important to acknowledge age in the workplace and how often people of certain ages are discriminated against. And in acknowledging that we can implement programs and things alike in the workplace to combat that.
Jones-Greer, Orhora T, At the age of 40 I decided to rebrand myself. I had been working in the software industry for 20 years as a researcher and found myself at the glass ceiling. After completing an online career assessment on the University of Houston’s website my results indicated pursuing a career in Human Resources would be a good fit for me and I agreed. I was lucky enough to smoothly transition into the field of Talent Acquisitions as a Recruitment Coordinator for a logistics Company. As a black, female, worker who is over 40 years old; diversity, equity, and inclusion are extremely important to me. I fall into multiple categories for underrepresented groups in the workplace which affords me keen insight regarding the matter. I feel very fortunate to be part of an organization that values DEI and offers several ERGs to ensure that I feel supported and accepted.
Maridiat Sanwo
Asif Islam
Hello, my name is Asif Islam and I’m a Human Resource Development Major at the University of Houston main campus. I just recently turned 23 years old last month. Since I’m part of Gen Z, a lot of my peers are starting to enter the corporate workforce and trying to make a name for themselves. People in my generation have their own sense of self-worth and value that we bring to the table based on our own experience as a generation and individuals as well. Since my generation is still young in the corporate workplace, some people who have been in the corporate workforce for a while might try to take advantage of us because of our lack of experience. Because we are young, it doesn’t mean that people who have been working in corporate should be taken advantage of us. We have a lot more to offer than people think.
Tamekia Greer
Gabrielle Hines
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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are very important in the workplace, no matter whatever organization you are a part of. The benefits for me are that it gives you a sense of belonging and knowing that you are not alone in this. Currently, companies are making an effort on dismantling structural barriers, such as bias and other things which change the workplace for the better. Having a diverse workplace leads to more positive things happening because you have a melting point of people from different backgrounds, experiences, and identities that bring something unique to the table. Studies have shown that a more diverse workplace leads to positive retention, overall greater satisfaction, and better result within the company. The benefits of Inclusion for me are a sense of belonging in the workplace and knowing that everyone’s respecting, supporting, and values each other’s authentic participation within an individual or group setting.
It is important to advocate for different ages of individuals within your organization. Depending on which type of industry you work in, your age group has certain advantages and disadvantages. Organizations can take advantage of you no matter which end of the spectrum you fall into. For example, the tech industry is mostly for young people and if you are someone from an older generation, the industry doesn’t value you too much, which leaves you disadvantaged. No matter which type of industry you work in, age discrimination takes in almost every industry. We must do a better job at standing up and speaking up for people who have been impacted negatively because of their age group in the workplace. One of the first steps is to spread awareness in the workplace and on social media. After that people need to have conversations on implementing the necessary steps to have a more inclusive workplace so that no one feels discriminated against based on how young or old someone might be.
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Background
Background
Mario Hernandez works as a database administrator with Chevron Phillips. He started this position almost 7 years ago when he was 56 years old. He is 63 now and is the oldest person on his team. His fellow coworkers are newly out of college with a degree in technology. Mr. Hernandez was born in a small town in Spain and had the opportunity to come to Austin for college when he was 29 for a Master’s in Business Administration with the University of Texas. After he finished his program, Mr. Hernandez began his work in the corporate world. He worked for JP Morgan as a private account manager for over 20 years. He then started working in investment banking for Shell. He was introduced to the oil and gas field in this position, and several years later he started his first position in tech with Chevron.
Personal Experience
Mr. Hernandez said that he does not work with anyone over the age of 42 and he noticed that ageism is the most significant form of bias within the field. Mr. Hernandez says that people over 35 may feel ageism and made to feel like they cannot be successful because “technology is designed for younger people”.
Mr. Hernandez has seen discrimination within the job market. Older employees are made feel like they are not “digital savvy” and cannot learn new things in technology. He has seen this when employees over the age of 35 are passed over for a promotion or not hired. Mr. Hernandez says he has never seen anyone not be hired because of their age, but that he knows it is happening within various technology companies, especially start-ups that are run by young people.
Mr. Hernandez explained that anyone over 40 looking for a position in technology has to get creative with the kind of skills they can bring to the table. He said oftentimes the individual has to find a large, older company that is looking to fill positions for skills that are more difficult to find and aren’t taught in school or training programs anymore.
Recommendations
Mr. Hernandez believes that one of the best practices for someone over 40 is to market skills that may not be taught anymore while simultaneously emerging yourself in learning new tech skills such as Python. It is also important to and learn how to take transferable skills from a previous career into the diverse field of technology. This is very important because often times, ageism in tech leads to only young college graduates being hired. These individuals often lack diverse job history and an extensive resume.
Accommodation & Intervention
The accommodation and intervention practices researched below are adaptable and flexible to any organization. If an organization has an HR department it would be in their best interest to look into ways to incorporate the following accommodation and intervention practices. Organizations can implement health and wellness programs into their company culture; Mentorship has been around for ages, since the dawn of time. Simply having a mentor or training program that incorporated mentorship for new employees could better retain employees and ease older employees into retirement.
Below are some accommodation and intervention practices that can be applied to organizations to better represent AGE in the workplace.
Accommodation Practices
Part-time/Flexibility
An accommodation practice that could be used to support age in the workplace includes part time work or more flexibility with schedules/scheduling. “These types of work–life policies typically involve a voluntary reduction of hours in an attempt to more successfully balance work and nonwork responsibilities (Hammer et al. 2013)” (Truxillo et al., 2015).
Clear Job Descriptions
Another accommodation practice would be clear job descriptions. Using connotative words like “young,” “energetic,” “fresh-minded” in a job description can insinuate that a job candidate has to be “young” in order to perform their required job duties successfully. It can also be seen at discriminatory, so instead using words like “motivated,” “driven” or “dedicated” to describe a candidate’s work ethic and passion should be considered. Getting rid of describing what type of person would be fit for a role would be beneficial in the long run, what companies can do instead is to just describe the role itself in as much detail as possible. (Staff, 2019).
Intervention Practices
Mentorship
An intervention that could support age and ageism in the workplace would be mentorship. As a company ages so do the people who work for them, so how do they deal with that? Hire new people, preferably younger people. So to benefit the company they can initiate a mentorship program where an older worker is paired with a relatively younger worker and they show them the ropes. They train them in everything they need to know at the company in order to “preserve organizational memory after the eventual retirement of older workers” (Truxillo et al., 2015).
Work and Health
It is important to have a safe and healthy work environment while also being healthy yourself. An intervention that could be beneficial to all age groups would be health promotion interventions. Also for health checks and counseling, they should be done while employees are younger in order to get good data and results. “The continuous follow-up of employees’ work ability through measurements and screenings provide occupational health care services with information through which to predict risks for early retirement, and we saw that health counseling can lower health risks.” (Söderbacka, 2020).
Resource Library
YouTube
Ageism in Tech - How IBM Quietly Pushed Out 20,000 Older Workers
In a ProPublica feature that collected the stories of over 1,400 former IBM employees, it was estimated that a staggering 20,000 American employees ages 40 and over have been eliminated by the company. How does one of the country’s largest tech giants quietly push out this many older workers? Don’t we have laws to protect people at the end of their careers?
YouTube
The Harmful Effects of Ageism | Listen to America
​Youth are often regarded as inexperienced and entitled, while older people are widely seen as inept mentally and physically. There is evidence, however, that these are both false narratives.
YouTube
Age Discrimination Law Explained by an Employment Lawyer
California's age discrimination laws protect employees over the age of 40. This video explains all the important details regarding CA's employment laws regarding age.
Book
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Ageism Unmasked: Exploring Age Bias and How to End it
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By Tracey Gendron- released March 1, 2022
Book
The psychology and management of workplace diversity
Stockdale, Margaret S.; Crosby, Faye J., 1947-
2004
Book
Employers’ Support of Older Adults Facing Ageism in the Workplace: A Scoping Review of the Literature
Bull, Amanda ; Mirza, Raza ; Gardiola, Andrea ; Klinger, Christopher ; Hsieh, Jessica
Innovation in aging, 2021, Vol.5 (Supplement_1), p.134-134