TY - JOUR
T1 - Including older academics in the English university
T2 - a matter of social justice
AU - George, Rosalyn
AU - Maguire, Meg
PY - 2020/12/21
Y1 - 2020/12/21
N2 - In the UK a ‘crisis’ has been manufactured around the so-called baby boomer generation. It has been claimed that this demographic (those born between 1946 and 1964) have benefitted from supportive public policies throughout their lives and are still continuing to access advantages but at some cost to younger generations. For example, policies that offer protection against age discrimination coupled with the end of mandatory retirement have offered baby boomers the opportunity to extend their working lives. In choosing to remain in paid work when they could have retired, it has been claimed that older workers limit employment opportunities for younger people. This paper explores the perceptions and experiences of twelve older academics from the baby boomer generation who have stayed on in their posts and asks questions about social justice issues; that is, issues of distribution, inclusion and recognition. We argue that discourses that malign and/or exclude older academics need to be disrupted and that a kinder alignment between employers, managers, and differently-aged university employees may go some way to dispelling any concerns about intergenerational unfairness.
AB - In the UK a ‘crisis’ has been manufactured around the so-called baby boomer generation. It has been claimed that this demographic (those born between 1946 and 1964) have benefitted from supportive public policies throughout their lives and are still continuing to access advantages but at some cost to younger generations. For example, policies that offer protection against age discrimination coupled with the end of mandatory retirement have offered baby boomers the opportunity to extend their working lives. In choosing to remain in paid work when they could have retired, it has been claimed that older workers limit employment opportunities for younger people. This paper explores the perceptions and experiences of twelve older academics from the baby boomer generation who have stayed on in their posts and asks questions about social justice issues; that is, issues of distribution, inclusion and recognition. We argue that discourses that malign and/or exclude older academics need to be disrupted and that a kinder alignment between employers, managers, and differently-aged university employees may go some way to dispelling any concerns about intergenerational unfairness.
KW - Ageism
KW - inclusion
KW - social justice
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097841379&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13603116.2020.1858980
DO - 10.1080/13603116.2020.1858980
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85097841379
SN - 1360-3116
JO - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
JF - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
ER -
