Women always face ageism. No age is the right age for women to lead!
An HBR article confirms ageism starts when women are young and continues as they age.
US research finds ‘age is used to justify bias and discrimination against women.
Gendered ageism sits at the intersection of age and gender bias and is a double whammy where there’s “no right age” for professional women.’ Younger female leaders are treated as students or interns, or their advice ignored.
And ‘While men become wells of wisdom as they age, older women are seen as outdated.’
Many older women believe that they are ‘deemed unworthy of advancement.’
One female lawyer in the research study sums it up: ‘First, we’re too young to be responsible or supervise.
Then in an instant, we’re too old to be hired for anything or anywhere new.
Men are still “young enough” at the same age…. Women are young or old, and we get no prime time - even if we aren’t out for childbearing or rearing.’ I’m not surprised; and that’s really disappointing.
Why can’t we just accept women of all ages, like we accept men of all ages?
Surely we all have value at any age in our careers?
