To what extent are ageist attitudes among employers translated into discriminatory practices

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address four interrelated questions: what is the prevalence of ageism amongst employers? What are the factors conditioning employers’ age stereotypes? To what extent are ageist attitudes among employers translated into discriminatory recruitment, retention and firing practices? And what factors can moderate the stereotype–discrimination interaction?Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on a survey conducted among Danish employers; 2,525 completed the survey questionnaires; response rate 25 per cent.FindingsThe major finding is that ageist stereotypes among employers do not translate into discriminatory personnel management practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings may be specific to Denmark. Denmark is renowned to be a non-hierarchical, egalitarian society, which may have implications for personnel management practices.Originality/valueContrary to this study, most studies analysing ageist stereotypes do not assess the extent to which stereotypes are translated into discriminatory personnel management practices in the workplace.