LEISURE AND THE RETIRED PROFESSOR: OCCUPATION MATTERS

ABSTRACT

Little attention has been given to the leisure activities of retired professors, whose activity patterns in retirement may be different from those of other occupational groups because of their lifetime commitment to work. This interview study uses both quantitative and qualitative data to investigate: (a) the leisure and professional activities of retired professors; (b) the anticipated leisure activities of older employed professors; and (c) the relationship between sociodemographic factors and leisure activities of professors in retirement. Respondents were 54 retired (response rate 83%) and 17 employed (response rate 94%) professors aged 70–74 from a major research university. Content analysis of the tape-recorded open-ended questions indicated that volunteer activity, travel, exercise or sports, and work around the house or garden were the most commonly described leisure activities of retirees. A large majority of retirees (70%) also continued professional activities. Travel and exercise or sports were the most frequently planned activity for employed respondents. Correlational analysis revealed little relationship between sociodemographic factors and leisure activities in retirement. Implications for retirement education and leisure programming are discussed.     

Ten Years Later: A Follow-Up Study of Professors Still Working After Age 70

Little is known about the impact of the end of mandatory retirement on professors over the long term. This follow-up study investigated the ten-year experience of professors who chose not to retire from a major research university after the elimination of the age 70 mandatory retirement in 1994. The initial interview study was conducted in 1998 (Dorfman, 2000 Dorfman , L. T. ( 2000 ). Still working after age 70: Older professors in academe . Educational Gerontology , 26 , 695 – 713 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2002 Dorfman , L. T. ( 2002 ). Stayers and leavers: Professors in an era of no mandatory retirement . Educational Gerontology , 28 , 15 – 33 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). All surviving professors (n = 13; age 80–84) agreed to be reinterviewed in 2007. The study investigated major reasons for continuing to work or retire, professional and nonprofessional activities, perceptions of departmental and institutional atmosphere and student and faculty attitudes toward older faculty, and preparation and plans for retirement. Content analysis of the tape-recorded open-ended questions revealed that employed professors continued to work mainly because they enjoyed it. Retired professors retired mainly because of age or felt it was time to retire. Retired professors as well as their employed counterparts continued professional activities, primarily research. Both groups reported mixed reactions to the overall atmosphere in their departments and university as well as to student and faculty attitudes toward older faculty, with one-third of retirees reporting departmental or institutional pressures to retire. The major type of planning for retirement was financial.     

Reactions of professors to retirement: A comparison of retired faculty from three types of institutions

Dorfman et al. (1982) compared the professional activities of retired professors from liberal arts colleges, a comprehensive university, and a major research university. This companion piece based on the same survey compares the professors' reactions to retirement. Results show that a majority of faculty from all types of institutions plan for retirement, are positive about retirement, and give suggestions for institutional retirement policy. The retired professors recommend the following: (1) help in planning, (2) more information about retirement, (3) support for continued work, (4) gradual retirement. Major differences among institutions are the following: (1) comprehensive university faculty plan for retirement more than do faculty from the other institutions, (2) faculty from both universities begin financial planning at a younger age than do faculty from the liberal arts colleges, (3) research university faculty miss work and like having time to spend on professional activities more than do faculty from the other institutions.     

Economic issues in faculty retirement plans in American higher education institutions

Almost every faculty member in an American college or university has a contractual arrangement for retirement income. In recent years a number of factors have encouraged both faculty members and institutional administrators to consider the features of their retirement plans including changes in the assets in which funds are accumulated while the faculty member is working, options for payout at retirement, early retirement incentives, and whether it will be legal to have a mandatory retirement age. This paper explores these issues and suggests possible changes in retirement plans and employment contracts as a result of them.     

“Why Give Up Something That Works So Well?”: Retirement Expectations Among Academic Physicians

For individuals with strong work identities, the decision to retire can be particularly challenging. For academic physicians, retirement is an important personal decision that also has far-reaching implications for the healthcare system. This is because academic physicians are responsible for producing the research from which key medical decisions are made, for training future healthcare providers, and for providing specialized care for patients. For this study, we conducted focus groups with academic physicians from a large research university in Canada and then performed inductive thematic analyses to examine perceptions and concerns about later life career transitions. This study highlights tensions between professional experiences for the next generation of physicians and individual struggles with personal identity. Findings suggest improvements to institutional programs that support flexible, agentive, and respectful retirement transitions will not only be beneficial but necessary as medical and university systems continue to grapple with issues of balanced recruitment and succession.     

Transition to Retirement: Effect of Participation in Preretirement Education in Nigeria

This study investigated the effect of preretirement education on the retirement transition plans of workers in Nigeria. The sample includes preretirees of Wema Bank PLC and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority who participated in preretirement education workshops. The study shows that a majority of workers would prefer to retire at the normal age, but they fear that management can retire them at any time and for any reason. This fear was revealed by the concerns generated when participants received their letters of invitation for the preretirement workshop. The findings show that more than two-thirds (88.9%) of the workers agreed that preretirement education would assist them in their adjustment to retirement. The study concludes that preretirement education has the ability to generate positive changes in attitudes and habits as well as create positive preparedness. These benefits of preretirement education will facilitate the transition to retirement.     

Horizons,not Boundaries,are the Language of Retirement: Sense of Fulfillment,Fears, and Life Trajectories of Faculty Extendees in the Philippines

This qualitative study probed into (a) the sense of fulfillment, (b) fears and anxieties, and (c) life trajectories of aged working professors recruited from one comprehensive university in the Philippines. Interestingly, findings of the study reveal that respondents were fulfilled and felt successful through the life outputs of their students; their self-worth was witnessed through continued employment and communication to students of ideas, work ethic, and values. Fears and anxieties were rarely felt because of religious commitments and prayers to God. Sense of delight was manifested through the satisfactory academic environment; the possession of supportive systems, including family, friends and community, and their plans of spending their remaining years with the family in leisure activities; and in joining religious organizations.     

LIFE SATISFACTION OF RETIRED PROFESSORS: THE CONTRIBUTION OF WORK,HEALTH, INCOME,AND LENGTH OF RETIREMENT

This study investigates the effects of work, health, income, and length of retirement on the life satisfaction of retired professors. The sample contains 90 professors retired from four midwestern colleges and universities. Results indicate that the life satisfaction of these professors was high. Their life satisfaction was enhanced by an opportunity to continue involvement in selected professional activities when this was desired. Good health and an adequate standard of living also contributed to life satisfaction.     

Steady state effects of a later mandatory retirement law for tenured faculty

Recently a new law was enacted that would raise the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 70 for all occupational groups except tenured faculty in higher educational institutions. The exception for faculty, which extends to 1 July 1982, was granted because tenure holding professors enjoy a measure of job security that is unknown outside the academic sphere; this uniqueness led many to feel that an extension of faculty lifetime careers could possibly have very serious effects on the fiscal and academic health of colleges and universities, and that a delay was necessary in order that the situation could be carefully researched. This paper analytically investigates these conjectures and rigorously shows that they have been greatly exaggerated. By using a four stage model of the tenure system, it is easy to show the effect of progressively later retirements on the tenure ratio, flow of new faculty, and faculty salary budget. As many researchers would intuitively feel, neither early nor late retirement has an unusually disruptive effect on any of these critical variables.     

Simulation of institutional incentive plans for faculty early retirement using a behavioral model of retirement decision-making

This paper uses coefficient estimates from a model of retirement decision-making for faculty members in higher education institutions to simulate the impact of financial incentives for early retirement. The results suggest that plans can be designed to induce relatively large numbers of faculty members to retire prior to the mandatory retirement age. However, the costs of hiring replacements plus pension subsidies can be substantial, especially if the subsidies are directed toward faculty members with relatively low salaries. Hence, institutions wishing to provide open positions to hire new faculty may prefer different incentive plans than those whose goals do not require filling each position with a new faculty member.     

Activities and Attitudes of Retired University Staff

A national sample of 1662 academic and academic related university staff, who had retired 3-5 years earlier, completed a postal survey about their current employment, research, other academic activities, and the academic resources available to them, and about their attitudes to retirement, and the extent of their leisure, voluntary, and other caring activities. Over two-thirds of academics and four-fifths of academic related staff had retired early. Younger staff were more often currently employed, but the employment rate amongst academics aged 66-73 was very much greater than in the general population. The extent of research and other academic activities was related to university rank rather than age, with professors and readers more committed, and less involved in leisure activities. The most frequent reasons for early retirement were dissatisfaction with changes in the universities and financial inducements. The majority said they were more contented because of retiring, and most would not have wanted to retire later than they did, but concerns were expressed about the failure of universities to give adequate status and resources to retired academics. There was some evidence that women were discriminated against in retirement.     

Leaving a sinking ship? School principals in flight,Lessons and Possible Solutions

This qualitative study was motivated by a sizeable number of school principals retiring early in South African schools. They either leave teaching for other careers or retire before the retirement age of sixty. It was then necessary to explore what factors, if any, made them leave school management and the teaching career. Sixteen school principals were purposefully selected and interviewed through semi-structured interviews. Eleven of these had already left teaching in the previous four years, while the others were waiting for their last days in teaching at the time of the study. The results illustrate that there are various reasons that lead to the early retirement of school principals from historically black schools. Among these are burnout, lack of teacher commitment, increased unionisation of teachers as well as the non-involvement of district officials in the schools’ improvement and management plans. Consequently, many participants maintained that it was almost impossible to run schools effectively when this scenario prevailed. The conclusions point out that school managers and leaders need to be supported in various ways as they steer various programmes in their schools. This includes constant mentoring, management preparation as well as continual formal professional development programmes.     

国际视野下一流大学弹性退休制度的核心要素--基于五所英美高校的分析

弹性退休是国际上多数高校应对教师队伍老龄化的主要措施,但由于社会背景、大学传统和学校具体情况的不同,大学形成了多样化的退休制度设计和富有启发的实践方式。基于麻省理工学院、斯坦福大学、哈佛大学、牛津大学、剑桥大学五所世界一流高校的退休制度文本,分析弹性退休的实施状况,研究发现,英美一流大学的弹性退休制度包含四点共同的核心要素:灵活的退休年龄、渐进化的退休方式、能力导向的年长教师续任标准以及益老的教师续任工作环境。在具体的弹性退休措施上,五所高校有所差异。     

Career alternatives: A model for calculating financial costs and for making policy decisions

Most university faculty are tenured and are concentrated in the age range of 40 to 50 years of age. As a consequence of this age distribution there is little financial or academic flexibility: Salary costs are rapidly increasing at a time when real resources are declining, and there is little capacity to shift faculty resources from declining to emerging areas of specialization. One solution to these problems is to provide faculty with career alternative options which will shift from the future to the present some of the flexibility due to begin in the year 2000 when the present faculty start to retire. However, before career alternatives can become a viable solution it will be necessary first to define the concept and the procedures. The present paper provides a model which defines the terms and conditions required for calculating the financial costs and savings under various conditions and assumptions. This information is a prerequisite for institutional policy decisions and for determining whether faculty will find such offers attractive. The model is illustrated by calculations made on the 1985 age, tenure, and salary distributions of the Arts and Science faculty at Dalhousie University. Considerable financial and academic flexibility can be gained even with modest participation rates and substantial settlements.     

The Influence of Online Teaching on Faculty Productivity

Ten faculty members with experience teaching online were interviewed about their motivation for teaching online and the effect of teaching online on their teaching and research productivity. They represented nine different states and 13 different fields, and all were tenured or tenure-track at master’s or doctoral institutions. All ten mentioned personal motivations for teaching online; eight mentioned professional motivations. Based on analysis of the interviews, several professors felt their teaching productivity had increased as a result of design choices and an increase in workload. Several had freed up time which was spent on service or research although this was modified by the stage of the faculty member’s career.     

老年人收入分层研究——基于滁州市的实证调查

通过描述统计发现滁州市老年人的收入偏低,老年人平均退休金的工资替代率为仅0．37;滁州市老年人收入可以分为五个层级,收入分层一定程度上导致了居住分级。滁州市老年人收入的主要来源是退休金和子女的赡养,消费以生活费为第一,医疗费第二;通过回归分析发现影响老年人收入的因素有继续就业、户口所在地、受教育程度、退休前的工作、子女数、是否上老年大学和年龄这几个指标。     

The Promotion to Full Professor – Through Competition or by Individual Competence?

This paper analyses the outcome of a reform of the academic career structure in Norway. From 1993 on, associate professors can apply for promotion to full professorships on the basis of individual research competence irrespective of vacant professorships. This has now become a more important way of attaining a full professorship than through competition with other applicants. Only 30% of new professors are appointed the traditional way. The reform has led to a substantial increase in the number of full professors in the university sector, from 37% of the tenured academic staff in 1991 to 47% in 2001.     

A foot in many camps: literacy teacher educators acquiring knowledge across many realms and juggling multiple identities

This study involved 28 literacy/English teachers in four countries: Canada, the USA, the UK and Australia. The goal of the study was to examine their backgrounds, knowledge, research activities, identity and support within the university. The teacher educators had a range of classroom teaching experience which they drew on in many ways. Most went far beyond simply telling stories about their previous work. All were heavily influenced by their own childhood experiences, which continue to affect their current work. Many felt that they needed to hold dual identities, teacher and academic, because they were still heavily involved in schools through their research and in-service activities. Several felt that there was a hierarchy in their department with those most removed from schooling at the highest tier. Most saw themselves in the field of literacy not teacher education and gravitate towards literacy-focused conferences and journals rather than those in teacher education.     

Informing the Development of Educational Programs to Support Older Adults in Retiring From Driving

It is clear that while transition from being a driver to being a non-driver is an important, and often negative, event in the life of older adults, there is little support available to help older adults through this transition. This study focuses on increasing our understanding of issues about driving cessation and to inform the development of educational programs to assist older adults in positively adapting to retirement from driving. A total of 201 adults over age 70 with a valid driving license completed a mailed survey containing both open and closed-ended questions. Of the 96% of participants who were current drivers, 73.4% had never considered retiring from driving. While 70.6% of participants indicated that an educational program could help people plan to retire from driving, 55.8% indicated the possibility that they would participate in such a program. Participants provided insights into the format and content of educational programs to help older adults retire from driving including coping after retirement from driving, alternative forms of transportation and how to access them, and helping to decide when to retire from driving. It is imperative for practitioners to identify ways to help older adults who are resistant to planning for retirement from driving.     

Individual assignments and academic dishonesty — Exploring the learning Conundrum

A survey of university business professors¹ focused on their use of individual assignments in courses and their views on cheating and its impact on student learning. Based on responses from 456 professors (37% response rate) from Ontario, Canada. it was concluded that most facult² believe that individual assignments are effective learning tools and that cheating on these assignments is a serious offence. They believe that cheating occurs widely, but continue to use these assessments, with some alterations, to ensure that students obtain learning benefits. The survey findings varied across disciplines and tenure status. A framework is proposed to explain the faculty perspective and the outcomes that professors experience. The adjustments they make to individual assignments are influenced by multiple factors that are internal (university policies and regulations) and external (internet usage) to the university. The discussion centres on the three stakeholders — faculty, students and administration — the need for culture change, and the role of honor codes in controlling cheating and supporting a learning environment.