Studying Discrimination

As with any field, research is important. Anyone can write about discrimination and everyone has an opinion. However, we need research to quantitatively define and test types of discrimination so that we can discuss what is happening and how to remedy it.

This week, I present to you an excellent article that addresses a type of discrimination that is gaining attention: ageism in the workplace. When you read ‘ageism’ did you automatically think about older workers, or maybe the ‘graying of the workforce’ we are hearing about? I did! I am glad I found this particular research article as it addresses ageism on BOTH ends of the spectrum – older and younger. Many of us do not associate ageism with youth. With each end of the spectrum come some assumptions. We think youth are inexperienced and older workers are set in their ways. While there is some truth to both assumptions, it often has nothing to do with age, but rather with personality.

Image from: https://www.business2community.com/startups/youre-old-corporate-vs-startup-discrimination-0981503

According to this particular article, there is a lot of interest in researching ageism in the workplace, yet a valid, reliable scale for determining ageism, or more accurately the experience of ageism, is not available. The researchers chose to develop such a scale mostly because it is relatively easy to detect overt instances of ageism, but more difficult to detect covert ones.

Three studies were conducted to develop, validate, and test the Workplace Age Discrimination Scale, or WADS. It was determined that the WADS has high reliability, is relatable for both older and younger workers, and can be used by researchers to compare workers’ experiences with discrimination. Both qualitative and quantitative measures were employed to develop the WADS and to later refine then validate it. During the process of developing the WADS, ideas that ageism only affects older workers were challenged. I think this is one of the most important points this paper makes; ageism does not affect only older workers.

Image from: http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2097650/hong-kong-needs-better-address-age-discrimination-workplace

Development and Validation of the Workplace Age Discrimination Scale by Marchiondo, Gonzales, and Ran is a highly readable and interesting article about ageism in the workplace. While it does not specifically address this type of discrimination in an academic library situation, I feel that, on some level, there are similarities across all workplaces, particularly with regards to discrimination. Also, libraries tend to employ persons of many ages, particularly larger libraries. This does not mean libraries are free from ageism, but it does mean that libraries need to pay attention to hiring the best person for the job based on actual experience and education, not age.

Reference

Marchiondo, Lisa A., Ernest Gonzales, and Shan Ran. 2016. Development and validation of the workplace age discrimination scale. Journal of Business Psychology 31, (4), 10.1007/s10869-015-9425-6,http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezp.twu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=b34d240a-0177-4cd4-b6bd-add40a2b8969%40sessionmgr4007 (accessed March 4, 2018).