Ageism and employment: controversies, ambiguities and younger people's perceptions

This paper traces the emergence and evolution of the concept of ageism with respect to employment matters in the UK, and challenges some features of t he emerging concept as defective and undermining of efforts to eradicate ag e discrimination in employment. Also revealed is some loosening in recent y ears of the association of the term 'ageism' with older employees. This lat ter observation informed the focus of our empirical work, which examined th e views of 460 Business Studies students concerning age and employment. A s ignificant proportion had experienced ageism directly in employment, and a large majority favoured the introduction of legislative protection against age discrimination, with blanket coverage irrespective of age. Though negat ive stereotypes regarding older workers were by no means uncommon among the sample, little firm evidence emerged of intergenerational tensions or rese ntment towards older people. The concluding section considers the policy im plications of our findings, including the relative merits of weighting poli cy responses towards older employees. It is argued that initiatives restric ted in this way, and further constrained by commercial imperatives and macr oeconomic objectives, are likely to prove divisive and self-defeating as a means of combating ageism.