Week 3 Discussion – Connor Bascom

Contains unread posts

Connor Bascom posted Aug 31, 2023 3:44 AM

Subscribe

I wasn’t terribly surprised by my IAT test results suggesting that I have a slight automatic preference for young people over old people. Unsurprising was that 17% of test takers shared my test results as well. What 
did surprise me was the massive 60% of test takers that had even stronger biases than I did in the stronger biased categories. Reading the articles for this week’s content, I was already aware of ageism bias, but I think the implicit biases that we almost all possess (Project Implicit, 2011) are stronger than I thought. Now, to fully determine my preferences based on a webpage that had me click keys fast when I saw faces is something I would question for how accurate its results could be, but at the very least I’ll admit that it is probably a good rough estimate.

There are only two main roles in which I see older Americans represented in the media: either as a retired person who has classic “old person” hobbies that are no more than stereotypes (Kita, 2019), such as collecting stamps, model trains, yelling at kids to get off his lawn, etc. The other way I see old Americans represented in media is as the nice old but incompetent person, who everyone is nice to because he’s old, but ultimately is a hindrance for the plot. I find this interesting as it contrasts significantly with how older people are stereotyped in other countries. An example of this is Japan. While they still have jokes about old people, as do most cultures, the elders in Japanese society are given a lot more respect than American elderly are given, due to their long standing history of revering their elders. In Japanese media, elders are often portrayed as cold and calculating, running the show from behind the scenes, or leading a company, pursuing profits, sometimes ruthlessly. They are portrayed as cranky often enough, but the difference is when an elderly Japanese person yells at you, you’re much more likely to apologize to them due to the culture of how Japan treats elders. While 35% of Americans being considered old (Kita, 2019), that still doesn’t quite compare to Japan’s population of 50+ members being at 47% (ILC-UK, 2022). Having almost half your population be this elderly would certainly shift how the country at large views the elderly. 

My grandfather is over 70 and still works as an engineer, surveying sites, moving parts, and is physically capable of every aspect, although he mostly tells people what to do and who they should hire at this point. He often times can tell someone that they have a problem right 
here (marks an X on an old brick wall in an abandoned factory) and will consider his job done, and charge an invoice. Over 50 years of experience that is invaluable to quick problem solving and creating the right solutions is contained in that one X on the wall. And that is something that cannot be replicated if you’re looking for the youngest engineer to contract. Now, keep in mind my grandfather is self employed, so he has favored business partners, as well as being a successfully established practice in his area for decades. More diversity often brings more experience, and it can be refreshing to know about other cultures and people in a workplace. 

Where we have it twisted is thinking that forced diversity is necessary. I will elaborate on this. In an ideal world, people are judged on and hired by their professionalism and skills required to do the job, and no one has to worry about not “making the cut” due to factors out of their control, such as race, age, gender, etc. If five Chinese Americans that applied out of 50 people total are the absolute best fit for my startup company, then that’s who I want to hire. Unfortunately, this is a simulation, and real life unfortunately is full of biases and internal expectations that people don’t bother to fight. To those seeking profit, such as CEOs and recruiters for corporations, diversity is nice, but adding a few extra cultures to their workplace identity doesn’t necessarily increase productivity. What does increase productivity is experience and practiced repetition, which old people who have been in a job industry for years likely have. Turning down the elderly and aged persons of the world simply because they type a few words slower than your high speed 23 year old accountant is a vast oversight by many companies, who could really use what these old people have to offer, and these old people could really use a paycheck that these companies offer. 

In the example provided to us in the AARP article (Kita, 2019), an elderly person describes how his resumes and interviews go perfectly until he is called to meet in person, at which point they determine he is old and eliminate him from the process. If the in person assessment is the hard part for old people, then this falls on the employers to fully understand that it is important for equal opportunity training to occur so they do not discriminate based on age for skill based jobs. I would say an old person could try to familiarize themselves with trends and technology to appear more appealing, but the reality of it is that you can’t help being old, it eventually happens to us all.

References:

ILC-UK. “Nearly Half of Japanese Workers Could Be Aged 50+ by 2035 – ILCUK.” 
International Longevity Care UK, 14 July 2022, ilcuk.org.uk/nearly-half-of-japanese-workers-could-be-aged-50-by-2035/#:~:text=Japan%20is%20one%20of%20the. Accessed 31 Aug. 2023.

Kita, J. (2019, December 30). Workplace Age Discrimination Still Flourishes in America: It’s time to step up and stop the last acceptable bias. AARP.

Project Implicit. (2011). 
Implicit Association Tests.

OpenStax. (2020). Navigating the diversity landscape. 
College Success. 

https://openstax.org/books/college-success/pages/9-3-navigating-the-diversity-landscape