DEI, Aging, and Corporate Responsibility: Organizations, Discrimination, and the Care of Older Adults

Contemporary organizations face growing pressures to address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) while simultaneously confronting the societal challenges posed by aging populations. Yet the intersection of these two domains remains underexplored in organizational sociology. This session invites contributions that examine how organizations navigate DEI commitments in relation to older adults — as employees, as care recipients, and as stakeholders.

As populations age across the globe — and particularly rapidly in East Asia — corporations, care facilities, public agencies, and civil society organizations are increasingly called upon to address age-related discrimination, ensure equitable access to care, and rethink the role of the firm in sustaining aging individuals and communities. At the same time, DEI frameworks within organizations often focus narrowly on gender and race, leaving age and care largely on the margins.

This session welcomes papers that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Age discrimination in hiring, promotion, and retirement practices
• Corporate social responsibility and the provision of elder care
• DEI policies and their inclusion (or exclusion) of older workers
• Organizational responses to aging workforces in Asia and beyond
• Intersectionality of age with gender, class, race, and disability in organizational contexts
• Care organizations, labor conditions, and institutional logics
• State, market, and civil society in elder care provision

We particularly welcome contributions from scholars based in Asia, the Global South, and other underrepresented regions, as well as papers by PhD students and early career researchers.