Age, work and visibility
The report on age portrayed on television – where there was less concern regarding radio – got me thinking about the relationship between age, work and visibility.
Art and writing are two areas of work where the ‘output’ does not necessarily tell us anything about the age of the artist or writer. In fact they can be quite invisible to the viewer or reader.
Does this mean that these are fields of work where people are judged more on their output – and can be assessed as having potential at an older age than would be the case if they were sitting in an office and being assessed by a line manager?
Two recent articles touch on these issues. This piece looks at artists who first came to prominence in the 1960s and 70s and who are still working. And this article features an interview with the painter Rose Wylie who is being described as an ‘up-and-coming artist’ at the age of 77.
Katrina Pritchard
Rebecca Whiting
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The whole issue of age is really fascinating especially from the point of view of leadership orientation. I think the mistake we do is that we look at the numbers and expect that to predict what the employee needs as support, leadership style etc. A 45 year old woman can be a mother of a new born or a grandmother, also the work related lifecycle can vary tremendously as far as education and experience is concerned. a 50 year old man can be oriented towards getting retired, uninterested in further learning, career challenges etc. or a driven, healthy, energetic one who needs a fresh challenge. And our ideas of aged people being wise, considerate or socially responsible can go equally wrong…. Age and our perception of it really needs some fresh thinking.