Workplace youngism: A scoping review of agism toward younger workers

Abstract

Workplace agism research has primarily focused on older workers, in spite of the fact that agism can also target younger workers. Given the growing body of research on workplace youngism (agism toward younger workers) and its need for assessment and synthesis, we conducted a scoping review aimed at mapping the range and characteristics of the workplace youngism literature. Unlike previous reviews, we focused exclusively on younger individuals in the workplace. A search of peer-reviewed literature identified 108 articles published between 1976 and 2022, containing 143 empirical studies from 21 countries, including 58,158 participants in total. The review is guided by three broad research questions: (1) How has workplace youngism been assessed?, (2) What are the main theories and conceptual approaches used to investigate workplace youngism?, and (3) What are the main antecedents and consequences of workplace youngism? For each research question, we summarize what is known and well-supported by evidence, identify disagreements and gaps in the literature, and propose directions for future research. This scoping review highlights the need for research on workplace youngism to broaden the range of methodological designs used, develop instruments specifically assessing agism toward younger workers, and extend the research to a wider range of national and cultural contexts. In addition, future research should investigate prescriptive age stereotypes toward younger workers, consider the perspective of middle-aged workers, pay greater attention to consequences of workplace youngism for the enablers, and extend the intersectional identities investigated.