‘You feel a little bit invisible really’: a thematic analysis exploring self-perceptions and stereotypes experienced by working women aged 60 and over with a focus on lower paid roles

Background: Research shows that older women are negatively affected by accumulated life stress and inequalities over the life course, and this disproportionately impacts wellbeing, cognition and health. Women of different age groups across Europe have been found to have more diverse and less regular employment histories than men, and older women have been found to face significant challenges in navigating their work-life balance. In the UK, women’s pension age has been harmonised, and they are more likely than men to extend their working life. Participants and procedure: Semi-structured interviews were used to explore self-perceptions of women in the workplace and how they socially construct their identity in an opportunity sample (N = 19) of women aged 60 and over with a focus on those in lower paid and part time roles. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: Themes identified across the dataset relating to self-perceptions concerned the workplace identity as a woman over 60 years old: positive and negative drivers to age-positive identity in work were experienced by women in the workplace including being seen as ‘invisible’, excluded by colleagues, or, not viewing themselves as ‘old’; and, positive self-beliefs related to the need to promote positive social norms concerning ageing as a woman, not seeing age as a barrier and challenging unhelpful stereotypes in the workplace. Conclusions: There is limited evidence regarding how older women perceive themselves and are perceived in contemporary workplaces, so this knowledge is crucial for understanding experiences of older women to enhance practice and policy.