Open conversations about social injustices such as sexism and racism have been front and center not only on social media feeds and public panel discussions but also in the workplace and various screen adaptations, courtesy of the space created by activism.
Striking a balance has become almost unfathomable in an age where work and life are synonymous, making it more likely for social injustice to occur in a professional setting than a casual one.
Activism has created the space to have hard conversations in unlikely places which has normalized things such as in-house panels about societal issues in work settings. This means to an end has proven to be effective, especially regarding instances where sexual harassment policies have been integrated into office culture, proceeding discussions on sexism held in the workplace.
In addition to gender discrimination, significant generational gaps have bred ageism and although it’s a tale as old as time, it is not being addressed enough.
For instance, people older than 45 are not often considered as new hires and the running joke that they are unable to grapple with the nuances of technology has made numerous rounds. Certain laws and policies have been adopted in the West to tackle the issue but things are a little different in an African setting in the sense that it is the youth on the receiving end of ageism. Can you taste the irony?
While job descriptions are increasingly becoming unreasonably demanding to young applicants such as demanding many years of work experience and partners/children. Entry-level jobs come with enormous work hours, a multitude of responsibilities and a pay that barely meets minimum wage. Some of it has to do with not being old enough to be taken seriously by one’s older peers.
Early success is one of the factors that prompt such behavior. Young people in the workplace have to continuously prove themselves for a role they are already qualified for. This is a reality for many young adults including Benita Kamariza, one of the youngest customer relations managers in her place of work. Kamariza’s communications degree and her work experience in sales and marketing qualify her for the job, yet some of her more experienced colleagues make it somewhat mandatory to point out how young she is when she is assigned to major client accounts.
Her views on the operational landscape are taken with a grain of salt by her peers, despite being one of the more proficient members of the team. Kamariza narrates her story:
“I was excited to be a sales representative when I first started working here, and the clients were happy with most of the ideas I pitched, especially those with a concise social media marketing plan.
Some of my colleagues didn’t understand the necessity of social media marketing over television ads and they constantly discouraged my input. One of them said on multiple occasions that she had been doing sales and marketing way before I was born, and someone as young and inexperienced as I couldn’t even tell the difference between right and wrong, and that was demoralizing for me,” she said.
“The division manager approached me and asked why I hadn’t been as proactive as usual, and when I told her my ideas weren’t welcomed by the team, she started participating in our meetings and ensuring that everyone presented their pitches, and after some time, I was upgraded to
being the leader for three of our client accounts at the time.
My colleagues were not happy with the changes at first but being the point person for those clients added value to my opinions and strategies, and eventually, we found a way to cordially work together, but the jabs that I am too young to know what I’m doing still get tossed in conversation occasionally,” adds Kamariza.
A similar story happened when an undergraduate sophomore student started an internship with a renowned lawyer in hopes that they would learn at the feet of a master, only for their ideas to be overlooked, to the point that he wondered if he had chosen the wrong career and if there was a safer option he could transition to.
One of his biggest concerns was that he was overworked, underpaid, and barely appreciated for his efforts. The source agreed to share his story on the condition of anonymity.
“I had been wanting to work alongside a practicing lawyer and get a glimpse of the real world, and when the university offered us internship programs, I was quick to jump at the opportunity. I started with research paralegal work but my responsibilities and work hours increased over time, and it was becoming hard to juggle. My boss often assigned me with the majority of the paperwork and never allowed me to join depositions. Sometimes I had to work on weekends and late evenings without prior notice,” he narrates.
“When I opened up about the toll it was taking on me and how I needed him to meet me halfway with a reduction of hours or increased income, he was not open to discussing it further. He told me my generation is entitled and recounted how he was working twice as hard at my age with
less pay. He went on to tell me that I didn’t have extreme responsibilities such as financially supporting my family and the increased income wasn’t a necessity unless I had ‘real adult responsibilities’.
He said if I was weak-hearted at this stage of my career I wouldn’t become a good lawyer in the future. That’s when I started second guessing my choice, and eventually quit the internship,” he narrates.
ALU Student Council president Ali Mutijima weighed in on reverse ageism in the workplace expressing the view that such unfair practices should not be condoned, and they do not foster the growth and evolution of young professionals.
“I haven’t dealt with ageism on a personal level, but I think there is something wrong with a person’s age dominating over their skill and ability to execute their tasks. One’s age should not determine how seriously their work is taken,” says Mutijima.
With an evolving landscape on the horizon, equality in the workplace might have a fighting chance against the various social injustices in play, and maybe, just maybe, the playing field might be even some time in the future.
