Youth is still prized as a superpower in society, including where you work. Research has found that people are more likely to automatically assume you are more ambitious, intelligent and tech-savvy when you are thought to be younger.
But in the workplace, being young or looking young can also be wielded against women.
In a new preliminary study featured in Harvard Business Review, researchers Amy Diehl, Leanne M. Dzubinski and Amber L. Stephenson surveyed 913 women leaders who work in higher education, faith-based nonprofits, law and health care and they found that age discrimination was not just happening to older women. Younger women under 40 were having their experiences and credibility dismissed and discounted because of their age.
The researchers referred to this as a “youngism” bias, which happens when someone’s presumed younger age is conflated with inexperience, incompetence and immaturity. Although there are federal protections against age discrimination at work, they only apply to workers 40 and older. But age discrimination can start much sooner than that.
“Younger women — and those who looked young — were called pet names or even patted on the head, as one 39-year-old woman reported. Young women also experienced role incredulity,” the researchers wrote. “They reported being mistaken for students, interns, trainees, support staff, secretaries, paralegals, and court reporters. Such inaccurate assumptions were especially prevalent for non-White women, such as an Asian higher-education executive who appeared young and was presumed to be in a junior position.”
Diehl told HuffPost that gendered ageism for younger women can be insidious because you may think it’s personal when it’s not. It’s a systemic form of discrimination happening to too many women.
“You think ‘It’s just me. I’m just not old enough. I haven’t served enough time in my career. Maybe my ideas aren’t that good, maybe this person who’s older than me, this man that’s older than me does know better,’” Diehl explained. “If it happens to you as a woman, no matter what age you are, do not take it personally, realise it’s a larger phenomenon.”
Here’s what to know about the data from the study and how that plays out in the real world:
‘Youngism’ particularly affects women of colour.
Nadia De Ala, founder of Real You Leadership, a group coaching program for women of colour, said the study’s findings align with her clients’ and her own experiences of being discredited and infantilised at work because of assumed age.
“Being treated like a child is degrading,” De Ala said. “As a 4-foot-11 petite Filipina woman, I naturally get called ‘cute,’ ‘small,’ ‘sweetie,’ ‘honey.’ Especially when I was in software tech sales, when I worked with selling integration systems to C-suite executives. Even when I was negotiating million dollar deals. One person even called me Minnie Mouse over the phone. And that didn’t happen until after they saw me in person.“
Similar to the women in the survey, De Ala also recalled experiences of colleagues who were her peers patting her on the head. “It’s been multiple pats on the head,” she said, recalling that when it happened one time, “I just turned around and gave the dirtiest look and said, ‘Why’d you do that?’”
“One person even called me Minnie Mouse over the phone. And that didn’t happen until after they saw me in person.”
- Nadia De Ala, founder of Real You Leadership, a group coaching program for women of color
Stephenson, one of the study’s researchers, said comments like “How could you possibly understand at your age?” and “You haven’t lived, you haven’t experienced...” can also be sending a message to younger women that “you haven’t paid your dues.”
De Ala recalled interviewing a job candidate for a position at her company and experienced an ageist put-down from him.
“When I was interviewing him, he kept talking down to me about sales roles and sales tactics and sales philosophy and literally said statements like, ‘You’ll get there one day,’” De Ala recalled. “I was like, ‘Uh, I am here. I’m interviewing you.’”
Diehl said that youngism can also be used to maintain male-dominated status quos in workplaces.
“Men are promoted based on their potential, and their professional ambition is not a bad thing,” Diehl said. “Whereas [for] women, the goal is to try to keep women in their place supporting men in the male-controlled environment.”
In this way, men can professionally benefit from the positive associations with youth, while women often do not.
Jean Hsu, an engineering vice president in Berkeley, California, noted that in her field of tech, young white men, in particular, can benefit from the “young hacker genius” stereotype, while women in tech can have their youthful appearance associated with inexperience.
“As an engineer who looks on the younger side, even though I have 15 years [of] experience, I feel like people assume at the worst, like, ‘Oh, did you just graduate from ... a bootcamp?’” Hsu said. “I actually have had people say that to me, not in work settings, but in social settings.”
‘Youngism’ can affect women older than 40, too.
Even after women turn 40, their perceived age can be used to question their expertise and can leave a lasting impact on their self-esteem.
“I have clients right now who are in their 40s and their 50s where they’re even wondering, ‘Am I too young to lead this team?’ because this is the first time, for instance, they’ve been given an opportunity,” De Ala said.
Tracey, a Chinese American communications professional living on the West Coast, is 48 but said she still experiences gendered ageism because of her youthful appearance. She said she’s been called “cute” by colleagues, and as a result of youngism, she will strategically drop hints about her expertise.
“I opted to leave in my grays so that people will think that I’m older and take me seriously. I wish that I chose to leave in my grays for a more enlightened reason, but that’s not the world that I live in.”
- Tracey, communications professional
“I find myself oftentimes dropping hints about my age or experience to prove my ‘worthiness,’” said Tracey, who asked not to share her full name to protect her job. “If I’m in the middle of a presentation on whatever it is, I might say like, ‘You know, in my 20-plus years of experience in this industry, this is what I think should be our next step.’ Just so that people can do their internal math and say like, ‘Oh, she’s not a 20-something-year-old. She’s more experienced than I’d look.’”
Tracey said she also signals her age through other purposeful actions, too. “I don’t dye my hair and opted to leave in my grays so that people will think that I’m older and take me seriously,” she said. “I wish that I chose to leave in my grays for a more enlightened reason, but that’s not the world that I live in.”
Having to subconsciously or overtly push back against gendered ageism can take a toll on those who experience it.
“It’s death by a thousand cuts. It’s not any one thing, but over time, these microaggressions start to ... create this larger wound,” Tracey said. “I see that as [the] insidiousness of gendered ageism or lookism.”
‘Youngism’ needs to be called out in the workplace.
Because gendered ageism can still be seen as socially acceptable, it’s up to leaders and colleagues to set the tone that it’s not OK.
For allies, De Ala recommends calling out youngism in the moment. “You could say something as simple as ‘What did you mean by that?’ ‘Who else do you call kiddo?’” she recommended.
De Ala said that you could also directly call it out with language like: “Hey, if you are giving unique treatment that could make someone else feel excluded by the language and the words that you’re choosing to use, we need to put a stop to that so that we can continue to move towards an equitable and inclusive work team culture and an environment.”
And for women who are dealing with these biases, it’s important not to get discouraged. Tracey recommends finding a friend or mentor who can help support your experiences and fight against youngism.
“It’s great to say to ‘Have self-confidence,’” Tracey said. “At the same time, I think as human beings we need some validation. And so it’s important to have someone you can talk to.”
And remember, you’re not alone. Hsu said it can help to remember that in regard to systemic biases, “The answer is almost always, ‘No, it’s not just you.’”
For women experiencing gendered ageism, De Ala said it’s important to keep advocating for yourself because this type of bias impacts your money and ability to get a promotion.
“Keep speaking for your work and keep owning how awesome you are in every step of your career, regardless of what you might be experiencing externally,” she said.