揭開美國職場年齡歧視的面紗

It turns out that a young Max and a middle-aged Max can get away with saying things that an old Max cannot.

原來有的話年輕人、中年人說說無妨，但老年人就不能講。

At least that is the conclusion of a new study by Princeton researchers aimed at measuring age discrimination, one of the toughest forms of workplace bias to prove.

至少這是普林斯頓大學(Princeton)的研究人員開展的新研究所得出的結論。研究的目的是衡量年齡歧視，這是工作場合歧視中最難以證明的一種形式。

The subjects of the experiment — 137 Princeton undergraduates — were shown a video of a man who would be their partner in a trivia contest. His name was Max, he was white, neither handsome nor ugly, wore a checked shirt and said he was from Hamilton, N.J.

這次研究的對象是普林斯頓大學的137名本科生。研究人員向受試者播放了一名男子的視頻，該名男子名叫麥克斯(Max)，會成爲參與者在一次知識競賽裏的搭檔。麥克斯是白人，既不帥也不醜，身着格子襯衫，自稱來自新澤西州漢密爾頓。

What the students did not know was that there were actually three different versions of Max, being played by different actors, 25, 45 and 75 years old.

接受測試的學生不知道的是，實際上有三個不同版本的麥克斯，由三名不同的演員扮演，年齡分別是25歲、45歲、75歲。

Each Max adhered to the same script with one exception. When describing himself, half of the time the Max character said he was the kind of person to share his wealth with relatives (the compliant Max); and the other half of the time, Max said he felt no obligation to share (the assertive Max).

每個麥克斯都照着同樣的腳本表演，只有一處例外。在描述自己時，有一半的時間麥克斯會說，自己是那種願意與親戚分享錢財的人（寬厚的麥克斯）；另一半時間，麥克斯說，他覺得沒有義務分享錢財（自負的麥克斯）。

The students were then asked their opinion of Max. For those who saw the 25- or 45-year-old Max, it made no difference whether he was compliant or assertive. But students who saw the 75-year-old actor gave the assertive Max a high negative rating.

之後，研究人員詢問學生們對麥克斯有怎樣的評價。對於那些見到25歲或45歲的麥克斯的學生們，他是寬厚還是自負沒有產生什麼影響。但見到75歲的演員的學生們，會對自負的麥克斯給予十分負面的評價。

The results, soon to be published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, illustrate the subtle bias older men and women may face in the work force.

這顯示出較爲年長的人在工作中可能會受到微妙的區別對待。研究結果即將發表在《個性與社會心理學通報》(Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin)上。

"If you want to be an aging gray panther, and speak your mind to your manager, that's fine," said Susan Fiske, a Princeton professor and a co-author of the study with Michael North, who recently completed his Ph.D. "But expect consequences."

“你要是想成爲一個年邁又脾氣暴躁的人，敢對經理直話直說，那也行，”普林斯頓大學教授蘇珊·菲斯克(Susan Fiske)說。“可是得做好承擔後果的心理準備。”這項研究是她和邁克爾·諾斯(Michael North)共同開展的，後者最近剛獲得了博士學位。

There is little doubt that such discrimination exists. When an older man or woman is laid off, it typically takes two to six months longer to find a new job than it takes younger workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And the new job is likely to pay considerably less.

很少有人會懷疑這種歧視是否存在。美國勞工統計局(Bureau of Labor Statistics)數據顯示，年長者被解僱後，通常需要比年輕就業者多花2至6個月才能找到新工作。而且新工作的薪水可能會顯著降低。

During the recent recession, many unemployed older people told a similar story. They sent in their résumé and got called for an interview, but when they walked in, potential employers saw their white hair and that was it.

在最近的經濟衰退中，許多年齡較長的失業者講述了類似的故事。他們發出簡歷，被叫來參加面試，可是他們一走進辦公室，意向僱主看到他們頭上的白髮，於是就沒有下文了。

Feeling discrimination is one thing, proving it another. "It's simply harder to establish," said David Neumark, a professor at the University of California, Irvine.

但感覺受到歧視是一回事，證明卻是另一回事。加州大學歐文分校(University of California, Irvine)教授戴維·紐馬克(David Neumark)說，“想要證實，的確很難。”

Winning an age discrimination lawsuit has become much harder since a 2009 United States Supreme Court case, Gross vs. FBL Financial Services. Before that, the employee had to show that age was a factor contributing to the layoff. Now, the employee has to show that age was the determining factor leading to the layoff, a much tougher standard.

自從2009年美國最高法院(Supreme Court)對“格羅斯訴FBL金融服務公司案”(Gross vs. FBL Financial Services)做出裁決之後，贏得年齡歧視案件的難度就極大地增加了。這項裁決做出之前，員工需要證明年齡是促成解僱的一個因素。現在，員工必須證明年齡是導致解僱的決定性因素。後者的標準苛刻得多。

"Plaintiffs' attorneys have told us that they will not take age cases anymore because of the Gross decision," says Laurie McCann, an attorney with AARP.

美國退休人員協會(AARP)的一名律師勞麗·麥卡恩(Laurie McCann)表示，“原告人的律師告訴我們，由於格羅斯案的裁決，他們不再接年齡歧視案件了。”

The older generation, those born from 1946 to 1964, accounts for the fastest-growing segment of workplace discrimination claims. In 2012, 22,875 people filed age claims with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, compared with 15,875 in 1997. That represents 23 percent of all the individuals filing claims in 2012 versus 19 percent in 1997. At the same time, the percentage of people filing race claims has decreased to 33 percent of all claimants, from 36 percent; its held steady at 30 percent for sex discrimination.

出生於1946年至1964年間的年齡較長的一代人，已經成了職場歧視投訴中增長最快的羣體。在2012年，有22875人向聯邦公平就業機會委員會(Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)提起了年齡歧視投訴，而1997年有15875人。在投訴者總人數中所佔的比例，2012年爲23%，1997年爲19%。與此同時，提交種族歧視投訴的個人佔總投訴人數的比例從36%減少到了33%。提交性別歧視投訴的人數佔總投訴人數的比例則持平，維持在30%。

With age discrimination claims on the rise, a growing number of academics are undertaking research projects aimed at better identifying it.

隨着年齡歧視投訴的增多，學術界也有越來越多的人爲了更好地確認年齡歧視而啓動了研究項目。

In 2010, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation began a "Working Longer" project, which has awarded 66 research grants focused on age discrimination, including the Princeton study. Kathleen E. Christensen, the program director, says it was spurred by a graying population that will be healthier and stay in the work force longer.

2010年，艾爾弗雷德·P·斯隆基金會(Alfred P. Sloan Foundation)啓動了“工作更久”(Working Longer)項目，發放了66份關注於年齡歧視的研究撥款，其中就包括普林斯頓大學的這項研究。項目總監凱瑟琳·E·克里斯滕森(Kathleen E. Christensen)說，設立這個項目的原因是，正在老齡化的人口更加健康，也能繼續工作更長時間。

"Anything that involves baby boomers assumes greater significance just because of the sheer numbers," she said.

她說，“任何問題只要涉及嬰兒潮一代，單純因爲他們數量巨大，就使其具有極大的重要性。”

One grantee, Sarah von Schrader, a Cornell research associate, says that more than 60 percent of equal employment complaints are related to job dismissals; only 10 percent involve hiring bias, which, she says, is the most difficult of age cases to document.

得到資助的康奈爾大學(Cornell)研究員莎拉·馮·施拉德(Sarah von Schrader)表示，超過60%的就業平等投訴與解僱有關，只有10%涉及僱傭歧視。她說，後者在年齡歧視投訴中是最難獲得書面證據的。

Joanna Lahey, an associate professor at Texas A&M, has created an innovative — though limited — audit model for calculating age bias. In a 2005 study, she sent out 4,000 résumés to businesses in Boston and St. Petersburg, Fla., for fictional job applicants from 35 to 62. The applications were for entry-level fields like data processing and fast-food service — the sort of jobs requiring little work experience. The applicants were all women, since employers might plausibly assume an older woman "has been at home taking care of the family."

德州農工大學(Texas A&M)副教授喬安娜·拉希(Joanna Lahey)建立了一個富有創新性，不過具有侷限性的審計模型來計算年齡歧視。在2005年的一項研究中，她向波士頓和佛羅里達州聖彼得斯堡的企業發出了4000份簡歷，這些虛構的應聘者年齡在35歲至62歲之間，申請的職位都是入門級工作，如數據處理和快餐服務的崗位。這些職位幾乎不需要工作經驗。所有的申請人都是女性，因爲僱主可能會合理地推斷，較爲年長的女性“一直在家照顧家人”。

Dr. Lahey found that a younger applicant was 40 percent more likely to be called for an interview than someone 50 or older. In Boston, the younger person needed to send 19 résumés to get an interview; for older workers it took 27 résumés; in Florida, the comparable numbers were 16 versus 23 résumés .

拉希發現，較年輕的申請人接到參加面試的電話邀請的概率，比50歲及以上的申請人高40%。在波士頓，年輕申請人發出19份簡歷就會得到一次面試機會，而年長的工作者則需要發出27份簡歷才能得到一次面試機會。在佛羅里達州，這兩個數字分別是16份和23份。