DOING AGE AS MARGINALIZATION AND EXCLUSION: ON AGE CODING AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF AGE NORMALITIES AND AGEISM

Abstract Early definitions of ageism as prejudice, attitudes and discrimination tend to stress the cognitive aspects of the processes where groups of people are being marginalized and/or excluded because of their age. This differ from recurrent studies which emphazise social categorization such as age and gender as a dynamic social positioning practice and as a complex form of doing age as marginalization and exclusion. Based on qualitative interviews with eleven men between the ages of 56 and 74, who work with manual labour at a steel company in Sweden, this paper discusses the processes where age normality and ageism are constructed in parallel. Departing from the concept age coding; distinctive practices associating a context or a phenomenon with demarcated ages, it shows the disciplining dimension of ageism. The paper concludes with a reflection on the central position which ageism can have in neo-liberal governance by creating social insecurity among older workers.

context or a phenomenon with demarcated ages, it shows the disciplining dimension of ageism.The paper concludes with a reflection on the central position which ageism can have in neo-liberal governance by creating social insecurity among older workers.

EMPLOYERS' AGE-RELATED NORMS, STEREOTYPES, AND AGEIST PREFERENCES IN EMPLOYMENT Jaap Oude Mulders 1 , 1. Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, The Hague, Netherlands
Social norms about retirement timing and stereotypes about qualities of younger and older workers are pervasive, but it is unclear how they relate to employers' ageist preferences.Analyzing 2017 survey data from 960 Dutch employers, I study effects of employers' retirement age norms and age-related stereotypes on their preferences for younger or older workers in three employment decisions: (1) hiring a new employee; (2) offering training; and (3) offering a permanent contract.Higher retirement age norms are related to lower preferences for younger workers in all employment decisions.More positive views about older workers' soft qualities (such as reliability), but not about hard qualities (such as physical capacities), lead to managers being more favourable towards older workers for hiring and training, but not providing a permanent contract.The results show how ageist preferences of high-level organisational actors can influence outcomes in different employment decisions at the organisational level.

GENDERED AGEISM: OLDER WORKERS' NARRATIVES ABOUT AGE
Sarah A. Vickerstaff, 1 and Mariska F. van der Horst 2 , 1. University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom, 2. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands Existing research has highlighted that ageism in the workplace may take gendered forms with women 'never being the right age' (Duncan & Loretto, 2004).It is further known that individuals have internalised age stereotypes and self-stereotype when being older themselves, also referred to as stereotype embodiment.In this work place based study, through analysis of older workers talk, we examine the extent to which narratives of age differ by gender and work setting.The data base includes 185 participants in five different work settings and different kinds of jobs: blue collar, white collar, managerial, manufacturing and services sectors.Whilst many of the fears about 'being old' at work are common across women and men there are some distinct nuances related to the kind of work that people do and others that we argue are gender based.

TO WHAT DEGREE IS AGEISM ACTUALLY DISABLEISM? A QUALITATIVE STUDY
Mariska van der Horst, 1 and Sarah Vickerstaff 2 , 1. VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2. University of Kent, Canterbury, England, United Kingdom Ageism has been identified as a possible threat to the extending working lives agenda that is prevalent in many Western countries.It recently became a popular topic of research, but is not yet well understood.In this article we explore to what degree ageism is actually hidden disableism.We suggest that not all ageism is likely to be disableism, but a large part is, with the difference that it is not (necessarily) about actual impairments, but expected impairments.Using data from a large case study based project in the UK (containing 185 participants), we further assess to what degree older workers link ageism to disableism in their own accounts of future work plans.We conclude that even though we would still expect ageism to affect employment of older workers, without disableism it is unlikely that ageism would be as detrimental to the employment of older workers as it is now.

WHOM WOULD YOU HIRE? AGEISM IN ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXTS
Hannah Swift, 1 Vanessa Dias, 1 and Dominic Abrams 1 , 1. University of Kent, Canterbury, England, United Kingdom People want to work at older ages, yet ageism and discrimination remain a barrier.Using theories of prejudice, social role theory, and conceptual models of age diversity in organisational contexts, we explore age-bias in hiring practices (Study 1) and how to reduce it (Study 2).Study 1 (N=150) investigated pro-youth bias in hiring practices and how this manifests depending on job/occupation.Study 2 (N=150) investigated whether pro-youth bias is reduced by manipulating organisational culture.In both studies, participants were given a fictional organisation, a job ad, and two applicants' profiles manipulated to represent men one each in their 30s and 50s.Study 1 supported the social role theory hypothesis: people match candidates to the age profile of the job.In the age-neutral job occupation participants chose equally between candidates.Study 2 supported the hypothesis that pro-youth bias can be mitigated when age-diverse nature of the organisational culture is made salient.