Dangers of Looking Your Age

During Wednesday's discussion about younger parents, we kicked around age-related bias. The biggest questions: When does ageism start at work? And what can you do about it?

For the record, age-related discrimination at work is illegal in hiring, promotions and firing decisions. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 protects employees 40 and older. My research on stay-at-home moms who return to work has found that ageism starts to kick in around age 50. However, like a lot of bias, it's tricky to prove. Ageism affects both men and women. It's a surprise to many employees because until it affects you, ageism is easy to ignore.

Age-discrimination is particularly shocking for stay-at-home moms who left the workforce in their late 30s or early 40s, before ageism was on their radar. They try to go back to work in their late 40s or early 50s and find ugly surprises. Women report being interviewed by hiring managers who seem impossibly young -- but outrank them and control whether their resume gets past the interview. Sometimes bias is subtle, sometimes obvious. It's hard to fight and hard to pinpoint, especially for someone trying to re-enter the workforce (vs. someone who has been fired because of age bias and has a clearcut grievance).

Ageism is real -- an obstacle just like other barriers to getting and keeping good jobs. Another reason to keep your resume current, save your pennies, and remember that a job is just a job. It makes me look kindly on exercise, up-to-date haircuts and even cosmetic surgery as helpful tools -- what seems to matter is how young you look and sound, not necessarily your actual age. What about you? Have you been skeptical of someone's potential because of their age? Have you experienced age discrimination? What have you done to avoid it?

By Leslie Morgan Steiner |  January 18, 2008; 7:00 AM ET  | Category:  Free-for-All
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