I've been at my company for several years (it will be 6 years in May). In that time I fought through the trenches and was promoted twice. I'm in a good situation and my team recently hired someone (white male, 50s) who is in the same role as I am, same title. New guy comes with a relevant skill set but is entirely new to this field. Early on, in meetings, our team lead would say things like "sorry but LnA technically has seniority here". Team lead is the same age as new guy and they've become friends. It boggled my mind that he would say something like that to him a few weeks into the job when I've been here for years.
Now 6 months in, new guy is introduced before me in meetings, cc'd before me on all emails, and even our assistant sends all correspondence in the order of Team Lead, New Guy, LnA. It sounds trivial written down but it's a subtle ding to me. I am almost 20 years younger than new guy (doesn't help that I also look really young for my age) and am Asian. This has no bearing on my work product but it's apparent that colleagues/clients automatically view new guy as senior to me. To be clear, this does not threaten my job security and I have no issues with him directly. He does nothing to try to one up me or appear more senior in any way.
I've been trying to let this go but it bothers me every time I'm on a call or get an email. I can't help but feel that if I was older or male this would not have happened. I almost told my assistant a few times but hesitated as it might come across the wrong way. Plus, I feel if I haven't done anything to create this situation I can't change people's perceptions at this point. Should I just chalk it up to sucky workplace bias in the US?
Now 6 months in, new guy is introduced before me in meetings, cc'd before me on all emails, and even our assistant sends all correspondence in the order of Team Lead, New Guy, LnA. It sounds trivial written down but it's a subtle ding to me. I am almost 20 years younger than new guy (doesn't help that I also look really young for my age) and am Asian. This has no bearing on my work product but it's apparent that colleagues/clients automatically view new guy as senior to me. To be clear, this does not threaten my job security and I have no issues with him directly. He does nothing to try to one up me or appear more senior in any way.
I've been trying to let this go but it bothers me every time I'm on a call or get an email. I can't help but feel that if I was older or male this would not have happened. I almost told my assistant a few times but hesitated as it might come across the wrong way. Plus, I feel if I haven't done anything to create this situation I can't change people's perceptions at this point. Should I just chalk it up to sucky workplace bias in the US?