Age

Age discrimination is the unfair treatment of people because of their age. Whilst there are beneficial provisions for differential treatment such as support for retraining older staff, there are many ways this can be discriminatory.

Older workers are a growing demographic, and soon will be (if not are) a critical mass of the potential workforce. On an inclusion side, encouraging lifelong learning has an important inclusion effect, helping to valorise knowledge and sharing perceptions between generations. It also widens the social impact of the university, allowing it to have a continuing influence on the social environment. This can be through younger students learning how to communicate more effectively with older colleagues, which in time can help their future adjustment to the labour market and working with generational differences in the workplace.

Nevertheless, younger staff and students may also suffer from age discrimination, such as unjustified requirements that are harder to meet. For example, a requirement for a minimum number of years' experience for a job may also be indirectly discriminatory against a young person.