Ageing and ageism in Danish society and workplaces

The primary goal of our project is to provide knowledge and recommendations on how to challenge stereotypes about senior workers in the workplace, ameliorate the relationships between people of different ages, improve senior worker’s work ability and well-being and influence their  decisions about retirement, with the final goal of promoting and sustaining their contribution to society.   

 

 

 

For older workers to stay healthy and work effectively, policies and practices should focus on building the right conditions so that employees are enabled to offer their best contributions to the work organisations until the later stages of their career. This requires a profound analysis of the role that older workers have in their work context – how their experience is used, how their tasks are designed, how they are managed, and the quality of their social environment.

In our research, we will employ a mixed-method design, using both quantitative and qualitative analytical approaches, to understand the factors, at both the individual and organizational level, that may promote work ability and well-being among senior workers, and influence their decision to postpone retirement and prolong their working life in good health.

We will conduct two studies. In the first, we will examine perceptions of ageing and stereotypes about older people in Danish society and how these may affect the way senior workers are perceived—and perceive themselves, in the workplace. In the second study, we will investigate how intergenerational interventions aiming at improving the workplace intergenerational climate affect senior workers in terms of their work ability and well-being as well as their intentions and decisions about retirement. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The study focuses on the discourses on ageing in the public debate and how these might influence our perception of the older part of the population and ultimately the senior workers. We will investigate these discourses through the collection of all communications (posts and comments) appearing in 68 selected Facebook pages. We will perform both quantitative analyses, through computational models, and qualitative analyses, by applying discourse methods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By means of an intergenerational intervention study in selected workplaces, we will examine the effects of a team sport intervention on intergenerational climate, experienced ageism, employee well-being and work ability, and intention to leave the workplace.

 

 

  • Department of Psychology, UCPH
  • Department of Public Health, UCPH
  • Center for Team Sport and Health, UCPH,
  • The Techno-Antropology Lab, AAU
  • DTU Management
  • Fonden Mental Sundhed
  • Selected workplaces

 

 

  • Lectures at Msc Psychology, Msc Medicine and Msc Global Healt, UCPH
  • Presentation at DM’s Arbejdsmiljøkonference, September 2021
  • Members of Altingets ældrepolitiske netværk
  • Article in Magasinet Arbejdsmiljø October 2021 (in press)
  • Workshop for DM’s (Dansk Magisterforening) network of senior workers, October 2021
  • Consultancy on ageing and age management in workplaces, municipalities, etc.

 

 

Tybjerg-Jeppesen, A., Conway, P. M., Ladegaard, Y., & Jensen, C. G. (2023). "Is a Positive Intergenerational Workplace Climate Associated with Better Self-Perceived Aging and Workplace Outcomes? A Cross-Sectional Study of a Representative Sample of the Danish Working Population." Journal of Applied Gerontology, 42(6), 1212–1222. 
https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648231162616

List of publications by Paul Maurice Conway

List of publications by Yun Ladegaard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Maurice Conway

Group leader

 Paul Maurice Conway
 PhD, Associate professor

 paul.conway@psy.ku.dk
 Phone:  +45 35 32 49 35

 CV, publications, etc

Group members

Name Title Job responsibilities Phone E-mail