During the days of mandatory retirement in Canada, a virtual expiry date was placed on every working citizen.
Years later, provincial laws requiring all persons over 65 to retire from employment are gone, but the stigma of that expiry date remains, and so does the discrimination.
About 50 people of all ages and from all walks of life congregated at The University of Western Ontario on Jan. 21 for a panel discussion on ageism, an issue that is especially present in the academic world.
The event was aimed at raising awareness of age discrimination as a human rights issue, understanding all the angles of the problem and examining possible solutions. Event host Bonnie MacLachlan, associate professor of classical studies, explained that because of society’s obsession with youth, ageism can affect people at ages most wouldn’t consider “old.”
“People’s opportunities are limited by their age, and today that age can be 37 or 64,” says MacLachlan, who believes the issue is invisible and compares it to feminism in the 1960s.
“It’s internalized, and there’s shame associated with venturing outside what we have been trained to regard as normal.”
In today’s financial environment, many people are feeling the pinch and continue to work as a result, said MacLachlan. Improved health conditions mean we live longer and function better in old age, and employment opportunities should reflect that.
The five-person panel dissected the issue of ageism in academia and studied it from several angles. Western sociology professor Gaile McGregor explained the legal context of age discrimination, followed by a description of the signs and impact that ageism has on employment from Julie McMullin, associate dean of social sciences. Law professor Michael Lynk spoke about age and disability and mature-student advisor Donna Moore detailed the experiences of mature students at Western.
Myeengun Henry of the Chippewa on the Thames First Nations, a last-minute addition to the panel, wowed the audience with a narrative explanation of the seven stages of life. In his society, the elders are respected as observers, teachers, and passers of knowledge.
“They’re always the supporters,” he said. “They’re with you from the day you come into this world, and they’ll be with you until the day that you leave.”
Henry believes the concept of elders could be easily applied to the society of academia, where the role of professor is often defined as a job, rather than a position of authority and rich knowledge. As a scholar, MacLachlan is upset that such valuable knowledge is often ignored because of age discrimination.
“It’s a loss of opportunity to take advantage of people with life experiences and professional expertise.”
The floor was opened up to the audience after the panel discussion, and a series of personal experiences from audience members helped to quantify the issue and put it all into perspective. MacLachlan felt that the event was a success, but asked all attendees to spread awareness of ageism further so that it will be further investigated and understood by the Western community, and others..
The writer is a graduate student in journalism on an internship at Western News.