NEW ROLES AND NORMS FOR OLDER ADULTS THROUGH HIGHER EDUCATION

A growing number of older adults develop new roles and identities in their retirement years. They may be trend‐setters in creating new norms for future generations of retirees. Research conducted by the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement at the University of North Carolina at Asheville on middle‐class, well‐educated retirees with professional or managerial prior work roles indicates that these retirees want volunteer, leadership, and learning opportunities. A study of 101 alumni of the center's leadership for seniors program showed how institutions of higher education can play a prominent part in facilitating the development of roles and norms that often transcend the general public's ideas of what retirees can do and contribute.