I have been passionate about assisting the elderly since I was a little girl, and I was the kid who preferred to volunteer at the nursing home over locations such as childcare centers. I knew from a young age that, whether it was through my career or volunteering, I would always have the interests of older individuals in my mind.
Although the word ageism did not enter my vocabulary until many years later, at the age of 8 years old I had already recognized a truth that underlies much of American society: that we value youth over age. But even more crucially, this belief impacts nearly every facet of our society.
It was also not until I was older that I began to see this bias impact the lives of the people around me. As my grandparents entered their eighties, their health began to noticeably decline. Hospital visits became a fairly regular occurrence, and conversations about their health became part of household dialogue. It got to the point where I even started recognizing the names of several different medications and their usages because both of my grandfathers had similar prescriptions.
In these hospital visits, some of them almost fatal, I began to notice patterns. For starters, negligence was everywhere. Whether that was discharging my septic grandfather too early, not checking my grandma’s vitals properly (to see that she was bleeding internally) or making my septic grandma wait hours upon hours in a waiting room to the point where she lost function of her colon. But more importantly, at the root of all this negligence was this arrogance or unwillingness to listen to my grandparents’ symptoms. There was an assumption that they did not know what they were talking about and that “everything was fine.” I had never seen someone’s health be so completely dismissed.
That was until this past winter. As someone who wants to potentially go into health law, I had certainly heard of the term “wrongful death.” I knew what it meant, but to see it happen is something I would never wish on anyone. I was not in the same state as my grandma when she died, so I did not see everything that led to her death, but I do know with absolute certainty that it should have never happened how it did.
Navigating this loss has been one of the most painful experiences for me, but it has also reminded me of this painful truth: that oftentimes, the value of your life is equated with how much time people believe you have on this earth. Furthermore, as you age, people value your agency and opinion less for some reason, even if you are completely competent.
Although ageism has certainly been something I have seen at the highest level with my grandparents, I have also noticed that, although corporate America supposedly values the “young and hungry,” there has been an unusual amount of bias directed towards Gen Z as we enter the workforce. I have heard the terms “immature,” “lazy” and “unprofessional” all used to describe the youth in the workforce. Without any consideration for the positive traits of Gen Z, such as tech savviness, unprecedented levels of tolerance for different cultures, support for mental health and pursuit of creating a work-life balance, young people are often reduced to these terms and taken out of consideration for jobs.
This is compounded by the fact that once most people hit their fifties, career opportunities for promotion start to become limited. Not because their qualifications have become any less valuable, but because retirement is theoretically coming in the next 10 years. As such, these individuals are often passed over for younger applicants. Once again, the double standard of ageism is rearing its ugly head. One group is “too young,” and by implication, unqualified, whereas the other is “too old” and a risk to be promoted.
So, what can we do in this environment, where age can have implications for both health and careers? Awareness is an important first step, but the more essential step is advocating for yourself and others when you see ageism. It can be hard, especially if you do not have medical knowledge to say something when you see ageism in this realm, but pushing for their voices to be heard is an excellent way of advocating for someone who is being ignored. Age discrimination in the workforce can be even more difficult to recognize or do something about. Once again, being aware of this issue is key, but so is seeking employers that value a diverse range of age groups, which can be a way of protecting yourself against discrimination.
Although these problems and solutions can seem very abstract, systemic change occurs at these levels, and that change must start with individuals. If there is anything I have learned during my time at SLU and in the time I have spent investigating this dilemma, it is that we can affect the culture of our society more than we think. With one person at a time, we can change lives and our futures, so that one day, when we look to the future generations to advocate for us, they will be empowered to do so because of the example we set.