Study finds women more likely to ageist than men

According to a recent survey, many people, especially men believe ageist myths about older workers’ competence and value at work.

Age Without Limits, a campaign group, conducted a study that revealed ageist beliefs about the ability of older workers to adapt, cope with technology, and work quickly.

Age Without Limits reveals that a quarter of respondents (24%) believe it is not a good idea to hire someone older than 50, because they are a slow worker and will not be adaptable.

The Centre for Ageing Better (the charity behind the campaign) commissioned a survey that found more than one-fifth of respondents thought it was wasteful to provide in-job training for someone older than 50, because they didn’t think the worker would stay in the role for very long.

A third of respondents (32%) believe that technology skills decrease with age.

Dr Carole Easton is the chief executive of the Centre for Ageing Better. She said it was troubling to see that the study showed that people with the highest education levels had a high percentage of ageist attitudes. They were most likely to hire, promote and develop workers in their 50s or 60s.

She said: “It’s so depressing that attitudes like this persist, when older workers are capable of tackling skills shortages and helping businesses thrive. They can also grow our nation’s economy.”

Easton said that it was not surprising that older workers are less likely to get in-work training and more likely to lose their jobs and have a harder time finding work.

New research shows that men and women have very different views, including:

• One in five women (21%) and more than one-fourth of men (27%) believe that it is not a good idea to hire someone older.
• Women (18%) and men (26%) agree that training staff older than 50 is a waste.
• One in four women (27%) and more than one third of men (37%) think that technology becomes less proficient as people age.
• One third of those with a Level 4 or higher qualification think it is not a good idea to hire someone older than 50. This proportion is almost double that of people with Level 3 qualifications (17%).
• Over one-fourth (29%) of those with a Level 4 or higher qualification think it’s a waste to provide in-job training for a staff member older than 50. This is more than double the percentage of those with a Level 3 qualification.

Katherine Crawshaw is the co-head for the Age Without Limits Campaign at the Centre for Ageing Better. She said that we all play a part in noticing and challenging ageism, whether it’s in the workplace or in the cafe or pub. It could also be on social media, or even among friends and family.

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