Doing age in the workplace: Exploring age categorisation in performance appraisal

• Published in: Journal of aging studies 2021-12, Vol.59, p.100981-100981, Article 100981
• Main Authors: Previtali, Federica, Spedale, Simona
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age stereotypes; Ageism; Discursive gerontology; Job performance; Membership categorization analysis; Older workers; Social interaction
• ISSN: 0890-4065; 1879-193X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2021.100981

Ageism in the manager–employee relationship is one of the main obstacles towards an age-inclusive workplace. Ageism in the labour market is rooted in the use of age as an organising principle of employment relations. This article contributes to the study of ageism in the workplace by investigating how stages of life, as normalised age categories, are mobilised through discursive practices in performance appraisals. Based on the analysis of video recordings of actual performance appraisal interviews at an Italian labour union, three discursive ways of ‘doing age’ – or of how age, as a constructed social category, is performed and enacted – were identified: quantification (e.g. number of years in the organisation), ‘ageing within the organisation’ and age-group membership identification (e.g. ‘young’ vs. ‘old’). The analysis suggests that stages of life categories and age attributes are ‘done’ in social interactions and employed by both employees and managers as shared culture to sustain ongoing organisational activities, thereby reproducing discriminatory age norms and stereotypes. The study demonstrates how the ordering power of the stages of life categories is situated in organisational culture and challenges the implementation of equal and inclusive workplace policies. •Analysis of verbal interaction in the workplace reveals the situated ways employers and employees construct age.•Ordered stages of (work) life are used as disciplining elements in employment relations.•Age is discursively done differently based on the performance item to be assessed.•Shared organisational age norms warrant the use of age stereotypes in business and prevent inclusive workplaces.