This paper addresses the research evidence for a number of negative stereo
types about older workers and finds that those relating to avoidable absence,
actual performance, memory, intelligence, ability to fit in, and job satisfaction
are not supported. The evidence shows that despite the research, decisions
based on age continue to be made in employment. To deal with this issue in
Australia, legislation on age discrimination has recently been introduced. The
consequences for management practice are significant. The impact in key
areas such as human resource planning, recruitment, selection, performance
appraisals, training, job design and termination are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abs (1992a) Retirement and Retirement Intentions Australia. ABS catalogue No. 6238.0. Canberra : Commonwealth Government Printer.
2.
Abs (1992b) Successful and Unsuccessful Job Search Experience Australia. ABS Catalogue No. 6245.0. Canberra: Commonwealth Government Printer.
3.
Anti-Discrimination Act (1977) NSW.
4.
Artcraft Research (1989) Employer attitudes to older people. Report on a qualitative market research study conducted for the DEET and the Department of Social Security.
5.
Arthur, W., Fuentes, R. and Doverspike, D. (1990) Relationships among personnel tests, age, and job performance. Experimental Aging Research, 16(1): 11-16.
6.
Avolio, B.J. and Waldman, D.A. (1987) Personnel aptitude test scores as a function of age, education and job type. Experimental Aging Research, 13(2): 109-13.
7.
Avolio, B.J. and Waldman, D.A. (1994) Variations in cognitive, perceptual, and psychomotor abilities across the working life span. Psychology and Aging , 9(3): 430-42.
8.
Baltes, P.B., Staudinger, U.S., Maercker, A. and Smith, J. (1995) People nominated as wise . Psychology and Aging, 10(2): 155-66.
9.
Becker, G.S. (1975) Human Capital. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
10.
Bessey, B.L. and Ananda, S.M. (1991) Age discrimination in employment. Research on Aging, 13(4): 413-57.
11.
Best, B. (1994) Age of 'ageism' may spawn militant elders. Age, 30 March: 13.
12.
Birren, J.E. (1990) Creativity, productivity, and potentials of the senior scholar. Gerontology and Geriatrics, 11(1/2): 27-44.
13.
Bond, J. (1993) Future trends in social gerontology. Review in Clinical Gerontology, 3: 407-13.
14.
Booth, A.L. (1991) Job-related formal training. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 53: 281-94.
15.
Bosman, E.A. (1993) Age-related differences in the motoric aspects of transcriptions typing skill. Psychology and Aging, 8(1): 87-102.
16.
Bureau of Immigration Research (1990) Australia's population trends and prospects 1989. Canberra : AGPS.
17.
Capowski, G. (1994) Ageism: The new diversity issue. Management Review, 83(10): 10-15.
18.
Cch (1994) New developments. Australian and New Zealand Equal Opportunity Law and Practice. North Ryde: CCH Australia Ltd.
19.
Christian, J. and Robinson, J. (1993) Over 40s battle age discrimination. Sydney Morning Herald, 3 July: 111.
20.
Cleveland, J.N. and Shore, L. (1992) Self- and supervisory-perspectives on age and work attitudes and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77: 469-84.
21.
Cox, T. and Nkomo, S.M. (1992) Candidate age as a factor in promotability ratings . Public Personnel Management, 21(2): 197-210.
22.
Czaja, S.J. and Sharit, J. (1993) Age differences in the performance of computer-based work. Psychology and Ageing, 8(1): 59-67.
23.
Delp, N.D., Haslett, T.K., Kubeck, J.E., and McDaniel, M.A. (1994) A meta-analysis of age differences in job-related training outcomes. Paper presented at the Ninth Annual Convention of the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Nashville, TN.
Dudek, S.Z. and Hall, W.B. (1991) Personality consistency. Creativity Research Journal, 4(3): 213-31.
26.
Elias, P.K., Elias, M.F., Robbins, M.A. and Gage, P. (1987) Acquisition of word-processing skills by younger, middle-age, and older adults. Psychology and Aging, 2(4): 340-8.
27.
Eisdorfer, C. and Cohen, D. (1983) Health and retirement, retirement and health. In H.S. Parnes (ed.), Policy issues in work and retirement. Kalamazoo, Michigan: The W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
28.
Equal Opportunity Act 1995 (Vic.) No. 42 of 1995.
29.
Farina, F. and Arce, R. (1992) Productivity from within. Analise Psicologica, 3(X): 303-7.
30.
Foley, G., Gale, J. and Gavenlock, L. (1995) The cost of work-related injury and disease. Journal of Occupational Health and Safety—Australia and New Zealand , 11(2): 171-94.
31.
Foot, D.K. and Venne, R.A. (1991) Population ageing and human resource management in Australia. Bond Management Review, 2(2): 89-97.
32.
Geary, D.C., Frensch, P.A. and Wiley, J.G. (1993) Simple and complex mental subtraction. Psychology and Aging, 8(2): 242-56.
33.
Gibson, K.J., Zerbe, W.J. and Franken, R.E. (1992) Job search strategies for older job hunters. Canadian Journal of Counselling, 26(3): 166-76.
34.
Gordon, C. (1995) Continuous employability: mature workers in the new workplace. Management, May: 5-7.
35.
Green, F. (1991) Sex discrimination in job-related training. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 29: 295-304.
36.
Green, F. (1993) The determinants of training of male and female employees in Britain. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics , 55: 103-23.
37.
Hackett, R.D. (1990) Age, tenure and employee absenteeism. Human Relations, 43(7): 601-19.
38.
Hackman, J.R. and Oldham, G.R. (1980) Work redesign. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
39.
Harley, G. and Milner, A. ( 1993) Discrimination—Effect on employment. In Employment Law and Industrial Relations in Queensland. Brisbane: LAAMS Publications.
40.
Hassell, B.L. and Perrewe, P.L. (1993) An examination of the relationship between older workers' perceptions of age discrimination and employee psychological states . Journal of Managerial Issues, V(1): 109-20.
41.
Healy, M.C., Lehman, M. and McDaniel, M.A. (1995) Age and voluntary turnover. Personnel Psychology, 48: 335-45.
42.
Hennessy, N. (1993) Compulsory retirement and age discrimination. In BLEC, Anti-discrimination lawsSouth Melbourne: Business Law Education Centre
43.
Hollis, L., Norris, L., Daly, J., and Kennedy-Hart, L. (1994) Relationship between age and absenteeism. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Nashville, TN.
44.
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act (1986) Cth.
Johns, R.J. (1994) Proving pretext and wilfulness in age discrimination cases after Hazen Paper Company v. Biggens. Labor Law Journal , 45(4): 221-9.
47.
Jones, B. (1993) The challenge of an ageing society. In K. Sanders (ed.), Ageing: Law, policy and ethics. Melbourne: University School of Social Work.
48.
Kern, A. (1993) International developments in expanding work options for older workers. In K. Sanders (ed.), Ageing: Law, policy and ethics. Melbourne University School of Social Work.
49.
Kohl, L.F. (1983) Aging, health and work. In H.S. Parnes (ed.), Policy issues in work and retirement . Kalamazoo, Michigan: The W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
50.
Kohl, J.Y. and Stephens, D.B. (1989) Wanted: Recruitment advertising that doesn't discriminate . Personnel, 66(2): 18-26.
51.
Krecker, M.L. (1994) Work careers and organisational careers. Work and Occupations, 21(3): 251-83.
52.
Luszcz, M. and Hinton, M. (1993) Try, try again. Austrulian Journal onAgeing, 12(1):6-10.
53.
Maxwell, V. (1987) Early retirement policies in large firms. Management Paper No. 11. Graduate School of Management, Monash University.
54.
McEnrue, M.P. (1989) Self-development as a career management strategy . Journal of Vocational Behavior, 34: 57-68.
55.
McEvoy, G.M., and Cascio, W.F. (1989) Cumulative evidence of the relationship between employee age and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology , 74: 11-17.
56.
McFee, G. (1993) The employment of mature age workers. In K. Sanders (ed.), Ageing: Law, policy and ethics. Melbourne: University School of Social Work.
57.
McGue, M., Hirsch, B. and Lykken, D.T. (1993) Age and the self-perception of ability. Psychology and Aging, 8(19): 72-80.
58.
Miller, C.S., Kaspin, J.A. and Schuster, M.H. (1990) The impact of performance appraisal methods in age discrimination in employment cases. Personnel Psychology , 43. 555-78.
59.
Morse, C.K. (1993) Does variability increase with age? Psychology and Aging, 8(2): 156-64.
60.
Neugarten, B.L. and Neugarten, D.A. (1986) Changing meanings of age. In A. Pifer and L. Bronte (eds), Our ageing society. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.
61.
Niederfranke, A. (1991) Alterwerden im beruf: Berufs- und lebensperspektiven alterer arbeitnehmerinnen und arbeitnehmer. Gerontologie, 24: 251-6.
62.
Nicholson, N. (1977) Absence behaviour and attendance motivation. Journal of Management Studies, 14: 231-52.
Office of Ageing (1991a) Employment and ageing. Queensland: Department of Family Services and Aboriginal and Islander Affairs and Reark Research .
65.
Office of Ageing (1991b) Ageing and work performance. Resource paper no. 3Queensland: Department of Family Services and Aboriginal and Islander Affairs.
66.
Reark Research ( 1990) Attitudes ofpeople aged 55-64 to employment, unemployment and early retirement. Report for the Department of Employment, Education and Training, Canberra.
67.
Rhodes, S.R. (1983) Age-related differences in work attitudes and behaviour . Psychological Bulletin, 93(2): 328-67
68.
Rodgera, S. (1990) Keep older people in workforce. Advertiser( Adelaide), 11 June.
69.
Rosen, B. and Jerdee, T.H. (1989) Investing in the older worker. Personnel Administrator, 34(4): 70-4.
70.
Schmitt, N., Gilliland, S.W., Landis, R.S. and Devine, D. (1993) Computer-based testing applied to selection of secretarial applicants. Personnel Psychology, 46(1): 149-65.
71.
Simonton, D.K. (1990) Creativity in the later years. The Gerontologist, 30(5): 626-31.
72.
Simonton, D.K. (1991) Creative productivity through the adult years. Generations, Spring: 13-16.
73.
Sliwimki, M., Buschke, H., Kuslansky, G., Senior, G. and Scarisbrick, D. (1994) Proportional slowing and addition speed in old and young adults. Psychology and Aging, 9(10): 72-80.
74.
Steinberg, M., Najman, J., Donald, K.McChesney-Clark, G. and Mahon, C. ( 1994) Attitudes and practices of employers and employees towards older workers in a climate of antidiscrimination. Brisbane: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine , University of Queensland.
75.
Stems, H.L., Barrett, G.V., Czaja, S.J. and Barr, J.K. (1994) Issues in work and aging. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 13(1): 7-19.
76.
Taylor, M.A. and Shore, L.M. (1995) Predictors of planned retirement age. Psychology and Aging, 10(1): 76-83.
77.
Taylor, P.E. and Walker, A. (1994) The ageing workforce. Work, Employment and Society, 8(4): 569-91.
78.
Van derLinden, M., Bredart, S., and Beerten, A.D. (1994) Age-related differences in updating working memory . British Journal of Psychology, 85: 145-52.
79.
Wagar, T.H. and Grant, J.D. (1993) Dismissal for incompetence. Labor Law Journal, 44(3): 171-7.
80.
Waldman, D.A. and Avolio, B.J. (1986). A meta-analysis of age differences in job performance . Journal of Applied Psychology, 71 (1): 33-8.
81.
Walters, C. (1988) Policies affecting the labour force participation of older workers overseas. Social Security Review, Research Paper No. 41, Background/Discussion Paper No. 24.
82.
Warr, P. (1992) Age and occupational well-being. Psychology and Aging, 7(1): 37-45.
83.
White, A.T. and Spector, P.E. (1987) An investigation of age-related factors in the age—job-satisfaction relationship. Psychology and Aging , 2(3): 261-5.
84.
Wright, J.D. and Hamilton, R.F. (1978) Work satisfaction and age. Social Forces, 56: 1140-58.
85.
Zimmerman, R.A. and Gowan, M.A. (1995) ADEA Awards. Labor Law Journal , 46(6): 339-48.
