preparing for an age-diverse workforce - CiteSeerX

Educational Gerontology, 27:49 – 70, 2001 Copyright Ó 2001 Brunner-Routledge 0360-1277 /01 $12.00 1 .00

PREPARING FOR AN AGE-DIVERSE WORKFORCE: INTERGENERATIONAL SERVICE-LEARNING IN SOCIAL GERONTOLOGY AND BUSINESS CURRICULA

Roma Stovall Hanks Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Programs in Gerontology, University of South Alabam a, Mobile, Alabam a, USA

Marjorie Icenogle Department of Managem ent, Mitchell College of Business, University of South Alabam a, Mobile, Alabam a, USA

Age diversity may well be the most conýict-ridden diversity issue of the early 21st century. W ith the impending ‘‘age boom ,’’ institutions of higher education need to begin to prepare graduates in all disciplines to work in a multigenerational workforce. Younger graduates, as well as older workers returning to the classroom for retraining, need to know how to manage conýict in an age-diverse work environm ent. Project ALIGN (the Alabama Intergenerational Network for ServiceLearning) provides opportunities for students in business and the social sciences to work with older workers in a com munity-based training program . Data from a statewide survey of attitudes about workers at both ends of the career life cycle provided contextual information for this pilot project. Pre- and posttests of student attitudes provided data for project evaluation. Student attitudes were com pared with results of the statewide survey and attitudes of older workers before participating in the project. Discussion in this article includes pedagogical strategies for building collegial relationships across disciplinary boundaries, changing attitudes through intergenerational shared activity, and meeting comm unity needs through service-learning. Address correspondence to Roma Stovall Hanks, Departm ent of Sociology and Anthropology, HUMB #34, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama 36688-0002. E-mail: [email protected]. 49

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R. S. Hanks and M. Icenogle

Today, 12% of the U.S. workforce is age 50 or older; by 2005, that proportion is projected to increase to 20%. The issues associated with an aging workforce have begun to capture the attention of human resources (HR) professionals. In fact, in a survey of Fortune 200, HR executives, these issues were among the top üve concerns projected for 2005 (Laabs, 1996). Colleges and universities must prepare graduates for a workplace in which age is the emerging challenge in diversity. Certainly, there is abundant research and theorizing on the economic impact of an aging society, but much of the attention in both policy and the professional literature has focused on generational equity and the viability of entitlem ent program s. While debates rage about generational equity at the societal level, however the old and the young are interacting in families and at work. The project reported in this article offers no sweeping solutions to generational conýicts. Instead, it addresses a simpler issue —Can educational experiences make a difference in how older and younger workers interact?

INTERGENERATIONAL CONFLICT AT WORK On April 7,2000, Congress enacted Public Law No. 106 – 182, amending Title II of the Social Security Act, to elim inate the earnings test for individuals who have reached retirem ent age. Older adults may now remain in the workforce without penalty for as long as they care to work and can secure employm ent. Senior- interest groups long lobbied for this legislation, but what does it mean for younger workers? What will be the consequences of an increasingly age- diverse workplace? Age discrimination cases already represent about 20% of all discrim ination cases üled with the Equal Employm ent Opportunity Com mission, and these cases are among the most costly to settle (Steinhauser, 1998). Will more age diversity in the workplace foster more discrimination? It is necessary to understand the causes of intergenerational conýict at work and to design educational interventions reýecting knowledge of the realities of age and cohort differences according to observers of change in corporate Am erica (Flynn, 1996; Kennedy, 1996; O’Donovan, 1997; Tulgan, 1996). Bruce Tulgan, author of Managing Generation X (1997), has suggested that the workplace could become a generational battleground. He cites potential problem s stemming from older workers reporting to managers who are substantially younger than themselves and younger workers bringing stereotypes of older workers into the workplace. However, intergenerational conýicts in the workplace will be rooted in differences in the work ethic and life experience of Baby Boom ers and Generation Xers rather than old-age stereotypes. Both younger

Service-Learning in Gerontology and Business

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and older workers need to have anticipatory socialization experiences (Merton, 1957) to help prepare them for working in an age-diverse environment. The project described in this article targets college students as well as workers aged 40 and older who are participants in a communitybased, federally funded, retraining program to provide opportunities for them to learn from and about each other. Certainly, age discrim ination can be overt. Sixty-one percent (61%) of older workers have reported that ünding work is difücult. Forty-three percent (43%) are concerned about the lack of training opportunities. However, attitudes among HR professionals are changing, and myths about old age are slowly being replaced by knowledge about the reliability and ýexibility of older workers (Society for Human Resource Managem ent, 2000). What may remain instead is covert and pervasive intergenerational conýicts in the workplace. According to Foner (1988), age- based conýicts at work have not traditionally focused on what she calls ‘‘material inequalities.’’ Indeed, younger workers seem to be surprisingly tolerant of wage and beneüt inequities, expecting that future promotions and policy changes will serve them as well as or better than they have served those before them. Rather, conýict between younger and older workers may ünd such outlets as declining membership in unions, which traditionally have been dom inated by middle- aged and older workers. In addition, Foner has predicted the developm ent of deviant workplace behavior by younger workers who become frustrated by unresolved intergenerational concerns. Educational strategies to prevent or combat age- based workplace conýicts must use pedagogical methods that address attitudinal issues. Research has identiüed problem s in designing interventions to improve attitudes among students regarding older adults. Studies that have used pre- and postexperience measures of attitudes to evaluate intervention strategies, often have reported that students are more positive toward older adults in the beginning than had been expected (Bachelder, 1989; Gordon & Hallauer 1976) or that student attitudes toward older-adults are at least neutral (Braithwaite, 1986). Further, more research evidence regarding the effect of increased contact with older adults on student attitudes about older people has been mixed (Mosher- Ashley & Ball, 1999; Murphy-Russell, Die, & Walker, 1986; Riddick, 1985; Shoem ake & Rowland, 1993). Evidence has supported the conclusion that positive interactions between age groups can inýuence attitudes about aging and older adults positively (Mosher- Ashley & Ball, 1999; Sedhom , 1982). Much of the work on attitudinal change in college students has focused on career selection, particularly in the health care professions. Although the number of older clients is increasing dramatically,

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students in nursing, social work, and other helping professions have been shown to give low priority to working with older adults (Berenbaum, 2000; Litwin, 1994). Berenbaum (2000) reviewed a number of program s aimed at attitudinal change among students in the helping professions. He reported that neither increased knowledge of gerontology nor didactic had the more positive attitudes about older adults or increased willingness to work with them (Carmel, Galinsky, & Cwikel, 1990; Gardner, 1994). Berenbaum suggested the following strategies to inýuence career choices involving older clients: (a) early interventions with students in high school or before, (b) informal as well as formal interaction between students and older adults, (c) and concentration on students who already show positive attitudes toward older adults. Although these strategies may be effective in inýuencing students to choose careers in professions that help older adults and their families, they do not address the larger problem —that is, that everyone who works in the early decades of the 21 st century will encounter increasing number(s) of older adults in the workplace. This raises the following questions: Which students need to have, as part of their educational process, experiences that will prepare them to work in an aging society? We suggest that students in a variety of disciplines need to be prepared to work with older adults, not only as clients, but also as colleagues, subordinates, and administrators. Our contention is that the problem of intergenerational conýict in the workplace is a broad societal issue that is closely related to changes in the social contract and evolving expectations about the relative position of generations in society. Some sociologists have argued that intergenerational conýict has been exaggerated by interest groups trying to inýuence public policy and that intergenerational relationships in families are far less conýictual and far more inýuential on attitudes than public rhetoric (Edsall, 1984; Quadagno, 1989, 1996). Others are hopeful that solutions can be found to achieve intergenerational cooperation and equity (Hirshorn, 1991; Kingson, 1988; Kingson, Hirshorn & Cornm an, 1986; Pampel, 1998). However, societal perceptions of intergenerational equity or inequity are not the only inýuence on intergenerational attitudes in the workplace. There also is the matter of succession and competition for jobs, beneüts, and promotions. Changes in retirem ent timing and later-life employment patterns have affected expectations that older workers will simply leave the workplace. Atchley (1988) stated that from an econom ic perspective, ‘‘retirem ent’s main function for the society was and is to keep down the number of persons holding or looking for jobs’’ (p. 186). However, since the mid-1980s, new functions for retirem ent and new roles for


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retirees have emerged. Retirem ent has become increasingly a strategy for workforce reduction in hard times and an opportunity for selfmanagem ent of later-life work options (Hanks, 1990). Post retirem ent involvem ent in form al work is preferred by workers (Harris Survey, 1981) and available from employers (Am erican Association of Retired Persons, 1987). Many older workers, have found later-life employment necessary for various reasons. Some have entered the workforce late in life, others have had sporadic work experiences that left them ineligible for private pensions, some have experienced systematic denial of access to jobs with beneüts that could have made comfortable retirement possible, and others simply were unprepared for such expenses as rising health care costs (Eaton, 1996; Myles, 1989; O’Rand & Henretta, 1982; O’Rand & Linderman, 1984; Ruhm, 1990; Sum & Fogg, 1990a; Tauber & Tauber, 1996). Employers increasingly value characteristics of older workers and recognize that stereotypes about aging are largely inaccurate (McNaught & Barth, 1992, Paul & Townsend, 1993). Employers often recognize the advantages of having older workers as employees and are eager to hire them (McGarvey, 1999). The realities of an age- diverse workforce make it imperative that colleges and universities prepare all students to work effectively with individuals of all age groups. In fact, training in age diversity is as essential as training in racial, ethnic, and gender diversity. Programs in gerontology must provide intergenerational experiences and course content if students are to be prepared adequately for careers in service to older adults or for life in a changing society.

STRATEGIES FOR INTERGENERATIONAL LEARNING Research and careful docum entation of successful program strategies have brought a wealth of positive change in intergenerational programming and policy. Programs successful for bringing intergenerational activities to schools and communities were highlighted in a special issue of Generations, guest edited by Nancy Henkin and Eric Kengson (1998 – 1999). These program s included interventions in after-school care (Larkin, 1998 – 1999), immigration (Skilton- Sylvester & Garcia, 1998 – 1999), and families at risk (Power & Maluccio, 1998 – 1999), Newman et al. (1997) reviewed numerous other sources about intergenerational program ming for their book, Intergenerational Programs: Past, Present, and Future. They labeled three types of intergenerational program s: (a) youth serving older adults, (b) older adults serving youth, and (c) older adults and youth serving together. McCrea and Smith (1997) noted the popularity of programs in which youth serve older adults, but they pointed out that it is also an area

54


in which further research and programming are needed. Popular approaches to intergenerational programming in the youth- to-older adult direction include children visiting nursing homes (Mersereau & Glover, 1990) and students providing services such as home repairs, shopping, or friendly visiting to older adults (Hirshorn & Piering, 1998 – 1999). Since 1997, the Corporation for National Service and the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) have supported a program , administered by Generations Together at the University of Pittsburgh, to extend the outreach intergenerational program ming at colleges and universities. Funding from 1997 – 2000 was provided to 30 colleges and universities across the United States. Ten projects were funded each year through competitive rounds of proposal developm ent and selection. The project reported in this article was funded under the 1999 – 2000 program . The goal of the Generations Together initiative has been to build an intergenerational service-learning infrastructure within academ ic program s in gerontology. To qualify for funding, institutions propose development of a course or course that would include intergenerational service- learning activities. Furthermore, institutions must dem onstrate that these courses would become part of their gerontology curriculum . Projects within the AGHE/Generations Together initiative have varied widely, but most have drawn students from gerontology classes and targeted frail elders or older adults residing in long- term care or assisted-living facilities or who were accessed through senior centers, hospice programs, or senior housing facilities. During 1997 – 1998, the ürst year of funding, only 3 programs targeted older adults and provided community-based services beyond nutrition, health care, or other traditionally deüned needs of older adults. All 1997 – 1998 program s drew students from gerontology courses (McCrea, Nichols, & Newman, 1998). During the second year, 1998 – 1999, half of the funded projects focused on the well elderly, and 3 program s included students from distance education, general education, or intergenerational studies courses (McCrea, Nichols, & Newman, 1999). During the third year, 1999 – 2000 funding, 6 of the 10 projects focused associated on well with older adults in community settings, and 2 included participants from courses not traditionally the study of aging. Certainly, the trend in projects funded under this initiative seems to be toward variety in both course work incorporating intergenerational servicelearning activities and in the populations of older adults served by the projects. Diversity in program ming means that students are more likely to experience the range of situations in which they may ünd themselves as they live and work in an aging society.


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Moody and Disch (1989) noted that in the past the rationale for intergenerational programming focused on sentimentality. Justiücation for program s was based largely on expectations that participants would feel better about each other after the intergenerational experience. They suggested that a sentim ental basis for justiücation trivializes intergenerational interaction and ignores its larger political and social relevance. They urged that advocates for intergenerational programming use planning and evaluation strategies that show how intergenerational program s fulüll a larger societal purpose in strengthening the community at large. Intergenerational service-learning answers this call for social relevance in intergenerational programming. In their manual for intergenerational service-learning program developm ent, Fopma-Loy & Leek (2000) deüned intergenerational service-learning as ‘‘structured, planned activities involving meaningful interaction between students and older adults’’ (p. 9). Jacoby (as cited in Fopma-Loy & Leek, 2000 p.2) deüned service-learning as ‘‘a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities intentionally designed to promote student learning and developm ent.’’ Rhodes (cited in FopmaLoy & Leek, 2000 p. 22) contended that service-learning provides ‘‘a philosophical foundation where community service is viewed as a vehicle for shaping a more caring higher learning com mitted to the principles of dem ocracy.’’ Eyler & Giles (as cited in Fopma-Loy & Leek, 2000) asserted that service-learning has many beneüts, including the opportunity for students to understand and apply knowledge, personal and interpersonal developm ent, and perspective transformation. The purpose of the Alabam a Intergenerational Network for ServiceLearning (Project ALIGN) is to provide intergenerational servicelearning opportunities to prepare students in the University of South Alabam a (USA) Programs in Gerontology and Mitchell College of Business and trainees in the South Alabam a Regional Program Commission (SARPC) Mature Stafüng and Senior Aides Programs to work in agediverse workplaces. The study reported in this article is an evaluation of the strategies used in Project ALIGN and an exam ination of similarities and differences in attitudes of student and mature worker participants before and after their participation in project activities.

METHOD The University of South Alabam a Programs in Gerontology received funding from Generations Together, AGHE, and the Corporation for National Service to launch Project ALIGN in October 1999. The project

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draws student participants from the College of Arts and Sciences, Programs in Gerontology, and Mitchell College of Business, Department of Managem ent. Com munity participants are members of two mature worker training programs sponsored by SARPC. The Senior Aides Program is open to workers age 55 and above who meet speciüed income requirem ents, and the Mature Stafüng Program is designed for workers age 40 and above who are seeking temporary or temporary- topermanent assignments. According to SARPC enrollm ent estim ates, Project ALIGN has the potential to reach approxim ately 800 mature workers and, based on class enrollm ent histories, 80 to 100 students per semester.

Background Work Statewide Survey of Attitudes Before beginning Project ALIGN activities with students and older workers, a statewide survey of attitudes regarding older and younger workers was conducted by the USA Polling Group. Using random-digit dialing technology to identify households, 425 telephone interviews were conducted over a 3 day period. Participants were selected by asking for the adult in the household who was 18 years of age or older and had the most recent birthday. The purpose of the statewide survey was to provide a context for interpretation of attitudinal data from project participants. An earlier countywide survey of attitudes of older workers and employers conducted by Hanks, HaýerThomas, and Abbott (1996) had revealed generally positive attitudes about the qualiücations and employability of older workers in the region.

Selection of Courses Courses were selected for Project ALIGN on the basis of the appropriateness of course content to project goals and the appropriateness of service- learning to course objectives. The courses were selected from upper-division offerings in the gerontology and business curricula. Two courses were selected as pilot courses for Project ALIGN: Social Gerontology, an upper-division sociology course required for the undergraduate certiücate in gerontology; and Employee Training and Development, a senior-level applied course with content in areas of job analysis, training needs analysis, and training program development and implem entation


57

Meeting were held before the beginning of the spring 2000 term among faculty members who would be teaching the service-learning courses and with community partners in the Senior Aides and Mature Stafüng Programs. Faculty members and SARPC staff members arranged individual meetings to discuss scheduling and to plan servicelearning activities that would meet the needs of the older worker participants. Both of the selected courses already had service-learning components, but syllabi had to be modiüed to reýect foci on intergenerational service- learning and the workplace. Gerontology and business faculty members worked together to decide which project activities would provide the best üt for each course.

Selection of Participants Identiücation of participants among mature workers was delegated to SARPC staff members. Participants were selected on the basis of current work assignments and seniority in the training program. Preference was given to trainees who were nearest completion of their training program and who soon would be seeking permanent employment. Later in the project, SARPC staff also identiüed the training needs of older workers, based on assessments conducted regularly as part of the training Programs. SARPC supplied a list of 139 potential participants in the Mature Stafüng Program. Students from the Mitchell College of Business contacted these workers to invite them to participate in Project ALIGN. Alm ost 10% (13) mature workers chose to participate in business-related training activities. However, the participation rate must be interpreted in light of SARPC strategies to support participation in Project ALIGN. The 15 Mature Stafüng Program trainees who were determ ined by SARPC to be ‘‘the most job ready’’ were given incentives, such as paid time away from current job assignments, to attend ALIGN training sessions. Therefore, it may be more realistic to think of the participation rate as 13 of 15 rather than 13 of 139. Most of the 13 mature workers who attended Project ALIGN business-related activities chose to attend more than one type of training session. SARPC identiüed 67 Senior Aide Program trainees as eligible to participate in Project ALIGN. Again, the primary selection criterion was job readiness. Of the 67 trainees identiüed by SARPC, 25 participated in Project ALIGN activities. One participant withdrew from the project following her ürst meeting with a student, leaving 24 participants from the Senior Aides Program. Most of the trainees who participated in activities with students in social gerontology were from the Senior Aides Program, whereas Mature Stafüng trainees represented most of the participants in business-related training. In all,

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37 mature workers participated in the inaugural semester of Project ALIGN. Student participants self- selected for Project ALIGN by registering for the courses, Service-learning participation was a course requirement and was stated as such in the course description available to students before registration. One student in the Social Gerontology course refused to participate in service-learning activities after the initial meeting with mature workers and forfeited the credit allotted for this component of the course. Thirty-four students were enrolled in Employee Training and Development. Thirty-one students were enrolled in Social Gerontology.

Selection of Service-Learning Activities Students spent a minim um of 14 hours in service-learning activities outside the classroom during the term. In-class time was devoted to reýection and discussion. Activities were designed to give both students and mature workers the opportunity to interact around workrelated topics and engage in discussion and reýection. Students in Social Gerontology met with mature workers at least four times to conduct planned activities that focused on self- esteem building, workplace stress managem ent, and resume developm ent. The instructor for that course is a licensed professional counselor as well as a doctorallevel social gerontologist. She provided guidance to and supervision of students in planning their service- learning activities. Students were instructed in active- listening techniques. Students kept journals, reporting their experiences and reýecting on their feelings and knowledge gained from their interactions with older adults. Students in the Employee Training and Developm ent course conducted needs assessments with local businesses to determ ine what employers seek when hiring for jobs that might be ülled by older workers. On the basis of recommendations from SARPC staff member regarding the current skills of older workers, students then developed and delivered training modules appropriate for training workers to üll available positions. Mature workers’ lack of computer skills was identiüed as their greatest obstacle to employm ent. Another area of need identiüed was skills needed to work in a bank. Training modules developed and delivered included (a) üve introductory com puter skills sessions and (b) a 4 hr introduction to being a bank teller. Introduction to the Com puter was held three times; Introduction to Windows, Using E-Mail, Introduction to MSWord, and Teller Training were each held one time, while Surüng the Internet was held twice.


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Questionnaire Design Statewide Survey Three instruments were developed to assess attitudes toward aging and mature workers. The ürst questionnaire, which was developed for the statewide telephone survey, listed 10 worker characteristics that would likely be found among workers in any workplace, such as comfort with technology, preference for working without supervision, and interest in training. Respondents were asked to identify the age group that they felt would be most likely to have each of characteristic. Response choices were (a) workers 25 and under, (b) workers 26 – 39, (c) workers 40 – 55, and (d) workers over 55. In addition, demographic data such as age, gender, race, income, employm ent status, and how often respondents interact with people from different generations were collected.

Student Q uestionnaire The second questionnaire was designed to measure student participants’ perceptions of aging and attitudes toward older workers. The questionnaire was administered to students before the project was explained. Section I contained 13 item s originally developed by Taylor and Walker (1998) to measure perceptions of older workers’ strengths and lim itations in the workplace. Section II measured older and younger workers’ contributions to the community and attitudes toward governm ent spending program s aimed at assisting older people, senior citizen discounts, and parental obligations to assist adult children ünancially, care for grandchildren, and leave an inheritance. These item s were adapted from a study of intergenerational linkages (Bengtson & Harootyan, 1994). The item s in the ürst two sections were measured with 5-point Likert-type scales, with responses ranging from (5) strongly agree to (1) strongly disagree. Section III contained the same 10 item s that were developed for the statewide survey of attitudes toward older workers. Section IV was adapted from the Marks, Newman, and Faux (1993) Children’s View of Aging Instrument. The item s were reworded to üt the age of the respondents. Students were asked to indicate whether aging is good or bad, at what age a man or a woman is considered to be ‘‘old,’’ the ages of his or her parents, and whether he or she has living grandparents. Section V measured demographic variables such as age, gender, college major, and race.

Mature Worker Q uestionnaire The third questionnaire assessed mature workers’ perceptions of aging and their beliefs about mature workers. The ürst three sections

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were identical to those in the student questionnaire. The fourth section contained item s asking in what age cohort the mature workers perceive themselves, to be at what age a man or a wom an is considered to be ‘‘old,’’ whether being young is good or bad, how they learned about young people and the things young people do, and whether they had grandchildren. Demographic data collected included gender, age, the program in which the mature worker was enrolled, and race.

Timing of Administration of Q uestionnaires and O ther Evaluation Tools The questionnaire was administered to students before the servicelearning project was announced to the classes. Students participating in the sociology class administered the questionnaire to the mature workers during their ürst meetings. At the conclusion of servicelearning activities at the end of the academic term, students com pleted a posttest that was identical to the pretest. During the courses, students periodically were asked to reýect on their service-learning activities. Students kept journals of their personal reýections.

RESULTS Statewide Survey The statewide survey provided information about the context of Project ALIGN. Because the University of South Alabam a draws primarily from Alabam a and the Gulf Coast region and the participating mature workers were preparing to seek jobs in this geographic area, our project work was to be done among Alabam a businesses. Our intent was to understand as much as possible about the issues faced by both younger and older workers in the region. Responses from the statewide survey were tabulated, and response frequencies were identiüed for each item . The responses for the statewide survey provided a benchmark measure against which the attitudes of the project participants could be interpreted. Respondents to the statewide survey ranged in age from 18 to 85 with 33% of the sample age 36 or younger, 33% between the ages of 37 and 51, and 33% age 52 and older. Seventy- three percent identiüed themselves as Caucasian, 19.5% as African Am erican, and 5.4% as part of another racial group. Two percent refused to answer the question about racial identity. Fifty-three percent of the sample worked full time, 12% worked part time, almost 19% were retired, and 13.6% were not currently working. Of the 275 respondents who were currently

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employed, 135 reported that their immediate supervisor was older, 36 had a younger supervisor, and 79 had a supervisor of about their same age. Table 1 presents results for the 10 attitudinal item s from a statewide survey of 425 Alabam a residents regarding workers of various ages. Attitudes toward older workers were most negative in the areas of comfort with technology, interest in training for a new job or task, and high costs to employers for health care. Positive attitudes toward older workers were highest in the area of commitment to employer. Attitudes toward younger workers were most negative in the areas of high absenteeism , high job- related injury, low productivity, low concern with quality of work, and high value on personal time over work time. Positive attitudes toward younger workers were highest in the areas of comfort with technology, interest in training, and low health care costs.

Three Comparisons of Interest to Researchers The researchers were primarily interested in three comparisons: TABLE 1 Valid Percentages for Statewide Survey of Attitudes Toward Workers of Different Ages (N H 425) Which age group is most likely to Be comfortable with com puters? Be interested in training for new job or task? Have high absentee rate? Have highest on-the-job injury rate? Have highest cost in health care? Be least productive at work? Prefer to work without supervision? Be least concerned about quality of work? Be most committed to employer? Value personal time over work?

25 and under

26 – 39

40 – 55

Over 55

Don’t know

59.1

33.4

2.4

0.7

4.5

36.7

44.5

11.8

4.0

3.1

75.3

11.5

4.2

5.9

3.1

39.3

13.9

12.2

23.3

11.3

10.6

12.5

12.7

59.8

4.5

64.5

5.2

3.8

15.8

10.8

23.1

19.5

28.0

23.5

5.9

75.8

5.4

6.1

5.4

7.3

4.0

30.1

34.1

26.8

4.9

46.1

22.6

14.4

10.8

6.1

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1. com paring students’ attitudes before the project with the attitudes of mature workers, 2. com paring students’ attitudes before and after the project, and 3. com paring sociology students’ attitudes about older workers with business students’ attitudes. The item s in Section I were developed to determ ine the extent to which an individual holds stereotypical attitudes often associated with older workers (Taylor & Walker, 1998). Using these item s, Taylor and Walker demonstrated a relationship between responses to these item s and managem ent practices such as reluctance to promote older workers and provide developmental opportunities. They concluded that these item s measure the level of ageism in the workplace. Therefore, to measure the degree to which individuals hold stereotypical attitudes about older workers, the item s were combined into a scale. The negatively worded item s were reverse-scored, and the responses to the 13 item s were averaged to calculate a score reýecting attitudes toward older workers. A lower score indicates more negative stereotypical attitudes. Separate one- way analyses of variance were perform ed to compare students’ attitudes with attitudes of older workers before the project, to com pare student attitudes toward older workers before and after the project, and to compare responses of students in the sociology class with the attitudes of students in the business class. Similar analyses were conducted on item s in Section II. Because the response choices in Section III were nominal, responses to each item in section III were compared using a Chi-square test for homogeneity. Again, comparisons were made between students before and after the project, between students enrolled in the two classes, and between the students and mature workers before the project.

Comparison of Students’ and Mature Workers’ Responses Exam ination of the responses to the demographic item s shows that 50 students com pleted the preproject questionnaire and 40 students completed the postproject questionnaire. The students’ average age was 25.09, years with a standard deviation of 6.31. Seventy-two percent of the student respondents were wom en, only one graduate student participated in the project, 58% were majoring in business, and the remainder were from arts and sciences. Racial composition of the sample was 76.7% Caucasian, 14% African Am erican, and 4% Asian. Twenty-üve mature workers completed the preproject questionnaire. The average age of the mature workers was 60.5 years, with a standard deviation of 9.90. Ninety percent were enrolled in the Senior Aides Program, 90% were women, 24% were Caucasian, 62% were African Am erican, one was Hispanic, and one was Native Am erican.


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Analysis revealed a signiücant difference in attitudes toward mature workers between students and mature workers before the project began; however, the postproject analysis revealed no signiücant difference. Before the project, the mean score for students on the Attitudes Toward Older Workers Scale was 3.43, and the mean score of the mature workers was 3.80. These scores indicated that students had a slightly positive attitude toward mature workers, but their attitudes were signiücantly more negative than the attitudes of the mature workers (F H 9.40, p < .003). After the project, the students’ mean score increased to 3.56, which was not statistically different from the mature workers’ mean score. Comparisons of each item in Section II revealed that students’ responses were signiücantly different from the mature workers’ responses on only two item s. Mature workers tended to agree with the item ‘‘Grown children should not be expected to support their parents’’ more strongly than students did (M H 3.23 vs. M H 2.60). The difference was signiücant (F H 4.79, p < .032). The other item for which a signiücant difference was found was ‘‘If I were ever in ünancial trouble, I would rather get help from the governm ent than from my family.’’ Mature workers had a mean response of 3.0, whereas students more strongly disagreed with this statement (M H 1.96), F H 24.23, p < .001. Exam ination of the response frequencies showed that 86% of the students disagreed or strongly disagreed with this item , whereas 40% of the mature workers disagreed and no mature workers strongly disagreed. Section III asked respondents to select which age group they felt was most likely to have each characteristic related to the workplace. Only two signiücant differences were found among the response distributions on these item s. In response to the question ‘‘Which age group would be most comfortable with computers and other technology?,’’ 80% of the students selected the response ‘‘25 and under,’’ whereas the majority of the mature workers’ responses were almost equally divided between ‘‘25 and under’’ and ‘‘workers 26 – 39’’ (À2 H 16.25; df H 2; p < .001). In response to the item ‘‘Which age group would have the most interest in training for a new job or work task?’’ 70% of the students selected ‘‘workers 26 – 39,’’ whereas only 4% selected ‘‘workers over 55.’’ Am ong the mature workers, 43% selected ‘‘workers 26 – 39,’’ but 24% selected ‘‘workers over 55.’’ (À2 H 8.17; df H 3; p H< .043).

Comparison of Students’ Responses Before and After the Project After students completed their projects they responded to the same questionnaire again. As mentioned in the previous section, the students’ postproject mean scores on the Attitudes Toward Older

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Workers’ Scale were signiücantly more favorable. To determ ine which item s were responsible for this improvem ent, the mean responses to each item in the scale were compared (see Table 2). After the project, students showed stronger disagreem ent with each negative item and stronger agreem ent with most of the positive item s. These scores suggest that working with mature workers in project ALIGN positively inýuenced students’ attitudes toward older workers. Comparisons of the student responses in Section II before and after the project to item s reveal a statistically signiücant difference in responses to two item s. Agreem ent with the item ‘‘Senior citizens discounts are fair because older people deserve special treatment’’ decreased from a mean response of M H 4.04 to M H 3.63 (F H 5.68, p < .019). Response frequencies show that 82% of the students agreed or strongly agreed with this statement before the project, whereas only 4% disagreed; however, after the project, only 72.5% agreed or strongly agreed and 12% disagreed or strongly disagreed with this statement. The other signiücant difference occurred on the item , ‘‘If I TABLE 2 Student Participant Responses to Survey Section I Before and After Project How strongly do you agree or disagree with these statements?

Preproject M (n H 50)

Postproject M (n H 40)

Older workers are hard to train. Older workers do not want training. Older workers have a lot of mileage left in them . Older workers lack creativity. Older workers are too cautious. Older workers are em ployees marking time until retirement. Older workers are very productive em ployees. Older workers cannot adapt to new technology. Older workers are more reliable than younger workers. Older workers cannot do heavy physical work. Older workers are interested in technological change. Older workers dislike taking orders from younger workers. Older workers have fewer accidents.

2.66 2.16

2.23 1.90

3.64

3.73

2.08 2.59 2.38

1.92 2.55 2.20

3.70

3.90

2.26

2.13

3.44

3.43

3.16

3.00

3.16

3.20

2.92

2.80

2.92

2.85

Note.5 H strongly agree, 1 H strongly disagree


65

were in ünancial trouble, I would rather get help from the governm ent than from my family.’’ Before the project, the mean response to this indicated mild disagreem ent (M H 2.35). After the project, the mean response dropped (M H 1.96), indicating stronger disagreem ent with this statement (F H 5.41, p < .022). Com parisons of student responses to item s in Section III before and after the project showed no signiücant changes in response to these item s.

Comparison of Sociology and Business Students’ Responses Comparisons of the responses of the students enrolled in the sociology class with the students enrolled in the business class showed no statistically signiücant differences on the Attitudes Toward Older Workers Scale; however, the mean score for business students (M H 3.47) was slightly higher than that of the sociology students (M H 3.39) before the project began. After the project was completed, the business students’ mean score on this scale increased by .13, whereas the mean score for the sociology students increased by .06. These changes were not statistically signiücant. Business and sociology student responses to the item s in Sections II and III were compared. Only one signiücant difference was found in the postproject evaluation. This was for the item , ‘‘Which age group would have the highest rate of on-the-job injury?’’ Sixty- nine percent of the sociology students selected the response ‘‘workers over 55,’’ compared to 35% of the business students, who selected the same response (F H 4.13, p < .05).

DISCUSSION Implications This study demonstrated that involvem ent in the service-learning project improved students’ attitudes toward older workers. At the beginning of the project, all of the students had a slightly more positive attitude toward older workers than might be expected from the general population. Business students’ exposure to business issues surrounding the aging workforce, the tight labor market, and employee diversity likely would provide them with a more positive perspective on older workers. Students enrolled in a gerontology class also would be more likely to be sensitive to issues related to aging. However, the ündings demonstrate that although students held less negative

66


stereotypical attitudes than may be found in the general population, student attitudes were signiücantly more negative than the attitudes that older workers held toward themselves. The changes in attitudes revealed by this study suggest important implications for involving business students in service-learning activities, particularly business students who are likely to be actively involved in recruiting and stafüng functions. This service-learning project was designed to help students (a) gain an understanding of the challenges older workers often face in businesses in which ageism exists because of attitudes and managem ent practices and (b) gain an appreciation for the knowledge and experience that older workers bring to the workplace. If brief encounters, such as those experienced by the students in this projects, can signiücantly change students’ attitudes toward older workers, imagine what more extended and in-depth interactions could accomplish. At the beginning of the project, students’ and older workers’ attitudes about older workers’ job-related skills and interests reýected doubts that older workers would feel as comfortable with computers and other technology as would younger workers. Mature workers were more conüdent than were students that their peers would have strong interest in training. As the students soon discovered, mature workers are, indeed, interested in learning new skills. Not only were the training sessions well attended, but also older workers who attended any training session attended all sessions. This is a clear advantage in having business students involved in intergenerational servicelearning. Although the social gerontology students provided social support and helped the mature workers build resumes and prepare for interviews, their efforts were less popular with the mature workers than were the training classes designed by business students. The mature workers recognized that the training provided by business students was designed speciücally to meet employer needs and to address skill deüciencies. A great deal of emphasis has been given in intergenerational service-learning to the attitudes and feelings of participants. This project found its major success in addressing concrete training needs. Certainly, attitudes and feelings did change, but as a byproduct of interaction that centered on the two generations working together in skill- building activities.

Study Limitations The generalizability of this study is somewhat lim ited because of the small sample sizes and the brief period over which the study was conducted. The business students actually had lim ited time interacting


67

with the older workers. The ürst phase of the business students’ participation was to work with employers to conduct job analyses for jobs the employers identiüed as difücult to üll, but likely to be suitable for older workers. In the second half of the course, students were required to develop and deliver a training course to meet the skill developm ent needs of the older workers enrolled in the Mature Stafüng Program. The training course content was primarily developed outside normal class time. Therefore, the time available for interaction between students and older workers was lim ited, but nonetheless fruitful, as indicated by the positive change in student attitudes. The needs assessment occupied the ürst half of the semester. Faculty members have determ ined that in subsequent years, gerontology students will identify training needs in the fall semester, then the students in the business class will design the training during the ürst half of the semester and deliver several training sessions during the second half. This will not only allow more frequent interaction between students and mature workers but also will allow students greater opportunity to hone their training skills. Well in advance of the service- learning project, faculty members must negotiate with the organization or agency and gain a com mitment for staff time and other resources that will be necessary to adequately complete the project. The agency in this study was very anxious and enthusiastic to have the students interact with the older workers, but faculty members underestim ated the time that would be required of the staff members to help coordinate participants and involve them in the project. Communication of the training opportunities was a problem . In this agency, the older workers were not a captive audience as is found in many service-learning projects, such as nursing homes or adult day care facilities. Faculty members operated under the assumption that the agency would inform potential trainees of the training opportunities, but agency staff members were unable to assist with com munication and recruitm ent. Therefore, the students and faculty invested considerable time in recruiting individual participants into the training sessions. Our experience cautions faculty members to develop a realistic schedule and to plan to com municate events to directly to potential participants.

Recommendations for Future Projects On the basis the ündings of this project, we recommend that other intergenerational service-learning projects build activities to focus on well older adults who are seeking to maintain independence in their communities. Clearly, it is important to develop intergenerational

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service-learning projects that send students into nursing homes and retirem ent communities, but students’ attitudes also can be changed by observing and interacting with active older adults, not only from helping those who need assistance. These active older adults can serve as role models for students as well, making students more aware of their own future needs and abilities. One of the social gerontology students wrote in her journal, ‘‘I thought gerontology was the study of getting old. Now I know it is the study of living.’’ Students can take many valuable lessons from an intergenerational service-learning experience, among them the knowledge that all generations are living, no matter where they ünd themselves chronologically.

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