For Senior Women Planners, Ageism is Real  

Cindy Thorp, 64, had not planned to leave her role as corporate meeting planner at Dunkin’​ Brands, where she worked from 2010 to 2016. With many years in the industry before that, her knowledge and vendor relationships ran deep.

“They ended up hiring a twenty-something from customer service whose only event experience was working as an intern during college and gave her the title of corporate meeting planner.” And her salary was much lower than Thorp’s.

“I was surprised they gave her that title,” she said. “You earn that title.”

Thorp believes her age and compensation drove the decision to let her go. “You see it a lot. When a woman gets let go at 60, it’s hard to get another job. And you’ll never be at that level because nobody’s going to give you that chance.”

She went on to start her own temporary staffing company, MeetingsNEvents. “I’ve soared since then. I really wanted to go back on my own,” she said.

A different version of the same story comes from a software giant’s former senior director of global events. She lost her job in late 2022 at 51 after more than 23 years with the company. New leadership ended up bringing in younger hires, growing the department to 14 people.

“In that time, they didn’t add any events to our plate. I could do the work of 5-7 of these people,” she said.

According to a recent survey of 1,258 female respondents from 46 countries by Women of Influence+, 77.8% of respondents said they have encountered age-related discrimination in their careers. Almost half (46.2%) considered ageism among women to be an “ongoing issue.”

“Women are never the right age,” one respondent said. “We are either ‘going to get pregnant’ or get? ‘too old.’”

Why are Women at Risk of Ageism?

Many of these senior people facing layoffs are women, but why? Dawn Penfold, founder of Meetingjobs, says part of the reason is that some women have trouble dealing with C-level decision-makers. “Of course this is a generality, but men have traditionally always been better at it. Is it because the C-level respects the men, thinking they are better? I don’t know that answer.”

She also believes that some women are not as strong at self-promotion. “It’s very easy to see the work of a middle management person who’s on-site walking the halls, face-to-face with everybody. But when you get to a higher level, you’re more strategic in nature.

“Women traditionally are more behind-the-scenes, making it happen but not necessarily making sure that others know they made it happen.”

What will change this is having more women at the top of organizations, said Dr. Rumeet Billan, CEO of Women of Influence+. “Having women in leadership positions can influence whether ageism is addressed within an organization,” she said. “However, anyone in leadership – regardless of the gender they identify with – has a responsibility to recognize and address ageism.”

It’s also important for women to decide if it’s just time to move on, said one woman senior meeting planner with her CMP and 20+ years of experience, 45, who recently left her role as director of meetings and events at a major financial firm after almost 10 years. “I, for one, stayed too long. I am not retired but creating new opportunities and growing in ways I would not have had the opportunity to do if I had stayed.”