Originally published here.

My first experience understanding the challenges our economy is facing in regards to job retention happened a little over a year ago. I understood the scarcity of jobs in our country's current economic state, but did not realize the impact until it was at my doorstep. My father, a salesman in the transportation industry, with over twenty-five years of experience, would be considered a professional in his field. He is the kind of person that enjoys the monotonous questions people ask such as, "What do you do for work?" when engaging in conversation. I cannot recall a time of my father complaining about work.

Up until recently, my father has always nudged me in the direction of the transportation industry with the hopes that I may one day join him in the field. I considered it as a real possibility, up until recently. My father was laid off three times within the span of one year. The reason? He was told he was too old and a monetary liability. People in white-collar, middlemanagement jobs, with a lifetime of experience, skills, and knowledge are finding themselves at a crossroads.

Is it due to their lack of qualifications or inability to keep up with demand? No. Contrary to societal belief, these professionals are finding themselves at a loss of a job due to society's idea of the capabilities of older workers and cultural implications. For many years, an older employee within an organization was not seen as being anything but an advantage or an asset to the organization.

With older workers most times residing as the "face" of these organizations it is questioned as to why there has been a rise in discrimination against older workers. This question is not as simple to answer as it may seem. First, one must understand what it means to discriminate against someone due to his or her age. For some people age discrimination happens in overt ways Where organizations are barring them from the organization simply because they are "too old." In other circumstances, organizations participate in age discrimination covertly and may not even understand that they are discriminating against their older workers. As a result, there is confusion over what is and what is not age discrimination and how organizations are participating in discriminatory practices.

Discrimination persists in many social realms in our society. Discrimination is a critical term used in understanding the problems our society has with diversity. McConnachie (20 1 4) describes discrimination as, "treating persons differently in a way which impairs their fundamental dignity as human beings" (p. 610). To discriminate against something is to "criticize it, or to assert that it is wrong" (Helman, 2008, p. 3). For this study's purpose, I focus on age discrimination within employment practices and the workplace. Discrimination is ethically suspect because it "accords differential treatment" (Woodruff, 1 976, p. 1 5 8), where in this case age discrimination accords differential treatment of those of "older age" in the workplace.

 The unjust treatment of different categories of people based on the grounds of their age is the basis of this study. Similar to other social inequalities, age discrimination involves associating negative qualities to a certain age group, or a socially constructed bias to a particular group. Age discrimination can manifest in a variety of ways as stated by Macnicol (2005). He states, "Ageism is 'age proxies' in personnel decisions relating to hiring, firing, promotion, re-training and mandatory retirement" (Macnicol, 2005, p. 6). Although the act of age discrimination is illegal, human resource departments play a large role in being discriminatory towards someone due to their age or perceived age.

As more claims of age discrimination occur daily in our society, age discrimination becomes one of "the most elusive and damaging type of discrimination" (Kendig, 1 978, p. 9). In other words, this discrimination can affect not only the individual, it can also affect the perceptions within organizations and society. Ageism can be seen in media, advertising, education, etc. Age is a social category that readily has preconceived norms related to it. As I discuss in this study, age discrimination does more than just affect a person's ability to be in the workplace. It also affects her/his dignity in the workplace and how they see themselves as a professional, or their professional identity.

The notion that abilities decline with age creates the perception in institutions that older employees are not as efficient and effective as their younger counterparts. Negative age biases exist before and outside of the workforce too. Within the workplace, it has been found that there are damaging effects such as affecting the professional social identity and dignity of older workers. With age discrimination defined, it is important to understand the terms and legislation that "protect" individuals from age discrimination.

Age may be just a number, but with that number comes societal status, expectations, and biases. Age has been, and continues to be, an important cultural dimension of status throughout our society (Roscigno et al. , 2007). Dennis and Thomas (2007) confirm that ageism is a social injustice that is a part of American life. They discuss the number of age-bias complaints received in 2005 : " 1 6,5 85 age bias complaints were filed by the EEOC". 90% of age discrimination accusations do not make it to trial {Dennis & Thomas, 2007), which shows the severity and prevalence of age discrimination as a social injustice.

Attempting to protect against this injustice, there are specific regulations and laws that all organizations are subj ect to. Before deciding upon age discrimination as a topic to study, I looked to see if there was a need for further research. There are rules and governing regulations that protect individuals from age discrimination, but, nonetheless, it is happening. Current Laws and Regulations The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for, "Enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of a person's race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age (40 of older), disability or genetic information" (US. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 20 1 6).

The EEOC is the governing body that investigates charges of discrimination against employers who are covered by the law. This institution investigates allegations and charges against the various social injustices (race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information). In 2002, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) "received more than 20,000 age discrimination cases" (Kaye & Cohen, 2008, p. 30). These are only the "documented" age discrimination claims.

This does not include the hundreds and thousands of age discrimination acts that go unclaimed. Age discrimination, "involves treating someone (an applicant or employee) less favorably because of his or her age" (US. Equal Opportunity Commission, 20 1 6). This excerpt from the EEOC is the foundation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1 967, which is the most prominent of the regulations in our society protecting older workers. The purpose of the ADEA is "to promote the employment of older persons based on ability rather than age" (Dennis & Thomas, 2007, p. 84). As baby boomers in the workplace are on the rise, knowledge and education about age discrimination is necessary so bias and stereotypes towards older workers do not persist in the organizational realm.

Rothenberg and Gardner (20 1 1) explain the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1 967 in detail and note that even though the act was implemented 46 years ago to protect aging individuals, age discrimination continues to present obstacles for older employees. There are specifications on what a person can "claim" is age discrimination. Other claims, therefore, are then deemed as perceived age discrimination, and are ultimately "thrown out" as age discrimination cases.

Dennis and Thomas (2007) offer insight regarding how to make an anti-age discrimination law more effective and show the limitations of the current act in place. The act states, "It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate in hiring or in any other way of individuals 40 and over (The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 1 998, p. A-2). This excerpt from the EEOC gives a description of what age frame is protected by the ADEA.

The ADEA has achieved some success in combating age discrimination in the workplace (Gregory, 200 1 ). The problem arises for those who are experiencing age discrimination in ways that are not specified in the ADEA. In this study, I seek to understand individuals' perceived experiences with age discrimination. Discrimination does not need to be as overt as the ADEA proposes it to be. Since its implementation, there has been great discussion of the changes in what age discrimination and ageism means as academic scholars have discussed multiple definitions.

Those agreed upon definitions usually align with the definitions the EEOC and ADEA provide. Of those claims that fall under the agreed upon definitions of age discrimination in 20 1 5, 22.5% or 20, 1 44 of the discrimination charges filed were relating to age out of 89,3 58 filed charges (US. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 20 1 6). Almost one fifth of all discrimination charges filed in 20 15 by the EEOC were age discrimination charges.

Since 2008, the number of age discrimination cases has stayed steady. According to the U.S. EEOC it states the numbers of age discrimination cases is, "2009: 22,778, 20 10: 23 ,264, 20 1 1: 21,465, 20 12: 22, 857, 20 13: 2 1 ,396, 20 14: 20,5 88, 20 15: 20, 1 44" (US. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 20 1 6).

These are only the "documented" age discrimination claims. This does not include the countless acts of age discrimination that go unclaimed. The specificity of the ADEA does not take into consideration the people who have encountered age discrimination that does not fall under the parameters given for a claim to be age discrimination in the ADEA.

With laws in place to protect individuals from age discrimination, it is vital to question how age discrimination manifests at institutional and individual levels and the real consequences for those individuals who have experienced age discrimination. The following section examines extant academic research and unpacks the main themes involved in this study.

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