What you probably already know: As the population gets older ageism has become a hot topic in the workforce. One recent survey finds that a staggering nine in 10 workers older than 50 say they have experienced age discrimination at work. What you might not realize is that workplace discrimination based on age works both ways, and young women feel it more than their male counterparts. A 2024 Women in the Workplace report from consulting firm McKinsey & Co. finds that young women are twice as likely as older women to say their gender holds them back. It’s called “youngism.”
Why it matters: “Conventional wisdom suggests that ageism predominately impacts older workers,” McKinsey notes. “In reality, it is most pronounced for younger women,” who are also twice as likely as younger men to field unwanted comments about their age. One entry-level woman said, “I’ve felt like I can’t voice myself because of my age. It’s assumed you won’t have a good idea, or you’ll say something and next week somebody says the same idea, but they’re much older and have been with the company longer.” Ageism, of course, also impacts older employees of both genders, but at relatively similar rates for women and men.
What it means: Younger women are more often called pet names or, as a Harvard Business Review report found, are even patted on the head. One woman who became a vice president at age 37 said that board members “routinely criticized her age, calling her diminishing pet names like ‘kiddo’ and ‘young lady.’” The McKinsey study found that 49% of women under the age of 30 say their age has played a role in costing them a promotion, while 37% under 40 say the same thing.
What happens now? The Young Women’s Trust — an organization that works to combat sexism and misogyny — works with young women to “create a manifesto” calling for several changes, including salary transparency; flexible work policies that tend to benefit women; creating ways to support younger women with targeted training; and adopting better reporting processes that create more accountability for employers. “We know it’s hard for young women to get the jobs that they want because of barriers such as a lack of flexible working and affordable childcare,” says Young Women’s Trust CEO Claire Reindorp, “but then when they do enter the workplace, discrimination and a lack of support to progress creates this broken rung on the career ladder.”
