Careers-Employment

Age Bias in the Employment Office ? One Sure Way To Deal With The Glass Wall

Much has been written and said about the glass ceiling, the inherent prejudice in the corporate world against the ascension of the female employee to high executive status. Less has been written and discussed about the glass wall, the bias practiced by corporations in the hiring of older workers.

But the focus is shifting, if not the practice. The transition of the baby boomers into the world of maturity and their increasing difficulty in dealing with the bias is drawing attention because of the frequency of courtroom action on the subject. AARP lists several courtroom actions underway in its publications but those actions pertain to the mistreatment of the elderly in the workplace. There still has been very little written about the hiring of the elderly --whatever the term elderly means these days? and the subject is certainly open to conjecture.

Much has been written and adjudicated about gray haired folks and their treatment in the workplace. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 which prohibits age discrimination in the workplace is the basis for much of it. It?s purpose is clearly stated in Item 4(b) ?It is therefore the purpose of this chapter to promote employment of older persons based on their ability rather than age; to prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in employment; to help employers and workers find ways of meeting problems arising from the impact of age on employment.?

The legislation may prove helpful when it comes to compensation, job advertisements, the use of company facilities, fringe benefits and a few other such niceties, but one thing it has been unable to do is prohibit the big one: age bias in employment.

And why? one might wonder.

Perhaps because every one, or most everyone, is inherently prejudiced against the elderly. The probability is you are too. Yes, dear reader, you too. No don?t get your back up, you probably are and you don?t even know it.

At Harvard University where people are supposed to know about such things, a professor in the Social Ethics Department had no idea she was so disposed. Professor Mazharin Banaji, a self-professed woman of liberal thought was stunned when she took a brain wave test and discovered that she scored extremely high in bias against the elderly. But she was not alone. Administering the test to 40,000 other people, Professor Banaji saw that the largest bias in the United States is not based on ethnicity, sex or religion but against the elderly.

"It's the largest bias we see," Banaji said when interviewed by the Harvard University Gazette. "I was very surprised. People don't openly discuss ageism much, like they do racism or sexism, yet its strong presence makes it much more insidious."

Reflecting on the findings Dr. Banaji added, "Age has come to be associated with negative qualities, such as decreases in stature, power, physical agility, and cognitive ability," she says. "Of course that's not true for everyone. I know a 78-year-old colleague who runs up stairs faster than his students."

There is an irony to all. If one is of a particular race, religion or ethnicity you are clearly established as a target for discrimination. But age is different. There the target keeps moving. The common perception of elderly is usually someone who is older. If you are fifty, the thirty year old has you in his or her sights as someone who is well... old. The fifty year old doesn?t quite see it that way but sees the seventy year old as elderly. The seventy year old sees things differently, of course, and focuses on the ninety year old. It is a different form of discrimination than the common perception of bigotry because sooner or later it proves to be democratic. Everyone becomes a target.

So how, then, does one, who is over fifty, deal with this if it is so insidious? How does one get a job or at least earn a living in the ?elderly? stage if one needs income?.

It is not easy but certainly possible. First of all, don?t think employment. The odds are you won?t get a position for which you are qualified. The likelihood of your finding a job and being paid what you are worth is a remote possibility. A possibility yes certainly, but the operative word is remote. Employers could probably hire two young people for what they would pay you. Besides when it comes to hiring young versus older, there are psychological factors that your clinical psychologist can delve into with you when you both have the time.

The best way to deal with the glass wall is to walk away from it. To attempt to break it down means the expenditure of time in the courtroom and courtroom expense. Time is valuable. Use it wisely. Do something on your own.

Here?s a thought. You have a value. Everyone does. You have accumulated skills and a reservoir of knowledge on many subjects. When you list those skills and that knowledge on a sheet of paper you call it a resume and use it to sell yourself to someone for the purpose of receiving a salary. You then become an employee subject to the whims of the employer. You know, cutbacks, layoffs and all the rest. Use those same assets and skills, format them into information packages, and sell them on the worldwide Internet and become an entrepreneur subject to no one but yourself. This is the information age. People pay for information that will make their lives easier, safer and/or more prosperous

There are 1.2 billion people on the Internet today and it is becoming easier and easier to reach them. You could be in business easier than you might imagine. The world is changing and with every change there is a new opportunity.

The word retirement originally meant going to bed , it came into current usage during the Great Depression when older workers were being pensioned off to bring in younger, cheaper workers and to reduce unemployment. With the changes taking place today, it simply means being relegated to the sidelines as an observer and because of the tremendous dilution of the dollar, it means those observers are very much concerned about their future..

And that concern is bringing about another change.. The term retirement is being redefined as re-careering as those concerned observers are getting back on the playing field. And as they do, re-careering is fast becoming a very popular thing to do.

So if the glass wall is of concern to you, walk away from it. Re-career. Life can still be good. Enjoy it.

Don Bracken, a successful businessman and author, speaks from experience. Defeating ageism in his fifties he formed a distribution company in the northeast for a Texas conglomorate and earned several million dollars.Following heart surgery he retired from his business only to re-career in his sixties founding the History Publishing Company, LLC and authoring the award winning book Times of the Civil War. His newest book Career of Gold, Defeating Age Bias By Re_Careering For The Second Half Of Your Life will be in bookstores throughout the country on November 15, 2006. He is 71 years of age.

Don Bracken

Tags: career, new career, re-career, changing careers, bias in the workplace, ageism,

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Careers-Employment

Age Bias in the Employment Office ? One Sure Way To Deal With The Glass Wall

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