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

Abstract

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, 2002). 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.