Reliable and unproductive? Stereotypes of older employees in corporate and news media

Abstract

Older employees face a severe employability problem, partly because of dominant stereotypes about them. This study investigates stereotypes of older employees in corporate and news media. Drawing on the Stereotype Content Model, we content analysed newspaper coverage and corporate media of 50 large-scale Dutch organisations, published between 2006 and 2013. The data revealed that stereotypical portrayals of older employees are more common in news media than in corporate media and mixed in terms of valence. Specifically, older employees were positively portrayed with regard to warmth stereotypes, such as trustworthiness, but negatively with regard to competence stereotypes, such as technological competence and adaptability. Additionally, stereotypical portrayals that do not clearly belong to warmth or competence dimensions are found, such as the mentoring role stereotype and the costly stereotype. Because competence stereotypes weigh more heavily in employers’ productivity perceptions, these media portrayals might contribute to the employability problem of older employees. We suggest that older employees could benefit from a more realistic media debate about their skills and capacities.

Age management in the workplace: manager and older worker accounts of policy and practice

“…Arguably this stereotype about the ambitions of older workers could limit the opportunities for those older workers who wanted to progress. As previous research has found, opportunities for older workers to develop and progress may be limited (Beck, 2014; Kroon et al ., 2018). Another manager commented that they tended to promote younger workers: I think the older they get out there, when you say you're doing a good job, I'm thinking of promoting you, they're quite happy doing what they're doing.…”

“…Positive stereotypes about older workers can also perversely create barriers for older workers. For example, perceptions regarding the mentoring role of older workers may limit the (training and development) opportunities available to them (Kroon et al ., 2018). There may also be expectations that older workers take on additional roles in order to make available learning opportunities to younger colleagues (Beck, 2014).…”

Success Factors of Social and Professional Adaptation of Senior Citizens in the Modern Labor Market

“…The negative role of social stereotypes is also noted by foreign researchers. For example, Dutch scientists [25] believe that negative stereotypical images of older employees are more common in the media than in corporate ones.…”

Biased media? How news content influences age discrimination claims

“…The current study considers the influence of both the visibility of older workers in the news, and media stereotypes about older workers. Common negative stereotypes that are present in Dutch news media relate to older workers’ poor health and low productivity, while positive media stereotypes relate to older workers knowledge, experience, and reliability (Kroon et al 2016b ). In the current study, discrimination claims are traced among older workers aged 45 years and older, as from this age limit on it becomes increasingly difficult for individuals to reenter the labor market after job loss in the Netherlands (Bierings and Loog 2013 ).…”

“…A long-standing history of research has consistently demonstrated that media portrayals of diverse groups in society can be biased and have the potential to promote the reliance on stereotypes when making decisions regarding, for example, whom to hire or fire (e.g., Ramasubramanian 2011 ; Ramasubramanian and Oliver, 2007 ). In the specific case of older workers, previous research finds that news media portray this group in terms of dominant stereotypes (Kroon et al 2016b ) and that exposure to such media stereotypes leads to a bias in perceptions and selection of older workers (Kroon et al 2016a ).…”