The pitfalls of Reverse Ageism

Three minutes before the lunar lander reached the Moon surface for the very first time in history, a lot of alarms were triggered. It was July 20, 1969, and the whole world watched breathlessly for one of the largest human achievements of all time. For a brief period, the command of Apollo 11 thought about aborting the mission. After all, they couldn’t assure the safety of the astronauts. 2.5 billion dollars were about to be wasted, let alone the collective morale of mankind at that time. But then a software engineer calmed everyone down. Margaret Hamilton, responsible for the code that controlled the lunar lander, stood tall and confirmed everything was fine. She had handwritten the code herself and trusted the alarms were only the result of human malpractice. Everyone knows what happened later. But only a few know, until today, that the entire lunar endeavor was the result of the trust, talent, and hard work of a 32 years-old woman from a small town in Indiana.

Margaret holding the piles of code she wrote that controlled the lunar lander module and saved the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969.

Almost 53 years later, we can say that we went to the Moon but have not yet otherwise solved some more earthly issues. Margaret is a true hero not only for the scientific achievements she was capable of but also for navigating a world full of middle-aged men that constantly undermined her skills as a woman and, especially, as a young woman.?

At that time, acting in a discriminatory manner based on someone’s age was already considered an infraction in the US - but only for those over the age of 40. No current ageism laws were in place to counteract Reverse Ageism of employees under 40 years old. Yes, because when you discriminate against someone based on their supposed lack of experience you’re practicing the so-called Reverse Ageism.?

A recent study conducted by the American Psychological Association revealed that 60% of office conflicts within larger companies are caused by older workers’ negative perceptions of their younger colleagues. Reverse Ageism can be harmful to employees’ physical and mental health as well as career advancement. In 2019, Glassdoor released a diversity and inclusion survey in the US, UK, France, and Germany that found younger employees (52% of ages 18-34) are more likely than older employees (39% of ages 55+) to have witnessed or experienced ageism at work.

Reverse Ageism is harmful. It can take the form of assigning menial tasks, making unspoken assumptions, or some seemingly harmless comments such as “Girls of your age…”, “I have 15 years more experience than you…” and others of its kind. The truth is that not everyone has the mental strength and persistence Margaret had in the 60s to keep the focus and not start having second thoughts about this supposed lack of experience. But no one should, actually. We should not consider normal a toxic environment that takes for granted someone’s skills based only on their age and diminishes others due to the date written in their Birth Certificates. We should be even more conscious about Reverse Ageism now that we welcome open-armed Gen Z into the workplace.

My piece of advice is to take age out of the equation. It simply doesn’t matter. Focus on the soft and hard skills that make someone a good professional. Period. If that person was capable of achieving a high level on the corporate ladder or delivered a flawless performance despite his or her age it doesn’t matter. I wonder how many Margaret Hamilton we could have had if age wasn’t a thing in the corporate world.?

But I love to look to the future. Six female engineers, geologists and scientists, all under 30, are set to enter the simulation center later this year for a two-week mission living in Mars-like conditions. They are part of the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), created in Utah to foster the ambitious project of going to Mars by 2030. There’s hope in the scientific community that the very first person to step on the Mars surface could be a woman, probably under 30. I hope Margaret can see that with her own eyes.