Workability of older academics
¹Chair of Labour Environment and Safety, Tallinn University of Technology,Ehitajate tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia; *Correspondence: ulo.kristjuhan@ttu.ee
²Statistics Estonia, Endla 15, 15174 Tallinn, Estonia
Abstract:
The population is aging. The proportion of the older and experienced workforce isincreasing in intellectual work. There are those people who are dreaming of retirement activitiesbut not everybody. Many older specialists are interested in working longer, after the traditionalretirement age. In comparison with times past, ‘young-old’ people (aged 65–74), are healthierthan their predecessors. There is an accepted retirement age (65–70) in most Europeanuniversities and also in the universities of many other countries. However, studies show thatthere is not any need for a special retirement age as there is no biological basis for retirement ata fixed age. Older and experienced academics should be used, first and foremost, for students’instruction (at the MSc and PhD level) and on research. Their accumulated wide knowledgeshould also be used in big projects. The best solution is an age-diverse workforce at theuniversity.
Key words:
aging, older specialists, universities, workability.