Are Women in Leadership Always Playing Goldilocks with Their Age?

In June an interesting article was published in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) regarding women leaders facing ageism at every age. If you want to read the article the link is: https://hbr.org/2023/06/women-in-leadership-face-ageism-at-every-age . Having been a leader within a Graduate School and also the Chair of the Board of Directors for a national organization (The National Postdoctoral Association) as I read this particular article I noticed some of the things mentioned were certainly things I had experienced, either on campus or when I attended various conferences and meetings locally or nationally.

Before I talk about the article I want you to do an exercise with me. Imagine that a senior position where you work is being replaced. The top candidates are a male and female of similar age and experience. You learn that the female has been offered the role. What is your first thought? Do you think that this female must have some fantastic experience to warrant the role? Or did you wonder either who she knows or how she received the job offer over the male? If your first thoughts were unkind and disparaging about the female you have some bias you need to work on. If you are female and you had the same thoughts, shame on you! You are part of this issue and need to work on it as you may end up receiving the same treatment in the future.

I also want you to consider how older males and females are treated at your workplace. Are they both treated with respect and as well of knowledge and wisdom, or are they treated differently? Now I want you to question why that is?! How many of the top people are women? According to a Forbes article in January 2023 10.6% of Fortune 500 CEOS are now women, so the number is increasing. But considering the world population is roughly 50.4% male versus 49.6% female, there is a long way before the numbers of CEO’s are equitable.

Let’s define ageism. I like the World Health Organizations definition which is that Ageism refers to the stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) towards others or oneself based on age. The article also discussed “Youngism” which is ageism towards younger adults conflating age with maturity and competency. Essentially, if you are younger then you won’t be mature or competent enough for certain roles, and once you are old enough to be mature and competent enough they may worry about your ability to do so. Research has begun to investigate how age is used to justify bias and discrimination against women. The HBR performed a survey and discovered that many women suffered from a “never-right” age bias. For the results “young” was below 40, middle age was 40 to 60, and older was over the age of 60.

For younger women, they are often patronised and mistaken for more junior positions. This was especially noted in non-white women. They often have their credibility questioned leading to doubts regarding their expertise. They may also have their appearance scrutinized which brings unwelcome comments and attention.

Then when you hit middle age and assume you are now in the career “Sweet spot” women find that is not the case. Hiring committees may worry about family responsibilities and potential issues due to menopause where you may become difficult to manage. They may also discriminate if the female hasn’t “aged well”, therefore making decisions based on looks regarding abilities. This is frustrating considering if a male hasn’t “aged well” it won’t affect their chances of being hired. It is almost amusing that just as women are increasing their testosterone levels they become less desirable to hire. Men have testosterone for their entire careers except it doesn’t affect their hiring status. Therefore, why should it affect females?

Workplaces with gender and age (and I would also include ethnicity) diversity perform better than those without. It makes business sense to ensure that these biases are removed.

It always makes me chuckle when companies make social media statements supporting whatever day or month is being honoured, but then for the other times of the year they make minimal efforts to support those “cherished” individuals. These issues need to be addressed within the workforce and penalties enacted if individuals or businesses are found to discriminate.

Key issues to be addressed are:

·       Ageism based on looks or appearance doesn’t equate to someone’s ability to perform the job.

o   In addition, women can be just as effective dressing feminine or not. A dress/skirt does not mean that they are incapable, or that they can’t make challenging decisions. It might merely mean they enjoy dressing that way!

·       Women can be just as skilled and experienced as their male colleagues regardless of their age. They are also just as capable and invested in their roles and should be promoted as such.

·       There should be no precedent that because someone else suffered to become a leader that all future leaders need to run that gauntlet too. Help others up the ladder, don’t pull it up behind you as you go!

·       Older mentors can provide important perspectives to those younger and/or junior to them. Help others make the connections required to be successful. This will also help your community to become stronger and the workplace more collegial.