This document summarizes an academic research project that used web-based data collection methods to analyze discussions of age and gender in the context of work. Over 800 media items were collected over five months and analyzed using various qualitative approaches including conversation analysis, narrative analysis, and visual analysis. Key themes examined included the intersection of age and gender, aesthetic labor expectations, and media representations of older workers. Five images were selected from the data set and analyzed in detail to explore how age and gender are visually represented related to employment.

1. Gender
and
Katrina Pritchard
Generations and
Rebecca Whiting
Gendered Ageing at Work: Department of
Beyond the ‘Double Jeopardy’ Organizational Psychology
Birkbeck,
Gender, Work & Organization. University of London
7th interdisciplinary conference
27th -29th June 2012
Research funded by
Richard Benjamin Trust
(Early Career Award 1103)
http://ageatwork.wordpress.com

2. Our e-research approach
 Use a range of tools (e.g. Nexis, Google Alerts and Twilerts) to collect
web-based data (blogs, twitter, news, websites) enabling us to follow
various conversations and voices engaged in the broader discursive
construction of age at work
 „Age at work‟ denotes an inclusive approach to examining subject
positions in relation to both „age‟ (younger, older etc) and „work‟
(employment, unemployment, underemployment etc)
 Data collection via daily „sweeps‟ over a five month period (9/11 to
2/12), over 800 items of „composite data‟ downloaded.
 Enables us to „follow‟ both conversations and voices in unpacking
the broader discursive construction of age at work
 Analytic approaches applied include CDA, narrative and visual
methods
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3. Age at
work
media
conversations
voices
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4. conversations
 Thematic focus: unpacking particular themes within
broader discussions of age at work
 The particular themes explored in this presentation
are related to age, gender and aesthetic labour
 In what ways are age and gender (visually and/or
discursively) entangled in media representations of
(un)employment?
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5. Age and Gender
 Both positioned within a diversity debate though
different positioning to date (conceptually and
legislatively)
 Going beyond „double jeopardy‟: beyond focus
on „the older woman‟
 Investigating the ways in which age and gender
are variously co-constructed via a variety of
web-based media
http://ageatwork.wordpress.com

6. Aesthetic labour
 Emotional labour perspective on service work is
“not incorrect just partial” Warhurst & Nickson
(2007, p.103)
 Importance of being “„good looking‟ or simply
having the „right look‟” Warhurst & Nickson (2009,
p. 386).
 Witz et al (2003). “The kinds of embodied
dispositions that acquire an exchange value are
not equally distributed socially but fractured by
class, gender, age and racialised positions or
locations” (p41)
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7. Analysing Visual Images
 Davison(2010): Analysis of portraits
 Physical attributes, dress, physical artefacts, and
interpersonal representations
 Rose (2001):
 subject positions, absences, contradictions,
similarities/differences with other images,
persuasiveness, complexities
 Sample: Identified images within the data set,
reviewed with focus on gender and age to
produce a sample of 120, further iterations distilled
15 images for detailed analysis, of which 5 are
presented here
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8. Gen Y vs. Boomers: Workplace conflict heats up
Generation
betrayed by
bogus
promises: our
failing schools
are „forcing UK
Age firms to choose
discrimination Record fall in employed over-65s foreign
„rooted‟ in shows businesses rushed to retire workers‟
society, workers
Government
finds
Older workers
struggle to
retain position
in the workforce
Copyright acknowledgements and details included in
http://ageatwork.wordpress.com following slides

9. Images removed pending copyright approval.
The authors do not accept any responsibility for the content or security of
external websites indicated below. The inclusion of a link to an external
website should not be understood to be an endorsement of that website or
the site's owners (or their products/services or any associated
advertisements). Some of the content we link to is generated by members of
the public (message boards and photo-sharing sites for example). The views
expressed are those of the public and unless specifically stated are not those
of the authors the research funding body or our employers. If you consider
content to be in breach of the house rules as indicated on the website,
please alert the moderators or site owners on the sites where the material
appears.
Downloaded from: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/11/30/older-workers-workforce/
Original date of download: 3/12/11 Screen shot captured: 6/6/12
Picture credit: MPR Photo/ Annie Baxter (no copyright information available)
http://ageatwork.wordpress.com

10. Props
Grouting trowel,
glasses
Pose
At work, focus on
the activity
(grouting)
Dress Appearance
Large hoodie, old No make-up or
clothes , fit particular grooming
expectations of
manual labour
Downloaded from: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/11/30/older-workers-workforce/
Original date of download: 3/12/11 Screen shot captured: 6/6/12
Picture credit: MPR Photo/ Annie Baxter (no copyright information available)
http://ageatwork.wordpress.com

11. Images removed pending copyright approval.
The authors do not accept any responsibility for the content or security of
external websites indicated below. The inclusion of a link to an external
website should not be understood to be an endorsement of that website or
the site's owners (or their products/services or any associated
advertisements). Some of the content we link to is generated by members of
the public (message boards and photo-sharing sites for example). The views
expressed are those of the public and unless specifically stated are not those
of the authors the research funding body or our employers. If you consider
content to be in breach of the house rules as indicated on the website,
please alert the moderators or site owners on the sites where the material
appears.
Downloaded from:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2063739/Failing-schools-forcing-UK-firms-choose-foreign-workers.html#ixzz1eRvOgrvM
Original download: 22/11/11; screenshot: 6/6/12
Picture credit: Copyright Craig Hibbert
http://ageatwork.wordpress.com

12. Props
Bar setting, name badge
waitress holding bottle opener
Pose
Waitress but pose
is of customer
Dress Appearance
Casual, fitted though not Smiling and engaging,
Revealing natural make-up,
Attractive, mirrors target customers
Downloaded from:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2063739/Failing-schools-forcing-UK-firms-choose-foreign-workers.html#ixzz1eRvOgrvM
Original download: 22/11/11; screenshot: 6/6/12
Picture credit: Copyright Craig Hibbert
http://ageatwork.wordpress.com

13. Images removed pending copyright approval.
The authors do not accept any responsibility for the content or security of
external websites indicated below. The inclusion of a link to an external
website should not be understood to be an endorsement of that website or
the site's owners (or their products/services or any associated
advertisements). Some of the content we link to is generated by members of
the public (message boards and photo-sharing sites for example). The views
expressed are those of the public and unless specifically stated are not those
of the authors the research funding body or our employers. If you consider
content to be in breach of the house rules as indicated on the website,
please alert the moderators or site owners on the sites where the material
appears.
Downloaded from:
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/11/11/Gen-Y-vs-Boomers-Workplace-Conflict-Heats-Up.aspx#page1
Original download: 22/11/11 ; screenshot: 6/6/12
Picture credit: iStockphoto
http://ageatwork.wordpress.com

14. Props
Dated office,
Boxing gloves
(red vs. blue)
Pose
Mock „fight‟
Dress Appearance
Older man traditional suit Both open mouthed,
(pen in pocket) trading punches,
Younger woman red hair Her eyes almost closed
and suit (anger?)
Downloaded from:
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/11/11/Gen-Y-vs-Boomers-Workplace-Conflict-Heats-Up.aspx#page1
Original download: 22/11/11 ; screenshot: 6/6/12
Picture credit: iStockphoto
http://ageatwork.wordpress.com

15. Images removed pending copyright approval.
The authors do not accept any responsibility for the content or security of
external websites indicated below. The inclusion of a link to an external
website should not be understood to be an endorsement of that website or
the site's owners (or their products/services or any associated
advertisements). Some of the content we link to is generated by members of
the public (message boards and photo-sharing sites for example). The views
expressed are those of the public and unless specifically stated are not those
of the authors the research funding body or our employers. If you consider
content to be in breach of the house rules as indicated on the website,
please alert the moderators or site owners on the sites where the material
appears.
Downloaded from:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9010770/Age-discrimination-rooted-in-society-Government-finds.html
Original download: 22/1/12 ; screenshot: 6/6/12
Picture credit: Alamy
http://ageatwork.wordpress.com

16. Props
Modern office,
Plan, desk, seating
Pose
„pyramid‟, use of
hand position re
involvement and
authority
Dress Appearance
Formulaic business casual, Women similar,
Older man wears men dissimilar,
trad‟l white shirt
Downloaded from:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9010770/Age-discrimination-rooted-in-society-Government-finds.html
Original download: 22/1/12 ; screenshot: 6/6/12
Picture credit: Alamy
http://ageatwork.wordpress.com

17. Images removed pending copyright approval.
The authors do not accept any responsibility for the content or security of
external websites indicated below. The inclusion of a link to an external
website should not be understood to be an endorsement of that website or
the site's owners (or their products/services or any associated
advertisements). Some of the content we link to is generated by members of
the public (message boards and photo-sharing sites for example). The views
expressed are those of the public and unless specifically stated are not those
of the authors the research funding body or our employers. If you consider
content to be in breach of the house rules as indicated on the website,
please alert the moderators or site owners on the sites where the material
appears.
Downloaded from:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/8821785/Record-fall-in-employed-over-65s-shows-businesses-rushed-to-retire-workers.html
Original download: 16/10/11 ; screenshot: 6/6/12
Picture credit: Alamy
http://ageatwork.wordpress.com

18. Props
papers,
glasses
Pose
mirrored,
separate,
close
Dress Appearance
similar, beige, similar in every respect,
little gender coding stereotyped
Downloaded from:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/8821785/Record-fall-in-employed-over-65s-shows-businesses-rushed-to-retire-workers.html
Original download: 16/10/11 ; screenshot: 6/6/12
Picture credit: Alamy
http://ageatwork.wordpress.com

19. Tentative conclusions
 Unpacking the role of images in web-based media:
 layers of analysis re aesthetic labour in „stock‟ images
 Relationships between images and text (headline,
stories, comments, etc)
 Unpacking „entanglements‟ (work in progress)
 how age and gender are woven together within the
images
 what „agential cuts‟ (Barad 2003) are made that lead
us to „see‟ and „understand‟ representations of
particular binary combinations (older man, younger
women)
 Foregrounding and backgrounding of age/gender
combinations within specific constructions of
„employability‟
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20. References
 Pritchard, K and Whiting, R (2012) „Autopilot? A reflexive review of the
piloting process in qualitative e-research‟ Qualitative Research in
Organizations and Management (In Press)
 Barad, K. (2003) Posthumanist performativity: Toward an understanding
of how matter comes to matter. Signs, 28 (3): 801-831
 Davison, J. (2010). [In]visible [in]tangibles: Visual portraits of the business
élite. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 35(2), 165-183. Elsevier Ltd.
 Rose (2001) Visual Methodologies. London: Sage.
 Warhurst, C., & Nickson, D. (2007). A new labour aristocracy? Aesthetic
labour and routine interactive service. Work, Employment & Society,
21(4), 785-798.
 Warhurst, C., & Nickson, D. (2009). Who‟s Got the Look Emotional ,
?
Aesthetic and Sexualized Labour in Interactive Services, Gender, Work
and Organization16(3): 385-404
 Witz, A., Warhurst, C., & Nickson, D. (2003). The Labour of Aesthetics and
the Aesthetics of Organization. Organization, 10(1), 33-54.
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21. Age at Work
Seminar
Friday 21st September 2012
at Katrina Pritchard
Birkbeck, University of London and
Rebecca Whiting
Outline agenda:
Dept of Organizational Psychology
11.00 – 13.00: Age at work: voices and
conversations from our data This project aims to map the language of
13.00 – 14.00: Lunch age at work. Adopting a discursive
14.00 – 16.00: E-research: framework, we are considering the
construction of age discourses; looking at
methodological challenges and insights particular conceptions (such as
from our project generations) and examining their inter-
relationship.
The seminar is free but registration is
required Research funded by
Richard Benjamin Trust
To register or for more information, (Early Career Award 1103)
please see our research blog at
http://ageatwork.wordpress.com