PMGM7001 Chap.3 Ageism and Designing Inclusive Team Activities
Ageism and Designing Inclusive Team Activities
Discrimination is still here
After the evidence on benefits, the lecture asks whether diversity and inclusion have arrived and answers that they have not. Its example is ageism, chosen because it runs in both directions.
Older workers face assumptions that they learn slowly or will not fit a progressive workplace; the lecture reports that one in five workers over forty had experienced age discrimination and that older founders are often more successful than younger ones.
Turning a finding into reasons
The lecture does not conclude that age causes entrepreneurial success.
It rephrases the finding as two problems, why older founders succeed and why younger ones succeed less, so that the answer is a list of reasons. Age then helps only where a person has those reasons.
The lecture says the same move is expected in the group project and the paper.
Bias against the young
A psychology study the lecture summarises found ageism to be a slightly worse problem for younger workers, with respondents of all ages feeling colder towards today's young adults.
Seniority hierarchies and seniors who judge by the standard that made them successful turn those feelings into low expectations and stalled careers. The lecture's example is a young graduate whose efficiency suggestions were read as too much ambition.
Designing an activity that works
The topic ends with a design task: a workshop to reduce ageism between young and older colleagues.
The lecture's rule is that an event is a means to an end, and that simply getting people to interact will not by itself reduce bias. A good design names its intended outcomes, anticipates barriers, structures interaction so that neither side can finish alone, and closes with a debrief that shows whether it worked.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Why the lecture chooses age as its example
- 02
Assumptions about older workers and learning
- 03
The founder-age finding and problem orientation
- 04
Why ageism may be worse for the young
- 05
Seniority, work-life balance and judging by one's own standard
- 06
An activity as a means to an end
- 07
Structuring interaction in mixed-age pairs
Worked example · free
Repair a team-building plan
- 2Identify the assumption the plan makes about contact.
- 2Name an intended outcome and the barrier to it.
- 3Propose a structured activity with a debrief.
Key terms
- Ageism
- Prejudice or discrimination on the basis of age, directed at older workers, younger workers or both.
- Problem Orientation
- Reframing an observed relationship as a problem with reasons to be found, so that the conclusion rests on causes rather than on a group label.
- Applicability Condition
- The circumstance under which a finding applies to a person or case, for example that age helps only when the reasons behind the finding are present.
- Mixed-age Dyad
- A pair made up of one younger and one older colleague, used in structured activities so that each must engage with the other.
Ageism and Designing Inclusive Team Activities FAQ
Is ageism really a problem for young people?
The lecture reports a psychology study finding it slightly worse for the young, with colder feelings towards today's young adults than towards older people. It also reports that nearly two-thirds of workers aged forty-five and over had seen or experienced age discrimination, so both forms coexist.
How do I show problem orientation in my own writing?
When you meet a relationship such as age and success, restate it as a question about reasons, list the reasons the evidence supports, and say when they would apply to someone else. The conclusion should be about the reasons, not about the group.
Why does the lecture use a hike as its example?
Because it looks like a natural way to bring people together and still fails without design. The lecture lists barriers such as stamina and interests, and repairs the hike with mixed pairs, observation tasks, swapped roles and a sharing round afterwards.
Assessment move
Take one finding you have read about a group, rewrite it as two why-questions, and list the reasons that would answer them. Then design a thirty-minute activity for your own project group with an outcome written beside each step, and try it before your first project meeting.
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