The Experience of Ageism Among Adults Training for New Careers: The Impact of Social Class

• In Event: Aging and the Life Course Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): 11: Employment, Job Quality, and Retirement

Abstract

Given the tremendous improvements in active, healthy lifespan over the course of the 20th and early 21st centuries, increasing numbers of Americans have sought to remain in the workforce until their 60s or 70s, and in some cases even later. Some who are in the middle or even the later adult years decide to return to school or undertake other training in order to prepare for a new career. Drawing on 31 semi-structured interviews, this study examines the experience of ageism among adults aged 35 and older who were training for a new career. It is found that perceptions of having experienced age-based prejudice and discrimination were common – although far from ubiquitous – among interviewees. Additionally, some described manifestations of ageism without recognizing them as such; most commonly; subjects did not acknowledge their own age-based stereotypes. The likelihood of experiencing ageism varied along with career changers’ social class, as well as two factors that are related to class: ability to choose among training options, and self-confidence.

Author

• Matthew N. Weinshenker, Fordham University