Phil’s Story. An Ethnographic Drama Relating one Man’s Experience of Australian Workplace Professional Age Discrimination

Abstract

Phil’s story is based on one respondent’s interview which is embedded within my autoethnographic PhD thesis on Australian workplace age-discrimination. In using ethnographic convention to amplify this real-life drama, the paper uses first-person voice to extract and highlight the damage that workplace age discrimination is doing to the older professional Australian man. The paper focuses on ‘Phil’, a 58 year old indigenous Australian, former high level Government employee whose high-flying executive career is traumatically cut short. The downward spiral of his life resulted in him becoming just another run-of-the-mill contract worker. This story relates Phil’s anguish, shock, and disbelief at the treatment he received when he turned 50 and was made excess to current work requirements. His story is compelling and his voice essential to bring cognizance to the narrative of this ever present real-life workplace tragedy that has the potential to affect all Australians and all world inhabitants.

Keywords

• Autoethnography
• ethics
• discrimination