Self-reported discrimination is linked to diminished well-being, but the processes generating these reports remain poorly understood. Employing the life course perspective, this paper examines the correspondence between expected age preferences for workers and perceived age discrimination among a nationally representative sample of 7,225 working women, followed between 1972-1989. Analyses find that perceived age discrimination is high in the 20s, drops in the 30s and peaks in the 50s. This curvilinear pattern matches external reports of age preferences and is robust to a variety of controls and model specifications. Additionally, the primary driver of perceived age discrimination is age--not cohort or historical period. These findings suggest that perceived age discrimination is a useful indicator of population-level exposure to work-related age discrimination among women. (Contains 2 tables, 3 figures and 3 notes.) [Appended to this document is Appendix A: Estimates of Perceived Age Discrimination by Age and Cohort, Population Average Models.]