Overt Stereotype Biases and Discriminationin the Workplace .docx

Overt Stereotype Biases and Discrimination
in the Workplace: Why Haven’t We Fixed This by Now?
Stan Malos1
Published online: 25 June 2015
# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
Abstract A substantial amount of research exists on identifying
and combating stereotypes
and related biases that may improperly influence employment
staffing decisions. Yet, evidence
of such biases continues to appear in the reported discrimination
cases and poses ongoing
liability risks for employers. This paper examines various kinds
of workplace stereotype
biases, including those related to gender, parenthood, use of
family leave, age, disability,
and perceived disability, which may improperly influence
performance evaluations or em-
ployment decisions based upon them. Although the behavioral
science in this area has focused
largely on combating implicit biases, recent U.S. appellate court
cases present direct evidence
of more overt biases whose effects should be readily identified
and addressed. Possible
explanations for the persistence of such biases in the workplace
and corresponding actions
to reduce or eliminate them are explored.
Keywords Overt bias . Stereotype discrimination

Consider the following quote from a law review article
published a decade ago:
BAs employers become more aware of the statutory protections
afforded members of
protected classes, smoking gun statements [reflecting direct
evidence of illegal bias]
have become largely a remnant of the past^ (Lee 2005: 482).
Now consider the following excerpts from recent court cases
adverse to the employer:
& A female engineer is terminated as part of a Reduction in
Force (RIF) by a male supervisor
who stated, among other things, that he Bdidn’t want women
around,^ that women Bwere
not worth a shit,^ and that his ex-wife, also an employee at the
company, Bshould be at
home, not working;^
Employ Respons Rights J (2015) 27:271–280
DOI 10.1007/s10672-015-9264-7
* Stan Malos
[email protected]
1 San Jose State University College of Business, One
Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192-0070,
USA
http://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.1007/s10672-015-
9264-7&domain=pdf
& A highly-rated insurance specialist with four children is
passed over for promotion in favor
of a lower-rated candidate after being told by her immediate

supervisor that Bit was nothing
you did or didn’t do. It was just that … you have kids and you
just have a lot on your plate
right now;^
& An otherwise capable director of an assisted living facility is
terminated at age 53 after
being told by her supervisor that she Bdressed like an old lady^
and comments by the
facility’s CEO that they were Bmissing the boat by not hiring
more younger, vibrant people
because they would last longer and they would have more
energy and be willing to work
more hours;^
& A woman undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer is laid
off, despite outstanding
appraisals, promotions, raises, and bonuses, after requesting
accommodation for short-
term memory loss and thereafter having her previously high
retention score changed to
among the lowest of any of the employer’s RIF candidates.
Each of these scenarios reflects explicit biases about an
individual’s non-suitability for a
particular job based on stereotypes regarding gender,
parenthood, family leave use, age, or
perceived disability. After decades of litigation that have
Bheightened employers’ awareness of
the legal ramifications for discriminatory transgressions^ (Lee
2005: 488), why do such biases
and their overt expression still persist in the workplace?
A substantial amount of both behavioral and legal research
exists on identifying and
combating stereotype biases that may improperly impact

employment decisions (e.g., Lee
2005; Macan and Merritt 2011; Pedersen 2010; Roberson et al.
2007; Tetlock and Mitchell
2009). Yet, such issues continue to appear in the case law and
pose ongoing liability risks for
employers. This paper identifies stereotypes that stand out in
recent appellate cases adverse to
the employer. After a brief review of the research on stereotype
biases and their sources, those
specifically involving gender, parenthood, FMLA leave use,
age, disability, and perceived
disability are considered, as are illustrative examples of each.
Possible explanations for the
persistence of such biases and ways to address them are
explored.
Research on Stereotypes and Related Biases
Much of the behavioral research on stereotypes and related
biases has been directed toward
uncovering and regulating the results of implicit or unconscious
biases (see, e.g., Fiske et al.
2002; Huntsinger et al. 2009; Tetlock and Mitchell 2009;
Wheeler and Petty 2001). Indeed,
some legal commentators appear to have concluded that more
overt or explicit biases (or at
least direct evidence of them) have largely been eliminated due
to experience with the various
civil rights laws. For example, Lee (2005: 488) suggests that
Bemployers’ heightened
awareness of the legal ramifications for discriminatory
transgressions—learned through
litigation, among other means—suggests that employers will be
increasingly savvy in not
documenting, outwardly expressing, or retaining anything that
is potentially damaging.^

Given these developments, Pedersen (2010) has proposed a
framework for uncovering
implicit biases that might afford discrimination litigants a better
opportunity to have their
cases heard notwithstanding the lack of direct evidence of more
overt stereotypic effects.
However, while it may be true generally that B[d]iscrimination
claims, lawsuits, and court
decisions continue to send the message that formal, blatant
discrimination will not be
tolerated^ (Macan and Merritt 2011:1), the factual vignettes
presented at the beginning of this
272 Employ Respons Rights J (2015) 27:271–280
paper make clear that Bsmoking gun^ statements reflecting
overt stereotype biases are all too
prominent in recent appellate cases. In such situations, the
appropriate remedy may have little to
do with getting decision makers to become aware of previously
unidentified biases. As
Pedersen (2010:148) acknowledges, the sorts of remedies found
in cognitive behavioral
research Bmay have little effect on the knowingly biased
manager.^
Sources of Stereotype Biases
Over the years, two main sources of stereotype biases in
staffing processes have emerged in the
literature: biases based on differential relational demography
between the rater and the ratee,
and biases based on lack of perceived fit between the ratee’s
demography and the job or role

for which he or she is being considered (see Macan and Merritt
2011; Roberson et al. 2007).
In examining relational demography, Buckley et al. (2007)
found significant differences in
panel interview ratings based on the differential race of the
rater versus the ratee, and it may be
these types of biases that commentators argue have been largely
dealt with by employers in
response to litigation. On the other hand, the perceived job-fit
stereotype analysis (Dipboye
1985) typically has not been applied in the context of race
(Roberson et al. 2007: 622). It has
been reflected, however, in the context of gender as well as age
and disability, and continues to
be found in these and the other types of cases presented here.
In the gender context, Heilman (2012) and her colleagues (e.g.,
Heilman and Eagly 2008;
Heilman and Okimoto 2008; Lyness and Heilman 2006) have
documented significant effects
for perceived differences in the gender or family status of the
applicant (e.g., pregnancy or
motherhood) and their fit with gender role stereotypes about the
particular job for which they
are considered. Such biases may be driven by general
discomfort with placing a candidate in a
job in which their demography is inconsistent with that most
commonly seen there, or by
explicit concerns about the possible need for time off due to
family obligations or medical
burdens believed to pertain more to one gender or family status
than another (VonBergen et al.
2008). These cases—those involving job-fit stereotyping—
arguably are the most perplexing in
the recently reported discrimination cases.

Gender, BGender-Plus,^ and Family Leave Use Stereotype
Cases
Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Price
Waterhouse v. Hopkins (1989), gender
stereotyping has been recognized as a form of illegal
discrimination Bbecause of sex^ under
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In that case, male
partners had commented that the
plaintiff should wear more makeup, act more feminine, and that
she Bovercompensated for
being a woman^ by behaving too aggressively. In holding that
an employer may not force
employees to conform to a gender stereotype as a condition of
employment, the Supreme
Court made clear that Bwe are beyond the day when an
employer could evaluate employees by
assuming or insisting that they matched the stereotype
associated with their group.^ The Court
went on to hold that Price Waterhouse’s alleged failure to
promote because of nonconformance
with a traditional feminine stereotype was indeed actionable as
discriminatory under Title VII.
As the saying goes, that was then; this is now. In Lewis v.
Heartland Inns (2010), a long-
time employee of a regional hotel chain with a history of good
performance and no prior
disciplinary record was let go by an operations director who felt
she was not a Bgood fit^ for a
Employ Respons Rights J (2015) 27:271–280 273

front desk position based on her tomboyish BEllen DeGeneres
kind of look,^ including short
hair and wearing men’s button-down shirts and slacks. Lewis
was replaced by someone who
exhibited a more stereotypical feminine manner as part of the
Bpretty, Midwestern girl look^
desired by the operations director. Not surprisingly, because
such language by its very nature
would be expected to apply only to women, a majority of the
Eighth Circuit panel deciding the
case found such conduct, if proven, to be prohibited as illegal
sex stereotyping under Price
Waterhouse. Although now recognized as a prohibited pattern of
discriminatory conduct for
over 20 years, apparently a highly placed female executive at
Heartland Inns did not get the
memo.
In a related context sometimes referred to as Bgender-plus^
discrimination (Bennett-Alex-
ander and Hartman 2012), the Supreme Court in Phillips v.
Martin-Marietta Corp. (1971) long
ago struck down a company policy of not hiring women with
pre-school age children even
though no such policy applied to men with children of that age.
Despite the even greater
passage of time since this pre-Hopkins case was decided, recent
cases involving analogous
patterns of stereotype discrimination persist in almost eerily
similar factual circumstances.
In Chadwick v. Wellpoint Inc. (2009), a high performing woman
was denied a promotion to
team lead despite being significantly more qualified and more
highly rated (4.4 versus 3.8 on a
five-point scale, along with greater experience) than the

candidate who received the position.
Chadwick, a mother of 6-year old triplets and one older child,
was presumed to be so burdened
with child care responsibilities that she would not be successful
if promoted (ironically,
Chadwick’s husband, a stay-at-home dad, had primary child
care responsibilities for the
family). In addition to the comments already highlighted in the
opening section of this paper
(Byou have kids and you just have a lot on your plate right
now^), numerous other references
to Chadwick’s gender/family role that might come into conflict
with expected performance on the
job also led a First Circuit panel to find that summary judgment
in favor of Wellpoint had been
inappropriate. The Court thus reinstated the case so that
Chadwick could have her day in court.
Closely related to gender-plus stereotyping is the improper
consideration of Family
and Medical Leave Act [FMLA] use in employment staffing
decisions. As Malone
(2011) explains, the FMLA Bwas designed to ensure that
family-care leave would no
longer be stigmatized as an inordinate drain on the workplace
caused by female em-
ployees, and that employers could not evade leave obligations
simply by hiring men^
(quoting from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Nevada
Department of Human
Resources v. Hibbs 2003). Yet, it appears that discrimination
based on stereotypical
expectations about productivity, performance, or commitment to
the job based on leave
use has not been entirely displaced.

The FMLA provides leave for those with a serious health
condition that prevents them from
working or for those caring for a family member with such a
condition, and prohibits the
employer from retaliating against an employee for using such
leave. In Marez v. Saint-Gobain
Containers, Inc. (2012), the Eighth Circuit upheld a jury verdict
in favor of Kathleen Marez, a
production supervisor, who was terminated 2 days after
notifying the employer that she would
need to take FMLA leave due to her husband’s upcoming
surgery. Despite acceptable overall
performance ratings, Marez was let go allegedly due to quality
control infractions also
committed by other production supervisors who were not
terminated or otherwise disciplined.
While noting that temporal proximity between an adverse
employment decision and protected
conduct alone was not sufficient to infer causality, the Court
found evidence that the termina-
tion occurred less than 48 h after notification that she would be
taking FMLA leave sufficient
to support the jury’s verdict (Brarely have we been faced with
two events so close in time^).
For another case upholding a terminated employee’s claim for
FMLA retaliation, this time
against a man, see Daugherty v. Sajar Plastics, Inc., 2008.
There, the Sixth Circuit found
evidence that Daugherty was told by his supervisor that if he
took extended FMLA leave,
Bthere would not be a job waiting for him when he returned^

sufficient to overturn summary
dismissal of his FMLA claim.
Finally, in perhaps one of the more overt examples of
evaluating employees poorly due to
perceived lack of fit with the sex-role stereotype of a job (in
this case, electrical engineering),
EEOC vs. Boeing (2009) presents a case in which two female
candidates for retention during a
RIF were terminated based on low retention scores despite the
fact that men with similarly low
scores were retained. Coupled with the sexist comments
(digested earlier) by a male supervisor
that he Bdidn’t want women around,^ that women Bwere not
worth a shit,^ and that his ex-wife
Bshould be at home, not working,^ a panel of the Ninth Circuit
determined that the evidence
was sufficient to overturn summary judgment in favor of
Boeing. More specifically, the panel
held that the EEOC should be entitled to prove at trial that
Boeing’s asserted reliance on low
retention ratings were in fact pretextual under the U.S. Supreme
Court’s burden-shifting
process set forth in McDonnell-Douglas Corp. v. Green (1973).
To recap, if employers have become Bincreasingly savvy in not
documenting, outwardly
expressing, or retaining anything that is potentially damaging^
in the 40+ years since
McDonnell-Douglas, then the general observation is belied by
counter-examples in the recent
cases. Perhaps yet more time is needed before qualified female
and minority candidates are
readily accepted in positions such as engineering or
manufacturing—particularly in large
aircraft companies.

Age Stereotype Cases
The purpose of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act
[ADEA] differs somewhat from
that underlying Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964;
whereas the latter seeks to address
invidious discrimination because of race, color, religion,
national origin, or sex, the ADEAwas
passed to address the possible underlying assumption that
performance necessarily declines
with age (Bennett-Alexander and Hartman 2012: 520–523).
Because of this distinction, one
might expect to see more instances of implicit rather than
explicit stereotype biases in the age
area. As discussed below, however, that does not necessarily
seem to be the case.
Various reviews of behavioral research in the area of age
discrimination have highlighted,
and largely debunked, assumptions that older workers may lag
on dimensions such as
motivation or productivity, ability to change or adapt to new
situational demands, occupational
health, vulnerability to work-family conflict, or likely longevity
on the job (see generally Ng
and Feldman 2012; Posthuma et al. 2012; Wood et al. 2008).
Nonetheless, instances of overt
age bias continue to appear in the cases, particularly in jobs or
industry contexts such as high
technology or consultancies where younger workers may be
presumed to possess more
relevant skills or abilities related to successful performance on
the job.
For example, in the highly publicized Silicon Valley case of

Reid v. Google, Inc. (2010), a 54-
year old terminated former vice president of engineering for the
company and associate professor
of electrical engineering at Stanford University sued Google for
age discrimination based on overt
stereotypic statements. These included comments that Reid was
Btoo old to matter,^ was not a
Bcultural fit^ with the youthful orientation of the company, that
his ideas were obsolete, that he
lacked energy, was slow and lethargic, was Ban old fuddy-
duddy,^ and other such stereotypic
utterings almost literally too numerous to mention. The trial
court had granted Google’s motion
for summary judgment to dismiss the case, accepting the
argument that such statements were
merely Bstray remarks^ and were not necessarily indicative of
age bias as the reason for his
termination. An intermediate state court of appeals reversed,
and the California Supreme Court
upheld its decision; even assuming that such comments were
indeed Bstray^ remarks (about
which the Court expressed considerable doubt), the Court found
that to uphold the stray remarks
doctrine under such circumstances would lead to categorical
exclusion of evidence potentially
probative of age bias and thus grossly unfair results in any
number of cases.
Similarly, in Barnett v. PA Consulting Group (2012), Judith
Barnett, a 57-year old woman,
was terminated during a restructuring allegedly because she was

Bnot a good fit^ with the new
business focus of the company that sought to align it more
closely with the changing needs of
its clients in the aviation industry. In overturning the trial
court’s summary dismissal of the
case, the D.C. Circuit noted that Barnett was the only consultant
dismissed for lack of Bfit,^
and that the company retained a 41-year old man with
substantially similar qualifications and
consulting practice areas as those of Barnett. Material to the
Court’s decision was direct
evidence from a spreadsheet used to justify who would be
retained which actually showed
the age of each candidate along with their asserted productivity.
Inclusion of this information
raised a possible inference of pretext as to the real reason for
Barnett’s termination.
For another case involving alleged pretext as to the reasons for
an employee’s termination
in the age context, see Earl v. Nielsen Media Research, Inc.
(2011). In that case, retention of
employees younger than Earl despite their alleged violation of
the same company policies led
the Ninth Circuit to reinstate the plaintiff’s previously
dismissed age claim.
Finally here, we return to the case of Baker v. Silver Oak Senior
Living Management Co.,
Inc., (2009), digested briefly above, in which the well-
performing director of an assisted living
facility for the elderly was terminated at age 53 after being told
that she Bdressed like an old
lady,^ and comments by the employer’s CEO that they Bneeded
people who were not old and
slow^ and Bwere missing the boat by not hiring more younger,

vibrant people because they
would last longer and they would have more energy and be
willing to work more hours.^ Once
again, a trial court’s rather curious dismissal of the plaintiff’s
claims on summary judgment
was reversed, this time by the Eighth Circuit, in a factual
scenario right out of the core of
illustrative age stereotypes seemingly debunked in prior
research.
Disability and BRegarded as Disabled^ Stereotype Cases
Much like the situation with biases regarding age, biases
regarding mental or physical
disabilities also can operate to negatively impact employment
opportunities for otherwise
capable workers (Keller and Siegrist 2010; Lengnick-Hall et al.
2008). The Americans with
Disabilities Act [ADA] prohibits employment discrimination
against otherwise qualified
individuals who can perform the essential functions of a job
with or without a reasonable
accommodation, and also protects those with a record or history
of disability as well as those
who may be Bregarded as^ disabled (see generally Findley et al.
2004). Given the passage of
time since enactment of the ADA, one might expect that
employers have had ample oppor-
tunity to become more sensitive to issues surrounding disability
stereotypes and the need to
consider reasonable accommodations for capable but disabled
individuals. While this may be
true to some extent for more observable physical disabilities
(cf. Keller and Siegrist 2010),
counterexamples continue to arise.

For instance, in the case of Keith v. County of Oakland (2013),
the Sixth Circuit overturned
the District Court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the
County, which had failed to hire
Keith as a lifeguard at a local swimming pool because he was
deaf. In finding the existence of
genuine issues of fact as to violation of both the ADA and the
Rehabilitation Act (which
applies to government entities), the Court considered evidence
that Keith could perform
essential lifeguard functions such as visually monitoring
different sectors of the pool, detecting
and rescuing distressed swimmers, enforcing pool rules,
activating an emergency action plan,
and administering CPR, all with a reasonable accommodation.
Under the circumstances, the
Court found improper the County’s abject refusal to engage in
the required interactive process
to explore possible accommodations. Quoting Holiday v. City of
Chattanooga (2000), the
Court explained that B[t]he ADA requires employers to act, not
based on stereotypes and
generalizations about a disability, but based on the actual
disability and the effect that disability
has on the particular individual’s ability to perform the job.^
The County’s failure to conduct
an individualized inquiry as to Keith’s ability to perform the
essential functions of the job if
reasonably accommodated therefore precluded summary
dismissal.
As for perceived or Bregarded as^ disability cases, Eshelman v.

Agere Systems, Inc. (2005;
also partially digested earlier) presents a situation where the
employer ran afoul of the ADA’s
prohibition against assuming that an otherwise capable person is
unable to perform a broad
range of jobs based on difficulty with a minor or non-essential
part of their duties. After
returning from a medical leave related to breast cancer, Joan
Eshelman advised her employer
that she suffered from a cognitive dysfunction related to
chemotherapy that left her with a
condition colloquially known as Bchemo brain^ and which led
to some short term memory loss.
Eshelman generally excelled at her job and was in fact promoted
subsequent to her return, but
had occasional difficulties when driving to unfamiliar locations
as sometimes required. After
financial difficulties led it to conduct a RIF, the employer
changed Eshelman’s retention rating
from one of the highest to one of the lowest, and selected her
for termination. Although her high
performance ratings precluded a finding of actual disability
based on working, the Third Circuit
upheld a jury verdict based on Bregarded as disabled^
discrimination. The Court found that the
employer erroneously viewed her memory issues limiting her
ability to work and think as
rendering her unfit for any job, and relied on her record of that
mental impairment in deciding to
terminate her. The case stands as a classic instance of so-called
Bhorns^ error, where an
individual’s negative rating on one performance dimension can
infect ratings on others, as
expressly proscribed by the ADA’s Bregarded as^ provisions
and related interpretive case law.1

Discussion and Recommendations
Over the years, employers may well have become somewhat
savvier in avoiding liability based
on direct evidence of stereotype discrimination through
experience and the passage of time.
1 The Daugherty case, discussed above in the context of FMLA
retaliation, also presented a Bregarded as^
disabled claim, albeit an ultimately unsuccessful one. In that
case, the Court agreed that the evidence presented
showed at most that the employer believed Daugherty to be
incapable of performing certain dangerous machine
maintenance functions due to a back injury and related pain
medication levels, but not that he was regarded as
generally unable to perform a broad range of jobs in his field.
The case might well have gone the other way,
however, and illustrates the need to consider multiple sources of
potential legal liability when an individual’s
condition may implicate both the definition of a Bserious
medical condition^ under the FMLA and an actual or
perceived disability under the ADA.
However, the cases reviewed here warrant at least some
reexamination of organizational
approaches to handling the matter. While much of the cognitive
behavioral literature proposes
methods for identifying and combating the activation of implicit
biases (see, e.g., Huntsinger
et al. 2009; Tetlock and Mitchell 2009; Wheeler and Petty
2001), it bears repeating that these
methods Bmay have little effect on the knowingly biased

manager.^
Perhaps simpler, more straightforward organizational
interventions are called for.
Certainly, training to help managers better recognize the legal
liability for stereotypic
statements and staffing decisions may be useful and should not
be abandoned. However,
when considering recommendations, e.g., for more time,
cognitive resources, and ac-
countability in appraising performance (Arthur and Doverspike
2005), it may be that
accountability is the overlooked or underemphasized factor.
Performance management
that includes disciplinary steps to reinforce training and
eliminate offenders from the
workplace would seem to be a more apt remedy than the subtler
psychological ap-
proaches found in cognitive research.
These recommendations are particularly important in
professions or industries such as
engineering, hi-technology, or consultancies that may be
especially amenable to improper
gender or age job-fit stereotyping (e.g., EEOC v. Boeing; Reid
v. Google; Barnett v. PA
Consulting Group). Noteworthy in many of these cases was the
application of subjective
criteria such as Black of fit.^ This is an amorphous factor
difficult to validly operationalize in
practice and one which explicitly conjures the negative
connotations of job-fit stereotype
analysis (Dipboye 1985). Greater emphasis on the systematic
use of well-validated perfor-
mance metrics based on job analysis, subject to review by HR
and legal professionals, might

therefore be in order.
In fact, given that attempted reliance on purported policy
violations or other performance
deficiencies were often found to be potentially pretextual in
some of the cases cited (Barnett,
Earl), greater reviewability and due process may be critical for
avoiding staffing decisions that
involve stereotypic language or other indications of overt bias
(see generally Williamson et al.
1997). Some of these cases appear to involve attempted post-
hoc justification of such
decisions where the organization might have been better served
by admitting its errors
and correcting them, or attempting to settle disputed matters in
advance. Review of
such decisions by HR or legal practitioners might have avoided
the need for victims
of alleged stereotype discrimination to resort to litigation in
order to seek any sort of
redress.
Finally, given the senior management levels of many of the
offenders that are central to the
cases discussed—and the obvious inadvisability of expressing
explicit biases even where they
may be implicitly held—reviewability and accountability for the
practical and legal detriments
of stereotypic staffing decisions may be critical. In addressing
the apparent ignorance or hubris
on the part of highly positioned decision makers who may
believe that antidiscrimination laws
do not apply to them, little else may matter. Indeed, if their own
jobs depended on it as much as
those of their subordinates, top managers might be reminded
that the rules do still apply, and

might pay greater attention to ensuring that staffing decisions
are made based on the unbiased
application of valid performance metrics. Progress could then
be made toward eliminating
toxic stereotypic culture and its negative individual and
organizational consequences (e.g., lost
talent; damage to reputation and ability to recruit; costs and
disruptions associated with
litigation). Further, as Roberson et al. (2007) point out,
B[w]here bias exists—where group
identities matter—potential benefits of diversity for
organizations cannot be fully realized and
opportunities for individuals are limited.^
Conclusion
Both the general climate and specific effectiveness of
organizations could be improved by
eliminating stereotypic staffing decisions and requiring greater
emphasis on the valid appraisal
of individual abilities. Focusing on generalities associated with
gender, family status, leave use,
age, disability, perceived disability, and other group
membership irrelevant to job performance is
no longer capable of characterization as implicit or subtle.
Rather, it is explicit, overt, and obvious
when it occurs. As such, it should no longer be tolerated in
today’s employment relationships.
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Baker v. Silver Oak Senior Living Management Co., Inc., 581 F.
3rd 684 (8th Cir. 2009)
Barnett v. PA Consulting Group, 715 F. 3rd 354 (D.C. Cir.
2012)
Chadwick v. Wellpoint Inc., 561 F. 3rd 38 (1st Cir. 2009)
Daugherty v. Sajar Plastics, Inc., 544 F. 3rd 696 (6th Cir. 2008)
Earl v. Nielsen Media Research, Inc., 658 F. 3rd 1108 (9th Cir.
2011)
EEOC vs. Boeing, 577 F. 3rd 1044 (9th Cir. 2009)
Eshelman v. Agere Systems, Inc., 554 F. 3rd 426 (3rd Cir.
2005)
Holiday vs. City of Chattanooga, 206 F. 3rd 637 (6th Cir. 2000)
Keith vs. County of Oakland, 703 F. 3rd 918 (6th Cir. 2013)
Lewis v. Heartland Inns, 591 F. 3rd 1033 (8th Cir. 2010)
Marez v. Saint-Gobain Containers, Inc., 688 F. 3rd 958 (8th Cir.
2012)
McDonnell-Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792 (1973)
Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs, 538 U.S.
721; 737 (2003)
Phillips v. Martin-Marietta Corp., 400 U.S. 542 (1971)

Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 400 U.S. 228 (1989)
Reid v. Google, Inc., 235 P. 3rd 988 (Cal. 2010)
Copyright of Employee Responsibilities & Rights Journal is the
property of Springer Science
& Business Media B.V. and its content may not be copied or
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posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express
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may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
Overt Stereotype Biases and Discrimination in the Workplace:
Why Haven’t We Fixed This by Now?AbstractResearch on
Stereotypes and Related BiasesSources of Stereotype
BiasesGender, “Gender-Plus,&rdquor; and Family Leave
Use Stereotype CasesAge Stereotype CasesDisability and
“Regarded as Disabled&rdquor; Stereotype
CasesDiscussion and
RecommendationsConclusionReferencesCourt Cases Cited
Spring 2013 • Vol. 37 .No. 1 | 87
G E N E R AT IO N S – Journal of the American Society on
Aging
Copyright © 2013 American Society on Aging; all rights
reserved. This article may not be duplicated, reprinted or
distributed in any form without written permission from the
publisher: American Society on Aging, 71 Stevenson
St., Suite 1450, San Francisco, CA 94105-2938; e-mail:
[email protected] For information about ASA’s publications

visit www.asaging.org/publications. For information about ASA
membership visit www.asaging.org/join.
Demographic and epidemiological transitions have resulted in
the global transformation
of most of the world’s populations. An increased
number of older adults presents challenges and
opportunities for developed and developing
countries. And an increased incidence of chronic
disease and number of frail elders challenge
existing health and service systems, as well as
informal systems of care. On the other hand, an
increasing number of functionally healthy older
adults, the young−old, offer unprecedented
opportunities for human growth and continued
involvement in later stages of life.
Both trends call for changes in aging-relevant
sectors of the workforce and in late-life occu-
pations. The reform and expansion of geriatric
health and social services demand greater efforts
to develop and expand education in gerontology
and geriatrics on a global level.
Even in the United States, a relative bastion
of gerontological education, the number of
health professionals and service providers with
training in gerontology and geriatrics is insuffi-
cient (Hudson, 2003). The need for additional
and accelerated gerontological training, espe-
cially in less developed countries, might seem a
given. But before rushing to replicate established
gerontology programs on a global level, some
cautions are in order. Tessore, Mezey, and
Harrington (2002) recommended careful

assessment of current and projected geronto-
logical workforces, including an estimate of
the proper ratio of healthcare workers to older
adults in a population, and the appropriateness
of geriatric specialties. Such assessments will
be heavily dependent upon available resources,
including formal and informal systems of care
already in place, and cultural context.
In the United States, where notions of aging
are heavily medicalized and existing health
systems were developed to address acute episodes
rather than chronic conditions, eldercare (until
relatively recently) has tended toward hospital-
and residential-based care. Such systems may not
be optimal in other social and cultural contexts.
Shared definitions of appropriate eldercare
will shape gerontological workforce demands and
the education or training required of those work-
ers. Goals and systems of eldercare may differ
radically across cultural contexts (e.g., to
strengthen family-based strategies and communi-
ty-based supports; to develop more formalized
systems of care; or some combination). For
example, Cuba’s community-neighborhood–
By Margaret A. Perkinson
Gerontology and Geriatrics
Education: New Models for a
Demographically Transformed World
Radically evolved models for educating students
across countries have opened new vistas in spreading
gerontology knowledge around the globe.

Aging Pages 87–92
88 | Spring 2013 • Vol. 37 .No. 1
based system of elder care (Sykes and Vega, 2009)
would require a system of gerontology and geri-
atric education that fosters skills and requires
mastery of realms of information (e.g., commun-
ity development) that might not be regarded as
essential for gerontologic education in more
medicalized systems of eldercare.
To posit appropriate content for gerontology
and geriatric education programs is beyond the
scope of this article. But we must be cautious that
our Westernized, medicalized models of gerontol-
ogy and geriatric education are not transferred
intact on a global level. And attempting to develop
a universal set of gerontological competencies
that does not take into account regional and
cultural differences is a misguided goal.
Models of Gerontology and
Geriatric Education

So how are the education and training needs of
those working with older adults being addressed
at the global level? A review of the descriptions
of gerontology and geriatric education by
country in the recent publication, The Interna-
tional Handbook on Aging (Palmore, Whitting-
ton, and Kunkel, 2009) reveals a scattered and
varied scene across countries, with greater or
lesser focus on geriatrics and tacking on geron-
tological content to other professional degrees,
mainly in nursing and social work. Doctoral-
level programs are rare in the United States and
almost non-existent (except in China) else-
where. Gerontology education is also not
confined to schools and universities—health
ministries and non-governmental organizations
(NGO) occasionally contribute to the mix.
Various barriers work against developing
strong interdisciplinary educational programs
in gerontology and geriatrics, with insufficient
resources topping the list. A lack of government
attention to and awareness of elder issues
(especially in less developed countries, where
government resources tend to target infants,
children, and mothers) make gerontology
education a relatively low funding priority in
most countries. Other barriers include the
cultural assumption that families will take care
of their elders and do not require special training
to do so, and underfunded infrastructures that
include outdated and poorly maintained librar-
ies, computers, and Internet connections.
The low status and low pay associated with

eldercare work in developed and developing
countries contribute to the perception that
gerontology is not a viable occupation and deter
qualified faculty from specializing in the field.
Few academic institutions, even in the United
States, have sufficient faculty expertise in the
array of disciplines constituting gerontology and
geriatrics. While the overall picture may appear
somewhat dire, there are a number of exceptions
offering promising examples of interdisciplinary
gerontologic models that maximize resources
through creative collaborations among individu-
als and institutions.
Network-based gerontology programs
Network-based gerontology programs are based
on collaborative efforts among multiple academic
institutions. Tapping the strengths of individual
partner universities in given areas of gerontology
or geriatrics, the resulting program offers an
amalgam of courses in a variety of locations.
Sometimes called a “carousel model” (Kunkel,
2009), students maintain a home base while
traveling to partner institutions to take a series
of intense instructional modules in various
dimensions of gerontology.
The recently disbanded EuMaG was a
well-known example of this model. Developed
by a network of more than twenty European
countries, it offered a two-year interdisciplinary,
multi-locality program in gerontology. The first
year of the program included a core module
(covering basic concepts and theory, methods,
demography, bio-gerontology, and history of the
field), three subdisciplinary modules (psycho-

gerontology, social gerontology, and health ger-
ontology), and an integrative summer school in a
rotating location depending on topic. Students in
this program traveled to the institution hosting a
particular module for eight days of lecture and
discussions, then completed the remainder of
the module and assessments at home via online
Our World Growing Older: A Look at Global AgingPages 87–92
Spring 2013 • Vol. 37 .No. 1 | 89
instruction. In the program’s second year,
students specialized in a given gerontological
area, either continuing to work at home or at
one of the participating EuMaG universities,
and completed a master’s thesis.
While offering exceptional opportunities for
motivated students with the requisite financial
resources and schedule flexibility, this model
was not without challenges. Financial backing
of the European Commission was crucial to the
development and operation of this program.
“Harmonization” of disparate credits, degree

requirements, assessments, and program quality
assurance across participating universities
presented daunting challenges during its
initiation (Meyer, 2003). The European Credit
Transfer and Assurance System (European
Commission, 2009) has since provided standards
for comparing student performance, credits, and
degrees across European countries.
Intensive gerontology training programs:
the U.N.−Malta model
In an attempt to foster gerontological training,
knowledge exchange, and provide a basis for
aging-related international policies and pro-
grams, the United Nations initiated an agree-
ment with the government of Malta in 1987 to
establish the International Institute of Aging
(INIA). The INIA is an autonomous program
based in Malta, with additional satellite sites all
over the world. Professors from the University of
Malta, supplemented by international program
tutors who are leaders in their respective areas
of gerontology, provide gerontology training
and support efforts to establish gerontological
programs in developing countries. Student
participants are service providers, health pro-
fessionals, administrators, policy makers, and
government and NGO workers from less devel-
oped countries who demonstrate leadership
potential to develop gerontological programs
and policies in their homelands. The training
programs last eleven days, and consist of lec-
tures, seminars, site visits, and small group
workshops. Each program covers practical
information on one of the following topics: social

gerontology, economic and financial aspects of
aging, health promotion and quality of life, and
policy development and implementation. The
program has trained more than 1,700 people
from 137 countries at the Malta site alone.
However, the program has been criticized for
being based solely on Western concepts and
approaches (Aboderin and Ferreira, 2009).
Partnerships between individual universities
Relatively short-term but intensive partnerships
between two academic institutions have been
successful models for global gerontological
education. Experts in gerontology program
development from the Gerontology Institute at
Georgia State University established a three-year
partnership with faculty in the Department of
Sociology and the Bureau of Education Research
at Kenyatta University in Nairobi to focus on
gerontological research and education (King et
al., 2005). Joint conferences and workshops,
faculty exchanges, book and computer dona-
tions, and collaborations on research and
program development led to the eventual
establishment of Kenyatta University’s Diploma
in Gerontology program. Such intensive and
highly focused partnerships require strong
commitment and sensitivity to cultural issues,
but have the potential to be highly productive.
International exchange programs
The International Interdisciplinary Program for
Gerontology involved a partnership among
gerontology programs in three U.S. universities
(Miami University of Ohio, Oregon State Univer-
sity, and San Francisco State University) and

three European universities (Universidad de
Salamanca, Spain; Universitat Heidelberg,
Germany; and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,
The Netherlands). Funded by grants from the
European Commission for Culture and Educa-
Westernized, medicalized models of
geriatric education should not be
transferred intact on a global level.
Aging Pages 87–92
90 | Spring 2013 • Vol. 37 .No. 1
tion and the U.S. Department of Education,
this international, interdisciplinary program
promoted developing a comparative model for
the study of social policy and sharing of gradu-
ate level gerontology curricula among the
partnering universities. It also supported
international student and faculty exchanges
among consortium members for periods up
to four months, enabling participants to learn
the host language, discover how gerontology

programs operate in other countries, and engage
with gerontological field sites.
International field schools with a gerontological
service-learning focus
International field schools offer opportunities
for students to apply discipline-related skills
within a different cultural context. Initially
focused on archeological excavations, today’s
international field schools often involve students
collecting ethnographic data and-or providing
service. The NAPA (National Association for the
Practice of Anthropology)-OT (Occupational
Therapy) Field School is a four- to six-week
international, transdisciplinary graduate level
program that integrates theory, methods, and
application of both anthropology and occupa-
tional science-therapy. Not confined to U.S.
participants, it attracts students and faculty from
around the world. Students and faculty live with
Guatemalan families, study Spanish at a local
Spanish-language school, engage in seminars
and field trips to health-related sites, and work
within local settings related to three topics,
one of which is gerontology.
The gerontology component of the field
school has focused on comparing two local
residential care facilities for older Guatemalans,
one that is government run, the other, privately
owned. The anthropology students conduct
ethnographies of the facilities and collect data
on individual residents, which the OT students
then use to develop and run individual- and
facility-specific OT programs that promote
functional abilities and provide meaningful

group activities for residents. Students also
provide in-service training for facility staff on
topics such as falls and dementia care. Toward
the end of the field-school experience, gerontol-
ogy students participate in an annual joint
seminar with students from the occupational
therapy department of San Carlos Universidad in
Guatemala City, during which they present
updates on the state of OT and gerontology in
their respective countries. It is a simple mecha-
nism for fostering international networking in
the early stages of gerontological careers.
Educational opportunities for older adults:
Universities of the Third Age
Aging-related education should not be limited
to developing a global workforce attuned to the
abilities and needs of older adults. Using educa-
tion to optimize functioning and enhance older
adults’ quality of life has proliferated in recent
years through the worldwide expansion of
Universities of the Third Age (U3A). The
philosophy of lifelong learning underpins the
operations of U3A. These programs offer edu-
cational, volunteer, and leisure activities for
older adults, promoting lifelong education as an
avenue to personal enhancement. Often housed
in universities or community-based senior
centers, participants attend classes on subjects
as diverse as art appreciation, understanding
insurance, health updates, travel opportunities,
literacy, and human rights. Some groups have
conducted their own research on aging (e.g.,
Images of Older Persons in Malta) (Troisi, 2009).
U3A is growing in popularity, especially in

countries such as Mexico and Cuba. Within a
four-year period, U3A in Cuba enrolled more
than 30,000 students (Sykes and Vega, 2009).
Educational resources in gerontology for
institutions in developing countries
The HINARI (Health InterNetwork Access to
Research Initiative Program, www.who.int/
hinari/en/), established by the World Health
Organization (WHO) and a number of major
publishing companies, provides free or low-cost
online access to biomedical and health-related
literature, including some in gerontology and
geriatrics, to faculty and students affiliated with
Spring 2013 • Vol. 37 .No. 1 | 91
nonprofit institutions in less developed coun-
tries. Institutions in countries classified by WHO
as low-income have free access; institutions in
countries in the next higher income category pay
a minimum fee. More than 150 publishers offer

more than 8,500 journals and 7,000 e-books
through this program. National universities,
research institutes, professional schools, teach-
ing hospitals, government offices, and national
medical libraries are all eligible to participate.
The professional organization as a
resource for gerontological education
The Association for Gerontology in Higher
Education (AGHE) is the only professional
organization devoted exclusively to geronto-
logical and geriatrics education, and considers
global education on aging one of its primary
mandates. Membership is granted to institutions,
rather than individuals (with some exceptions),
with international dues based on a sliding scale
determined by WHO income categories. Guided
by feedback from the AGHE/GSA (Gerontologi-
cal Society of America) Global Aging Survey,
AGHE’s Global Aging Committee works to foster
networking, collaborations, and mentorship in
gerontological education, research, and practice.
(See the AGHE Global Aging Committee website
[www.aghe.org] for information on its efforts to
promote global gerontological education.)
The Future of Global Gerontology
and Geriatrics Education
With the exceptions of academic programs and
research institutes in North America and Europe,
global gerontology and geriatrics education is still
in its formative stage, especially in developing
countries. But there are certain advantages to a
delayed start. Less developed countries are taking
advantage of recent technological advances and

bypassing earlier systems of information ex-
change that may soon be obsolete. In the not so
distant past, residents of less developed countries
had little access to landline telephones, but now
the use of cell phones is common. In leapfrogging
over early developments in telecommu-
nications, these less developed areas
bypassed investing in infrastructure
required to support early telephone
systems and now are relatively unencum-
bered by its soon-to-be-obsolete struc-
tures. In like manner, gerontology and
geriatrics education programs in less developed
countries, in their current pre-bureaucratized
state, may be less saddled by issues of “harmoni-
zation”—the synchronizing of diverse academic
bureaucracies that European countries faced in
developing EuMaG.
Future developments in education undoubt-
edly will continue to be influenced by techno-
logical advances. Distance education already
has assumed an important role in gerontology
education. Technological advances will reshape
the ways by which information is conveyed
and shared, opening opportunities for students
in remote regions for equal access to online
instruction and virtual communities. The rapid
acceptance of innovative educational modalities,
such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC),
suggests potential for radical departures from
traditional, campus-based institutions of learn-
ing. These types of courses (such as Couresera
and edX) that are based on online partnerships

among highly respected universities like Har-
vard, Stanford, and University of California,
Berkeley, seem to have bypassed the institutional
bureaucratic blocks encountered by more tra-
ditional attempts at university partnerships
(such as EuMaG). Offering flexible and free
access, and designed to support large numbers of
students, MOOCs represent a potential model
for sharing gerontology and geriatrics education
on a global level.
The potential for co-teaching online geron-
tology courses by instructors in different coun-
tries, incorporating discussion boards and
virtual meeting rooms to accommodate widely
Within a four-year period, Universities of
the Third Age in Cuba enrolled more than
30,000 lifelong learning students.
Aging Pages 87–92
92 | Spring 2013 • Vol. 37 .No. 1

dispersed students and faculty, is just now being
explored (Claver and Kuo, 2012). Global online
courses would be only the beginning. Opportuni-
ties for global virtual networking and mentoring
in gerontology and geriatrics education seem
limitless. Network-based gerontology programs
that rely more heavily on online (as opposed to
campus-based) learning may offer viable avenues
for globally scattered students who lack the
financial means and flexibility to relocate for
education. The Pan American Health Organiza-
tion−supported Masters in Public Health and
a Public Health and Aging Specialization for
health ministries, offered by the seventeen-
country Latin American and the Caribbean
educational consortium, represent promising
adaptations of the network-based model for
gerontology programs.
Residential campuses offer unique oppor-
tunities and always will play a pivotal role in
gerontology and geriatrics education. However,
for developing countries with limited resources,
bypassing significant investment in university
buildings and campuses to target resources
toward improved Internet access and virtual
campuses may be the more prudent strategy.
Margaret A. Perkinson, Ph.D., is an associate
professor in the Occupational Science and Occu-
pational Therapy Department at Saint Louis Univer-
sity, St. Louis, Missouri. She can be contacted at
[email protected]
References
Aboderin, I., and Ferreira, M. 2009.

“African Region.” In Palmore, E.B.,
Whittington, F., and Kunkel, S.,
eds. The International Handbook
on Aging: Current Research and
Developments (3rd ed.). Santa
Barbara, CA: Praeger.
Claver, M. and Kuo, T. 2012.
“Online Course Development.”
Paper presented at the annual
meeting of the 2012 Gerontological
Society of America, November
2012, San Diego, CA.
European Commission. 2009.
ECTS Users’ Guide. Luxembourg:
Office for Official Publications of
the European Communities.
Hudson, R., ed. 2003. “Emerging
Crisis: The Geriatric Care Work-
force.” Public Policy and Aging
Report 13(2).
King, S. V., et al. 2005. “Geron-
tology Education and Research
in Kenya: Establishing a U.S.−
African Partnership in Aging.”
Gerontology & Geriatrics Educa-
tion 26(1): 117–35.
Kunkel, S. 2009. “Global Aging
and Gerontological Education.”
In Sterns, H., and Bernard, M.,
eds. Annual Review of Gerontology
and Geriatrics (Vol. 28). New

York: Springer.
Meyer, M. 2003. “Current State
and Developments in Gerontology
in European Higher Education.”
Educational Gerontology 29: 55–69.
Palmore, E., Whittington, F. and
Kunkel, S., eds. 2009. The Interna-
tional Handbook on Aging: Current
Research and Developments (3rd
ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
Sykes, J. T., and Vega, E. 2009.
“Cuba.” In Palmore, E. B., Whit-
tington, F., and Kunkel, S., eds.
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Aging: Current Research and
Tessore, C., Mezey, M., and
Harrington, C. 2002. “Who Cares
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S., eds. The International Handbook

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without
permission.
Spring 2013 • Vol. 37 .No. 1 | 87
Aging
Demographic and epidemiological transitions have resulted in
the global transformation
of most of the world’s populations. An increased
number of older adults presents challenges and
opportunities for developed and developing
countries. And an increased incidence of chronic
disease and number of frail elders challenge
existing health and service systems, as well as
informal systems of care. On the other hand, an
increasing number of functionally healthy older
adults, the young−old, offer unprecedented
opportunities for human growth and continued
involvement in later stages of life.
Both trends call for changes in aging-relevant

sectors of the workforce and in late-life occu-
pations. The reform and expansion of geriatric
health and social services demand greater efforts
to develop and expand education in gerontology
and geriatrics on a global level.
Even in the United States, a relative bastion
of gerontological education, the number of
health professionals and service providers with
training in gerontology and geriatrics is insuffi-
cient (Hudson, 2003). The need for additional
and accelerated gerontological training, espe-
cially in less developed countries, might seem a
given. But before rushing to replicate established
gerontology programs on a global level, some
cautions are in order. Tessore, Mezey, and
Harrington (2002) recommended careful
assessment of current and projected geronto-
logical workforces, including an estimate of
the proper ratio of healthcare workers to older
adults in a population, and the appropriateness
of geriatric specialties. Such assessments will
be heavily dependent upon available resources,
including formal and informal systems of care
already in place, and cultural context.
In the United States, where notions of aging
are heavily medicalized and existing health
systems were developed to address acute episodes
rather than chronic conditions, eldercare (until
relatively recently) has tended toward hospital-
and residential-based care. Such systems may not
be optimal in other social and cultural contexts.
Shared definitions of appropriate eldercare
will shape gerontological workforce demands and

the education or training required of those work-
ers. Goals and systems of eldercare may differ
radically across cultural contexts (e.g., to
strengthen family-based strategies and communi-
ty-based supports; to develop more formalized
systems of care; or some combination). For
example, Cuba’s community-neighborhood–
By Margaret A. Perkinson
Gerontology and Geriatrics
Education: New Models for a
Demographically Transformed World
Radically evolved models for educating students
across countries have opened new vistas in spreading
gerontology knowledge around the globe.
Aging Pages 87–92
88 | Spring 2013 • Vol. 37 .No. 1
based system of elder care (Sykes and Vega, 2009)
would require a system of gerontology and geri-

atric education that fosters skills and requires
mastery of realms of information (e.g., commun-
ity development) that might not be regarded as
essential for gerontologic education in more
medicalized systems of eldercare.
To posit appropriate content for gerontology
and geriatric education programs is beyond the
scope of this article. But we must be cautious that
our Westernized, medicalized models of gerontol-
ogy and geriatric education are not transferred
intact on a global level. And attempting to develop
a universal set of gerontological competencies
that does not take into account regional and
cultural differences is a misguided goal.
Models of Gerontology and
Geriatric Education
So how are the education and training needs of
those working with older adults being addressed
at the global level? A review of the descriptions
of gerontology and geriatric education by
country in the recent publication, The Interna-
tional Handbook on Aging (Palmore, Whitting-
ton, and Kunkel, 2009) reveals a scattered and
varied scene across countries, with greater or
lesser focus on geriatrics and tacking on geron-
tological content to other professional degrees,
mainly in nursing and social work. Doctoral-
level programs are rare in the United States and
almost non-existent (except in China) else-
where. Gerontology education is also not
confined to schools and universities—health
ministries and non-governmental organizations
(NGO) occasionally contribute to the mix.

Various barriers work against developing
strong interdisciplinary educational programs
in gerontology and geriatrics, with insufficient
resources topping the list. A lack of government
attention to and awareness of elder issues
(especially in less developed countries, where
government resources tend to target infants,
children, and mothers) make gerontology
education a relatively low funding priority in
most countries. Other barriers include the
cultural assumption that families will take care
of their elders and do not require special training
to do so, and underfunded infrastructures that
include outdated and poorly maintained librar-
ies, computers, and Internet connections.
The low status and low pay associated with
eldercare work in developed and developing
countries contribute to the perception that
gerontology is not a viable occupation and deter
qualified faculty from specializing in the field.
Few academic institutions, even in the United
States, have sufficient faculty expertise in the
array of disciplines constituting gerontology and
geriatrics. While the overall picture may appear
somewhat dire, there are a number of exceptions
offering promising examples of interdisciplinary
gerontologic models that maximize resources
through creative collaborations among individu-
als and institutions.
Network-based gerontology programs
Network-based gerontology programs are based
on collaborative efforts among multiple academic
institutions. Tapping the strengths of individual

partner universities in given areas of gerontology
or geriatrics, the resulting program offers an
amalgam of courses in a variety of locations.
Sometimes called a “carousel model” (Kunkel,
2009), students maintain a home base while
traveling to partner institutions to take a series
of intense instructional modules in various
dimensions of gerontology.
The recently disbanded EuMaG was a
well-known example of this model. Developed
by a network of more than twenty European
countries, it offered a two-year interdisciplinary,
multi-locality program in gerontology. The first
year of the program included a core module
(covering basic concepts and theory, methods,
demography, bio-gerontology, and history of the
field), three subdisciplinary modules (psycho-
gerontology, social gerontology, and health ger-
ontology), and an integrative summer school in a
rotating location depending on topic. Students in
this program traveled to the institution hosting a
particular module for eight days of lecture and
discussions, then completed the remainder of
the module and assessments at home via online
Spring 2013 • Vol. 37 .No. 1 | 89

instruction. In the program’s second year,
students specialized in a given gerontological
area, either continuing to work at home or at
one of the participating EuMaG universities,
and completed a master’s thesis.
While offering exceptional opportunities for
motivated students with the requisite financial
resources and schedule flexibility, this model
was not without challenges. Financial backing
of the European Commission was crucial to the
development and operation of this program.
“Harmonization” of disparate credits, degree
requirements, assessments, and program quality
assurance across participating universities
presented daunting challenges during its
initiation (Meyer, 2003). The European Credit
Transfer and Assurance System (European
Commission, 2009) has since provided standards
for comparing student performance, credits, and
degrees across European countries.
Intensive gerontology training programs:
the U.N.−Malta model
In an attempt to foster gerontological training,
knowledge exchange, and provide a basis for
aging-related international policies and pro-
grams, the United Nations initiated an agree-
ment with the government of Malta in 1987 to
establish the International Institute of Aging
(INIA). The INIA is an autonomous program

based in Malta, with additional satellite sites all
over the world. Professors from the University of
Malta, supplemented by international program
tutors who are leaders in their respective areas
of gerontology, provide gerontology training
and support efforts to establish gerontological
programs in developing countries. Student
participants are service providers, health pro-
fessionals, administrators, policy makers, and
government and NGO workers from less devel-
oped countries who demonstrate leadership
potential to develop gerontological programs
and policies in their homelands. The training
programs last eleven days, and consist of lec-
tures, seminars, site visits, and small group
workshops. Each program covers practical
information on one of the following topics: social
gerontology, economic and financial aspects of
aging, health promotion and quality of life, and
policy development and implementation. The
program has trained more than 1,700 people
from 137 countries at the Malta site alone.
However, the program has been criticized for
being based solely on Western concepts and
approaches (Aboderin and Ferreira, 2009).
Partnerships between individual universities
Relatively short-term but intensive partnerships
between two academic institutions have been
successful models for global gerontological
education. Experts in gerontology program
development from the Gerontology Institute at
Georgia State University established a three-year
partnership with faculty in the Department of
Sociology and the Bureau of Education Research

at Kenyatta University in Nairobi to focus on
gerontological research and education (King et
al., 2005). Joint conferences and workshops,
faculty exchanges, book and computer dona-
tions, and collaborations on research and
program development led to the eventual
establishment of Kenyatta University’s Diploma
in Gerontology program. Such intensive and
highly focused partnerships require strong
commitment and sensitivity to cultural issues,
but have the potential to be highly productive.
International exchange programs
The International Interdisciplinary Program for
Gerontology involved a partnership among
gerontology programs in three U.S. universities
(Miami University of Ohio, Oregon State Univer-
sity, and San Francisco State University) and
three European universities (Universidad de
Salamanca, Spain; Universitat Heidelberg,
Germany; and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam,
The Netherlands). Funded by grants from the
European Commission for Culture and Educa-
Westernized, medicalized models of
geriatric education should not be
transferred intact on a global level.
Aging Pages 87–92
90 | Spring 2013 • Vol. 37 .No. 1

tion and the U.S. Department of Education,
this international, interdisciplinary program
promoted developing a comparative model for
the study of social policy and sharing of gradu-
ate level gerontology curricula among the
partnering universities. It also supported
international student and faculty exchanges
among consortium members for periods up
to four months, enabling participants to learn
the host language, discover how gerontology
programs operate in other countries, and engage
with gerontological field sites.
International field schools with a gerontological
service-learning focus
International field schools offer opportunities
for students to apply discipline-related skills
within a different cultural context. Initially
focused on archeological excavations, today’s
international field schools often involve students
collecting ethnographic data and-or providing
service. The NAPA (National Association for the
Practice of Anthropology)-OT (Occupational
Therapy) Field School is a four- to six-week
international, transdisciplinary graduate level
program that integrates theory, methods, and
application of both anthropology and occupa-
tional science-therapy. Not confined to U.S.

participants, it attracts students and faculty from
around the world. Students and faculty live with
Guatemalan families, study Spanish at a local
Spanish-language school, engage in seminars
and field trips to health-related sites, and work
within local settings related to three topics,
one of which is gerontology.
The gerontology component of the field
school has focused on comparing two local
residential care facilities for older Guatemalans,
one that is government run, the other, privately
owned. The anthropology students conduct
ethnographies of the facilities and collect data
on individual residents, which the OT students
then use to develop and run individual- and
facility-specific OT programs that promote
functional abilities and provide meaningful
group activities for residents. Students also
provide in-service training for facility staff on
topics such as falls and dementia care. Toward
the end of the field-school experience, gerontol-
ogy students participate in an annual joint
seminar with students from the occupational
therapy department of San Carlos Universidad in
Guatemala City, during which they present
updates on the state of OT and gerontology in
their respective countries. It is a simple mecha-
nism for fostering international networking in
the early stages of gerontological careers.
Educational opportunities for older adults:
Universities of the Third Age
Aging-related education should not be limited
to developing a global workforce attuned to the

abilities and needs of older adults. Using educa-
tion to optimize functioning and enhance older
adults’ quality of life has proliferated in recent
years through the worldwide expansion of
Universities of the Third Age (U3A). The
philosophy of lifelong learning underpins the
operations of U3A. These programs offer edu-
cational, volunteer, and leisure activities for
older adults, promoting lifelong education as an
avenue to personal enhancement. Often housed
in universities or community-based senior
centers, participants attend classes on subjects
as diverse as art appreciation, understanding
insurance, health updates, travel opportunities,
literacy, and human rights. Some groups have
conducted their own research on aging (e.g.,
Images of Older Persons in Malta) (Troisi, 2009).
U3A is growing in popularity, especially in
countries such as Mexico and Cuba. Within a
four-year period, U3A in Cuba enrolled more
than 30,000 students (Sykes and Vega, 2009).
Educational resources in gerontology for
institutions in developing countries
The HINARI (Health InterNetwork Access to
Research Initiative Program, www.who.int/
hinari/en/), established by the World Health
Organization (WHO) and a number of major
publishing companies, provides free or low-cost
online access to biomedical and health-related
literature, including some in gerontology and
geriatrics, to faculty and students affiliated with

Spring 2013 • Vol. 37 .No. 1 | 91
nonprofit institutions in less developed coun-
tries. Institutions in countries classified by WHO
as low-income have free access; institutions in
countries in the next higher income category pay
a minimum fee. More than 150 publishers offer
more than 8,500 journals and 7,000 e-books
through this program. National universities,
research institutes, professional schools, teach-
ing hospitals, government offices, and national
medical libraries are all eligible to participate.
The professional organization as a
resource for gerontological education
The Association for Gerontology in Higher
Education (AGHE) is the only professional
organization devoted exclusively to geronto-
logical and geriatrics education, and considers
global education on aging one of its primary
mandates. Membership is granted to institutions,
rather than individuals (with some exceptions),
with international dues based on a sliding scale
determined by WHO income categories. Guided
by feedback from the AGHE/GSA (Gerontologi-

cal Society of America) Global Aging Survey,
AGHE’s Global Aging Committee works to foster
networking, collaborations, and mentorship in
gerontological education, research, and practice.
(See the AGHE Global Aging Committee website
[www.aghe.org] for information on its efforts to
promote global gerontological education.)
The Future of Global Gerontology
and Geriatrics Education
With the exceptions of academic programs and
research institutes in North America and Europe,
global gerontology and geriatrics education is still
in its formative stage, especially in developing
countries. But there are certain advantages to a
delayed start. Less developed countries are taking
advantage of recent technological advances and
bypassing earlier systems of information ex-
change that may soon be obsolete. In the not so
distant past, residents of less developed countries
had little access to landline telephones, but now
the use of cell phones is common. In leapfrogging
over early developments in telecommu-
nications, these less developed areas
bypassed investing in infrastructure
required to support early telephone
systems and now are relatively unencum-
bered by its soon-to-be-obsolete struc-
tures. In like manner, gerontology and
geriatrics education programs in less developed
countries, in their current pre-bureaucratized
state, may be less saddled by issues of “harmoni-
zation”—the synchronizing of diverse academic

bureaucracies that European countries faced in
developing EuMaG.
Future developments in education undoubt-
edly will continue to be influenced by techno-
logical advances. Distance education already
has assumed an important role in gerontology
education. Technological advances will reshape
the ways by which information is conveyed
and shared, opening opportunities for students
in remote regions for equal access to online
instruction and virtual communities. The rapid
acceptance of innovative educational modalities,
such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC),
suggests potential for radical departures from
traditional, campus-based institutions of learn-
ing. These types of courses (such as Couresera
and edX) that are based on online partnerships
among highly respected universities like Har-
vard, Stanford, and University of California,
Berkeley, seem to have bypassed the institutional
bureaucratic blocks encountered by more tra-
ditional attempts at university partnerships
(such as EuMaG). Offering flexible and free
access, and designed to support large numbers of
students, MOOCs represent a potential model
for sharing gerontology and geriatrics education
on a global level.
The potential for co-teaching online geron-
tology courses by instructors in different coun-
tries, incorporating discussion boards and
virtual meeting rooms to accommodate widely
Within a four-year period, Universities of
the Third Age in Cuba enrolled more than

30,000 lifelong learning students.
Aging Pages 87–92
92 | Spring 2013 • Vol. 37 .No. 1
dispersed students and faculty, is just now being
explored (Claver and Kuo, 2012). Global online
courses would be only the beginning. Opportuni-
ties for global virtual networking and mentoring
in gerontology and geriatrics education seem
limitless. Network-based gerontology programs
that rely more heavily on online (as opposed to
campus-based) learning may offer viable avenues
for globally scattered students who lack the
financial means and flexibility to relocate for
education. The Pan American Health Organiza-
tion−supported Masters in Public Health and
a Public Health and Aging Specialization for
health ministries, offered by the seventeen-
country Latin American and the Caribbean
educational consortium, represent promising
adaptations of the network-based model for

gerontology programs.
Residential campuses offer unique oppor-
tunities and always will play a pivotal role in
gerontology and geriatrics education. However,
for developing countries with limited resources,
bypassing significant investment in university
buildings and campuses to target resources
toward improved Internet access and virtual
campuses may be the more prudent strategy.
Margaret A. Perkinson, Ph.D., is an associate
professor in the Occupational Science and Occu-
pational Therapy Department at Saint Louis Univer-
sity, St. Louis, Missouri. She can be contacted at
[email protected]
References
Aboderin, I., and Ferreira, M. 2009.
“African Region.” In Palmore, E.B.,
Whittington, F., and Kunkel, S.,
eds. The International Handbook
Claver, M. and Kuo, T. 2012.
“Online Course Development.”
Paper presented at the annual
meeting of the 2012 Gerontological
Society of America, November
2012, San Diego, CA.
European Commission. 2009.
ECTS Users’ Guide. Luxembourg:
Office for Official Publications of
the European Communities.

Hudson, R., ed. 2003. “Emerging
Crisis: The Geriatric Care Work-
force.” Public Policy and Aging
Report 13(2).
King, S. V., et al. 2005. “Geron-
tology Education and Research
in Kenya: Establishing a U.S.−
African Partnership in Aging.”
Gerontology & Geriatrics Educa-
tion 26(1): 117–35.
Kunkel, S. 2009. “Global Aging
and Gerontological Education.”
In Sterns, H., and Bernard, M.,
eds. Annual Review of Gerontology
and Geriatrics (Vol. 28). New
York: Springer.
Meyer, M. 2003. “Current State
and Developments in Gerontology
in European Higher Education.”
Educational Gerontology 29: 55–69.
Palmore, E., Whittington, F. and
Kunkel, S., eds. 2009. The Interna-
tional Handbook on Aging: Current
Research and Developments (3rd
ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
Sykes, J. T., and Vega, E. 2009.
“Cuba.” In Palmore, E. B., Whit-
tington, F., and Kunkel, S., eds.
The International Handbook on
Aging: Current Research and

Tessore, C., Mezey, M., and
Harrington, C. 2002. “Who Cares
for Older Adults? Workforce
Implications of an Aging Society.”
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Troisi, J. 2009. “Malta.” In Palmore,
E. B., Whittington, F., and Kunkel,
S., eds. The International Handbook
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without
permission.
Judgment and Decision Making in Adolescence
Dustin Albert and Laurence Steinberg
Temple University
In this article, we review the most important findings to have
emerged during the past 10 years in the study of judgment
and decision making (JDM) in adolescence and look ahead to
possible new directions in this burgeoning area of research.
Three inter-related shifts in research emphasis are of particular
importance and serve to organize this review. First, re-

search grounded in normative models of JDM has moved beyond
the study of age differences in risk perception and
toward a dynamic account of the factors predicting adolescent
decisions. Second, the field has seen widespread adoption
of dual-process models of cognitive development that describe 2
relatively independent modes of information processing,
typically contrasting an analytic (cold) system with an
experiential (hot) one. Finally, there has been an increase in
attention
to the social, emotional, and self-regulatory factors that
influence JDM. This shift in focus reflects the growing
influence of
findings from developmental neuroscience, which describe a
pattern of structural and functional maturation that may set
the stage for a heightened propensity to make risky decisions in
adolescence.
Imagine, for a moment, that you are 16 years old. It is
the spring of your sophomore year of high school,
and you feel a newfound sense of optimism about
your social prospects. Best of all, it is Friday night
and you are ready to take advantage of your recently
renegotiated curfew, now extended to 11 p.m. When
pressed for your plans, you tell your parents that you
are just going to the movies and then maybe hanging
out at the coffee shop: No need to worry. In reality,
you know that when your friends pick you up, you
will head straight to the first big keg party to which
you have ever been invited. Everyone will be there.
But you will have to be careful, because these things
get busted by the cops all the time, not to mention
the fact that your parents will be waiting up for you
when you get home. You are not really planning on
drinking at the party, but if you do, you will defi-
nitely need some breath mints and a believable
horror movie synopsis. That should be easy enough.

We begin our review with this exercise in creative
visualization not to inspire fear and suspicion in
those among our readers charged with parenting a
teenager, but to illustrate the multitude of factors
that dynamically shape adolescents’ choices. On this
one weekend evening, our hypothetical teenager will
make a series of choices with potentially lasting
consequences for his health, safety, criminal record,
family relationships, and social status. These deci-
sions are likely to be influenced not only by his ca-
pacity to accurately evaluate the relative costs and
benefits of alternative courses of action, but also the
social and emotional contexts in which he makes the
decisionsFthe mix of excitement and anxiety he
brings to the party, his in-the-moment assessment of
social expectations, and his background fear of get-
ting caught by police or parents, to name just a few.
Stated simply, adolescent decision making is a com-
plex and multiply determined phenomenon.
Fortunately, the last decade of scholarship on ado-
lescent judgment and decision making (JDM) has seen
remarkable progress in modeling this complexity.
Building on normative models of rational decision
making, the field has dramatically expanded its ex-
planatory power by integrating research methods and
theoretical insights from cognitive, developmental,
social, and emotion perspectives, with a growing in-
fluence from the neurosciences. Indeed, this move-
ment toward an interdisciplinary perspective has
made it increasingly difficult to define the boundaries
of adolescent JDM as a topic of investigation. After all,
what domain of adolescent behavior does not involve
some degree of JDM? Because space limitations pre-

clude an exhaustive consideration of such an expan-
sively defined literature, our review is necessary
selective, guided by our assessment of the most im-
portant developments over the last decade within the
traditional domains of interest to adolescent JDM re-
searchers. Responding to public policy concerns re-
garding adolescents’ relative competence to make
decisions with long-term consequences for their health
and well-being, the field has historically focused on
identifying domains of immaturity in adolescent
r 2011 The Authors
Journal of Research on Adolescence r 2011 Society for
Research on Adolescence
DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00724.x
Requests for reprints should be sent to Dustin Albert, Temple
University, Department of Psychology, Weiss Hall, 1701 N.
13th
Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122. E-mail: [email protected]
JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, 21(1), 211 –
224
mailto:[email protected]
decision making. Although our review reflects this
tradition, we emphasize that many, if not most, ado-
lescents demonstrate remarkable decision-making
competence across a variety of domains. Future re-
search on adolescent JDM should aspire to integrate
current models focused on adolescent immaturity
with the growing literature documenting the biologi-
cal, psychological, and contextual factors promoting

positive youth development (Lerner, 2009).
Three inter-related developments in adolescent
JDM research serve to organize this review. First,
developmental research grounded in normative
models of rational decision making has made sig-
nificant gains in identifying the factors that influence
adolescents’ choices. Building on foundational work
modeling the key components of rational decision
making, early research in this tradition focused on
identifying aspects of cognitive processing in which
adolescents were deficient relative to adults, partic-
ularly with regard to decisions involving risk. In
response to considerable evidence that adolescents
evaluate risky decisions in a manner similar to adults
(Reyna & Farley, 2006), research from the past de-
cade has shifted from an examination of age differ-
ences in risk processing toward comprehensive
modeling of the factors predicting adolescents’ de-
cisions. Such models have gained considerable ex-
planatory power by examining the interplay of both
risk and benefit perceptions, as well as the role of
experience in modifying these views.
Second, following theoretical developments in the
adult JDM literature (and related trends in cognitive
and social psychology), the field has seen wide-
spread adoption of dual-process models of cognitive
development (see Jacobs & Klaczynski, 2005, for
multiple examples). These models describe two rel-
atively independent modes of information process-
ing, typically contrasting an analytic (deliberative,
controlled, reasoned, ‘‘cold’’) system with an expe-
riential (intuitive, automatic, reactive, ‘‘hot’’) system
(e.g., Epstein, 1994; Gerrard, Gibbons, Houlihan,
Stock, & Pomery, 2008; Jacobs & Klaczynski, 2002;

Reyna & Farley, 2006). Proponents of dual-process
models argue that traditional cognitive development
research has been limited by its singular focus on the
analytic system, leading to theories of unidirectional
maturational trajectories proceeding from intuitive
to reasoned processing (Klaczynsi, 2005). Given ev-
idence that the use of many heuristics actually in-
creases in adulthood, dual-process proponents argue
that developmental models of JDM must account for
the distinct maturational trajectories of analytic and
experiential systems. In this view, changes in JDM
over the course of adolescence do not reflect a simple
transition from experiential to analytic processing,
but rather result from domain-specific shifts in the
relative dominance of intuition and reason.
The influence of dual-process theories can also be
felt in a third research trend, a growth in attention to
the social, emotional, and self-regulatory factors that
influence adolescents’ JDM. This shift in focus re-
flects the growing influence of findings from devel-
opmental neuroscience, which describe a pattern of
structural and functional maturation that may set the
stage for a heightened propensity to make risky
decisions in adolescence. Social and emotional fac-
tors relevant to adolescent JDM include normative
changes in core motivational processes, such as
sensation seeking and sensitivity to reward and
punishment, as well as age-related changes in the
relative influence of contextual variables (e.g., the
presence or absence of peers) on risk-taking behav-
ior. Together, evidence for heightened sensitivity to
social and emotional factors in early-to-middle ado-
lescence has offered one plausible account for the
corresponding prevalence of risk taking. Comple-

mentary to this focus on social and emotional factors,
research has also described continued develop-
ment in late adolescence of capacities supporting
growth in self-regulatory competence, which is
thought to contribute to a corresponding decline in
risk taking. Consistent with the dual-process per-
spectives described above, this research has sought
to push the field beyond the study of ‘‘cold’’ cogni-
tion and toward explication of the experiential
factors that influence real-world, in-the-moment de-
cision making.
BEYOND RISK PERCEPTION: EXPANDING THE
STUDY OF RATIONAL DECISION MAKING
Before the mid-1990s, research on adolescent JDM
focused largely on whether adolescents used adult-
like cognitive processes when making decisions (for
reviews, see Furby & Beyth-Marom, 1992; Quadrel,
Fischhoff, & Davis, 1993). Much of this work
stemmed from concerns about the high prevalence of
risk behavior among adolescents (especially com-
pared with adults) and the consequences of risk
taking for adolescents’ health. As a general rule,
adolescents are more likely than adults over 25 to
binge drink, smoke cigarettes, have casual sex part-
ners, engage in violent and other criminal behavior,
and have fatal or serious automobile crashes, the
majority of which are caused by reckless driving or
driving under the influence of alcohol. Because
many of these behaviors appear inherently irrational
when individuals understand their probable long-
212 ALBERT AND STEINBERG

term consequences, it was assumed that adolescents
must be less competent than adults in one or more of
the elements of rational decision making.
Normative models of JDM have historically em-
phasized five broad stages supporting competent de-
cision making, including: (a) identifying options; (b)
assessing the possible consequences of each option; (c)
evaluating the desirability of each consequence; (d)
estimating the probability of occurrence for each con-
sequence; and (e) applying a decision algorithm to the
above information to identify the option with the
greatest subjective utility (Beyth-Marom, Austin,
Fischhoff, Palmgren, & Jacobs-quadrel, 1993; Halpern-
Felsher & Cauffman, 2001). Drawing upon these and
similar models (e.g., Theory of Planned Behavior;
Azjen, 1985), a great deal of research searched for the
source of adolescents’ heightened propensity to make
risky choices by comparing adolescent and adult
performance within specific stages of the decision-
making process. Specifically, much of this work ex-
amined whether adolescents perceive the potential
consequences of risk behavior (i.e., Stage b) and ac-
curately assess the probability of those consequences
occurring (i.e., Stage d) to the same degree as adults.
Contradicting popular conceptions of the typical
adolescent as beset by an ‘‘invulnerability complex,’’
adolescents were shown to be no worse than adults at
perceiving risk or estimating their vulnerability to it,
and studies found that increasing the salience of the
risks associated with making a poor or potentially
dangerous decision has comparable effects on adoles-
cents and adults (for a discussion of false leads in the
study of adolescent risk taking, see Millstein & Halpern-

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