“Don’t waste so much time worrying about your skin or your weight. Develop what you do, what you put your hands on in the world”
Meryl Streep
There's no doubt that women experience ageing in the workplace differently than men.
In her article, The Double Whammy For Women Over 50 In The Workplace Today, Bonnie Marcus exposes the challenges women face while navigating sexism and ageism in the workplace.
"Susan told me in confidence that she sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night in a panic. The fear that someone will discover her age consumes her. At 62, she uses Botox and filler to hide the signs of aging and takes her birthday off from work each year to avoid being asked the question of how old she is. Susan is an executive in the fashion industry. Looks matter. Age matters. That’s the double whammy: ageism and sexism. And women over 50 in the workplace today are victimized by this bias.
Many of the women over 50 I’ve interviewed for my upcoming book on this topic are angry; angry that after decades of hard work and great performance, after juggling their career and family, and enduring unfair workplace practices, they’re being pushed aside and pushed out. They’re becoming invisible. They’re subjected to demeaning jokes about being old and excluded from many company social events. But most importantly, they’re fearful. Fearful because they feel they have a target on their backs as they wait to get the dreaded pink slip. What can you do if you’re in this situation?" Read more.
According to a recent report by the Australian government on mature age women, older women are more likely than older men to be perceived as having outdated skills and as being too slow to learn new skills. Additionally, although mature-age people have a lower unemployment rate than younger people, they tend to have greater difficulty finding subsequent employment when they do become unemployed.
The Government continues to ensure its mainstream employment services feature a range of interventions, activities, and complementary programs to help mature age job seekers, including women. Read More.
Ageing in the workplace is one of the topics we will be exploring at our Redefining Ageing event in 2 weeks on Saturday 4th December.