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Open Access 21-09-2022 | Original Investigation

Age and gender relations on LinkedIn pages of global staffing agencies

Authors: Wenqian Xu, Federica Previtali

Published in: European Journal of Ageing | Issue 4/2022

Abstract

This study investigates the ways in which age and gender play out on the LinkedIn pages of global staffing agencies through an intersectionality lens. A discourse analysis of 437 LinkedIn posts (including visual images, captions, and comments) was conducted. This study found that the corporate discourse of diversity shaped the ways that age and gender were represented. The portrayals of age and gender were found to create gendered specializations of labor and reproduce gender stereotypes; additionally, some workers were represented as disembodied clusters of attributes. The results of this study show the complex ways in which age and gender systems unfold, including two systems mutually reinforcing, gender/age system surfacing, and two systems dissolving. The findings suggest that diversity has lost its performativity as a concept, as its portrayals may not support disadvantaged groups gaining access to better employment opportunities. This study proposes that staffing agencies actively address intersectional disadvantages and foster a gender- and age-transformative change.

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Title: Age and gender relations on LinkedIn pages of global staffing agencies
Authors: Wenqian Xu
Federica Previtali
Publication date: 21-09-2022
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: European Journal of Ageing / Issue 4/2022
Print ISSN: 1613-9372
Electronic ISSN: 1613-9380
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-022-00726-x

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