The Authority of Age: Why Women Over 50 Are Leadership’s Hidden Advantage

By Kaitlin Traynor

At a recent case study competition at TMU’s Ted Rogers School of Business, the room quieted as an MBA student stepped onstage. With charisma and contagious energy, it was the kind of presentation that gets people’s attention. Watching from the audience, Zabeen Hirij recognized the student had something special. She also knew the barriers the student would face as a woman entering a male-dominated industry.

Zabeen saw an opportunity. Drawing on a long-standing friendship, she picked up her phone and called a trusted leader in the same industry. That was all it took to open a door and give the student a valuable connection, one that can make a big difference early in a career. It was a powerful example of social capital in action. For Zabeen, the impulse came naturally. She relishes the chance to help the next generation grow.

Redefining the Prime of Life

Zabeen is the former Chief Human Resources Officer at RBC. She founded Purposeful Third Act, a movement that encourages people over 50 to find meaningful chapters after full-time work. Today, she serves as an Executive Advisor at Deloitte and takes on various pro-bono advisory roles with leaders in government, academia, and NGOs.  She advises on leadership, culture, and “the future of work”, including the intersection of leadership and aging. Experienced professionals and leaders add great value to organizations and society, and mentorship is a key way to unlock that potential

For Zabeen, it’s a way to enrich communities and build a brighter future. “We need to better understand the value that older workers bring and also connect them with younger workers to build reciprocal mentoring relationships,” Zabeen says.

The Missed Opportunity Hiding in Plain Sight

By 2030, women over 50 will make up more than a quarter of the workforce, while workers 55 and older will exceed those numbers by 2031. However, Bain & Company research shows that mature women also the most likely to experience bias and invisibility on the job. The irony is clear: just as female leaders have the most to offer, too many are pushed to the sidelines.

Although workers over 50 offer a lot of wisdom, aging is still too often equated with slowing down. “We just haven’t adjusted our mindsets,” Zabeen explains. “In the past, 50+ was a lot closer to end of life than it is today. Today, we’re living about 30 years longer than our grandparents. We need to stop talking about aging as a decline and start recognizing it as a time of value and contribution. There are so many stereotypes—that older people can’t learn, that they can’t adapt to new technology. It’s time to get facts and understand what they bring to organizations, which is exactly what is really, really needed.”

Why Experience Matters

That blind spot has never been more relevant. Technology has always transformed the workplace, but artificial intelligence is accelerating the pace like never before. With high adoption rates and a low barrier to entry, Zabeen sees an increasing need for human skills. “You can’t just rely on AI,” she says. “The human side becomes even more important: skills like critical thinking—asking the right questions, fact-checking, collaboration, communication, and empathy. Those are experience-based skills that crystallize over time.”

It’s the kind of thing that can’t be learned in a single workshop or an online course. These capabilities are forged through decades of navigating economic cycles, leading teams through uncertainty, and adapting to transformational change—all while juggling life’s ups and downs.

Cultivating Intergenerational Collaboration

Mature workers bring those experience-based skills, along with wisdom, perspective, and real-time mentorship. For Zabeen, the big opportunity lies in building intergenerational teams. When younger and older employees are paired together regularly, they can learn from one another and share different points of view. Plus, most women 50+ are role models for resilience and adaptability. They’ve had to adjust to shifting expectations and face both systemic and personal barriers throughout their careers. This experience has taught them to persevere and grow.

Armed with the gift of perspective, their leadership is deeply resilient, values-driven, and empathetic. Women 50+ can see through the complexities of today’s issues and apply nuanced thinking and good judgment. In this season of life, they also bring clarity of purpose. “At this stage, women tend to be less driven by titles and more by impact,” says Zabeen.

A Purposeful Third Act

For Zabeen, the takeaway is clear: the future of work depends on valuing every stage of a career. This means changing outdated views, creating space for intergenerational collaboration, and recognizing the unique strengths women over 50 bring. “Mature workers don’t want to stop contributing,” says Zabeen. “They want to know their experience matters — and it does.”

Ending the stigma around women 50+ is good for everyone. It benefits not just women, but also organizations, economies, and society at large. It’s an investment with lasting returns: impactful leadership, innovation through mentorship, and a model of resilience. Far from being a liability, mature women are the workforce’s greatest hidden asset.

This story is presented in partnership with TENA, a brand that champions candid conversations about women’s health, visibility, and equity. To learn more about how to help women thrive, visit tena.ca.

Interested in diving deeper? Watch our LinkedIn Live session with Zabeen here.