Ageism at Work: Do Women Actually Have It Better Than Men?

Many older workers aren’t exactly reveling in their seniority on the job; their years of experience and expertise seems to earn resentment, not respect. In fact, many mid-lifers and beyond sense that their younger colleagues want their jobs—and that management wants them out (possibly due to the higher salary they’ve built up over the years).

New research reveals that men seem to bear more of the brunt of this kind of negative energy.  In a study recently published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Ashley Martin, Ph.D., an assistant professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business, and colleagues Michael S. North, Ph.D., of New York University and Katherine W. Phillips, Ph.D., of Columbia University, found that older, assertive men have the toughest road. They encounter the highest level of what the researchers call “agency proscription” — which means pressure to not assert themselves but to let younger people rise right on past them. Interestingly, older women who were assertive were not demonized as much since they weren’t seen as much of a threat.