The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression
This past weekend I was visiting my grandparents in
Cincinnati, Ohio. We happened to get on the topic of my grandfather’s career as
a professor and how many of his colleagues have been pushed out of the
University based on their age. He discussed how the Head of the College desired
younger professors (for reasons of his own) and started letting go of seasoned
professors who had been loyal to the University for over 30 years. This
demonstrated ageism because these professors lost their jobs simply based on
their age. In an article I recently read, Linda Barrington (2015) discusses how
there is a stigma against older workers being “unproductive and seen as
barriers to using more profitable talent” (p.34). In my opinion, a professor
with years of experience in the field who has also been published multiple times
is most likely more knowledgeable than someone who has just started in the
field. This does not mean that younger professors are unintelligent, but
experience comes a long way in an educational profession.
This prejudice diminished equity because it put the younger
professors in a superior position based on their age. The experience and time that
the older professors devoted to the University clearly did not entirely matter
to the Head of the College because he desired a younger crowd. This incident
left me feeling disappointed and frustrated. To think that someone in power has
the ability to fire people strictly based on age, is upsetting because they
don’t entirely realize the inequity they’ve caused within the field and in our
society. In order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity,
I would put restrictions in place with the hiring/firing process and enforce
that one cannot be eliminated based on their age. Firing someone from their job
should be reliant on performance and if they are still actively contributing to
the job, they have every right to keep their job.
Reference
Barrington, L. (2015). Ageism and Bias in the American
Workplace. Generations-Journal Of
The American Society On Aging, 39(3), 34-38.
Tara,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing a personal story about your grandfather. It is upsetting to hear that professors are losing their jobs simply because of their age and not based on their ability. I was at a school where the principal was discussing new hires and explained that a school cannot be made up of strictly brand new teachers out of college. He explained that you need the seasoned teachers to mentor and help the new teachers. There needs to be an equal blend of experienced teachers and new teachers.
Bri
Thank you for sharing Tara.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to hear that the Head of the College could not see the potential for forming great partnerships between the seasoned professors and the new professors. I mentioned this before ( I can't remember where sadly) that this is often the case in ECE. The more seasoned staff hold so much hands-on experience that the new staff may not, and the new staff hold new information, knowledge and practices that the seasoned staff may not. By working together, through mentoring and coaching and sharing thoughts, ideas, perspectives, etc. offers a great opportunity for professional growth and improving our work with the children. This could easily be said for your example. :)
Hi Tara,
ReplyDeleteBoth Brianna and Amy made good points that it is upsetting that professors are losing their job due to age. Schools from early childhood all the way up to colleges can benefit from both young and seasoned teacher to mentor and blend the experiences of both perspectives and ideas. In my own experience as a new teacher and a new director, ageism was hard to break through since the seasoned teachers did not respect the knowledge of someone who was newly to the field since the “knew it all,” but I also admired the seasoned teachers who also taught me a lot of knowledge about the field.
Tara
ReplyDeleteThe previous colleagues that have posted have made some awesome and great points, because regardless of age it is the experience and knowledge they have to share to the students is what matters. Your grandfather could have been able to assist the younger professor in their growth in their career growth.