Work

Disrupting discourses of age? Exploring the identity work of older digital technology sector professionals

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The digital technology sector is often subject to reports of ageism. Given this context, our study examines how age is discursively negotiated within the identity work of older digital technology knowledge workers. Our discursive analysis demonstrates how our participants resist, reposition and reimagine their ageing identities in ways that disrupt common stereotypes about technology and age. We propose this is achieved through identity work that downplays established ideas of the digitally limited ageing subject by amplifying more complex and occupationally desired identities. This research adds nuance to understandings of age categorisations and the ageing knowledge worker, explicates socio-technological insights and explains how an ageing identity can be constructed within the digital technology sector.

Source: Management Learning

DOI: 10.1177/13505076251413655

Authors: Christine Shukis-Brown, Katrina Pritchard

Institutions: Birkbeck, University of London, Swansea University

Language: English

Topic: Retirement, Disability, and Employment

Subfield: Demography

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,900