Social Sciences and Gerontology Research Center, Tampere University, Kalevantie 4, 33100, Tampere, Finland.
Nottingham University Business School, The University of Nottingham, Jubilee Campus, Nottingham NG8 1BB, UK.
J Aging Stud. 2021 Dec;59:100981. doi: 10.1016/j.jaging.2021.100981. Epub 2021 Oct 28.
Ageism in the manager-employee relationship is one of the main obstacles towards an age-inclusive workplace. Ageism in the labour market is rooted in the use of age as an organising principle of employment relations. This article contributes to the study of ageism in the workplace by investigating how stages of life, as normalised age categories, are mobilised through discursive practices in performance appraisals. Based on the analysis of video recordings of actual performance appraisal interviews at an Italian labour union, three discursive ways of 'doing age' - or of how age, as a constructed social category, is performed and enacted - were identified: quantification (e.g. number of years in the organisation), 'ageing within the organisation' and age-group membership identification (e.g. 'young' vs. 'old'). The analysis suggests that stages of life categories and age attributes are 'done' in social interactions and employed by both employees and managers as shared culture to sustain ongoing organisational activities, thereby reproducing discriminatory age norms and stereotypes. The study demonstrates how the ordering power of the stages of life categories is situated in organisational culture and challenges the implementation of equal and inclusive workplace policies.
在管理者与员工的关系中存在年龄歧视，这是实现包容各年龄段员工工作场所的主要障碍之一。劳动力市场中的年龄歧视根植于将年龄用作雇佣关系组织原则的做法。本文通过研究生活阶段如何通过绩效评估中的话语实践被规范化为正常的年龄类别，为工作场所中的年龄歧视研究做出了贡献。基于对意大利工会实际绩效评估访谈的视频记录的分析，确定了三种“做年龄”的话语方式——或者说如何将年龄作为一个构建的社会类别来表现和实施——分别是：量化（例如在组织中的年数）、“在组织内老化”和年龄群体身份识别（例如“年轻”与“年老”）。分析表明，生活阶段类别和年龄属性是在社会互动中“完成”的，并被员工和管理者用作共同的文化，以维持组织的持续活动，从而复制歧视性的年龄规范和刻板印象。该研究展示了生活阶段类别的排序权力如何存在于组织文化中，并挑战了平等和包容的工作场所政策的实施。
