Browsing by Person "Widdicombe, Sue"

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Committed to (un)equal opportunities?: 'New ageism' and the older worker.
(British Psychological Society, 2003) McVittie, Chris; McKinlay, Andy; Widdicombe, Sue
In recent years the principle of equality of opportunity in employment has been widely promoted as a means of addressing the marginalization of various groups of workers, including older workers. Evidence suggests, however, that equal opportunities have not improved prospects for older workers. The present study employs discourse analysis to examine a variety of accounts of those responsible for employment within a number of organizations. Analysis shows that these accounts are rhetorically oriented towards potential attributions of age discrimination. As evidence of a non-discriminatory stance, participants attend to possible shortcomings in written policies by making explicit their organizations' equal opportunity practices. In describing their workforces as comprising predominantly younger employees, however, they make only implicit reference to practices involving older workers. When they account for the apparent age imbalances in their workforces, they attribute these imbalances to factors outwith their control so that the organization's practices become completely 'invisible'. The contrast between this 'invisibility' and explicit claims to be committed to equal opportunities allows participants to position themselves as non-discriminating employers and at the same time justifies the marginalization of older workers.
Interpersonal Issues in Expressing Lay Knowledge: A Discursive Psychology Approach
(2010) de Kok, Bregje; Widdicombe, Sue
This article examines lay knowledge about causes of infertility. We use discursive psychology to analyse semi-structured interviews with purposively sampled Malawians with a fertility problem. We observe that respondents deny knowledge of causes, sometimes emphatically, but this co-occurs with descriptions of potential causes. We show that these respondents thereby address problematic interpersonal issues: namely that one is not entitled to medical knowledge and that negative inferences that may be drawn about someone who knows particular causes of infertility. These findings shed new light on previous observations, and have implications for the study of lay knowledge.