Late Career Transitions Research Articles

A Workshop and Toolkit to Support Late-Career Transitions for Faculty.

Twenty percent of medical school faculty are 60 years or older. These senior-career academic faculty often find a paucity of support for decision-making about late-career transitions. To help fill this professional development gap, we developed and tested an interactive workshop to facilitate deliberation and discussion among mid- and late-career faculty in various stages of career transition planning. The workshop included individual and small-group activities and a takeaway packet/toolkit for career transition planning. We conducted mixed methods analyses of postworkshop survey data to evaluate the workshop content, methods, and toolkit. The workshop was implemented six times, at four national conferences, one state-level conference, and one single institution, for a total of 207 participants. Evaluations were completed by 60% of participants. Thirty-one percent were thinking generally about transition, 40% were making specific plans for transition within 1-5 years, 15% were currently in transition, and 10% had fully transitioned. Perception of workshop objectives met received a median ranking of 4 (rated on a 5-point Likert scale). Participants reported positive outcomes, including taking time to think/reflect, finding starting points for transition planning, and sharing conversations. This highly rated, interactive workshop provides support and practical tools for faculty considering late-career transitions. In addition to providing resources for individual faculty, this workshop has value for an institution to support their senior-level faculty. We encourage the incorporation of this workshop into institutional faculty development programming to ensure a career lifespan approach to faculty development.

Becoming an academic retiree: A longitudinal study of women academics’ transition to retirement experiences from a university in the Republic of Ireland

ABSTRACT Retirement is a complex, dynamic process. While the occupational transitions of early and mid-career academics have received attention, their late-career transitions are under-researched. This study explored the impact of the transition to retirement on the everyday lives and relationships of women academics from a university in the Republic of Ireland. A qualitative, longitudinal approach was used. Semi-structured, individual interviews were completed pre-retirement (n = 7), with follow-up interviews up to 1-year post-retirement (n = 6). Thematic analysis using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase process generated four themes illustrating the participants’ transition to retirement experiences: (i) maintaining connections with academia; (ii) gaining control over time; (iii) navigating occupational identity through the transition; and (iv) changing physical environments through the retirement transition. For the research active senior academics, continued involvement with and passion for researching was pivotal to providing continuity and meaning in their post-retirement routines. Those without active research profiles adapted to retirement by maintaining connections with colleagues, using university facilities, and participating in former leisure occupations. Relationships were continued and strengthened for all participants. The themes reveal that women academics undergo a continuous occupational adaptation process, negotiating their occupational identity through engagement with former meaningful roles and occupations. This study contributes to understandings of the occupational transition to retirement, highlighting the role of identity and choice in the occupational adaptation process of women academics.

Successful navigation of late career transitions.

The purpose of this educational review was to describe the challenges that may face the anesthesiologist near the end of their career and to propose strategies that will enable the individual to continue to be a productive and valued member of their Department, both clinically and by other contributions.

Pathways to retirement through self-employment

AbstractWe examine the role of self-employment in retirement transitions using a panel of administrative tax data. We find that the hazard of self-employment increases at popular retirement ages associated with Social Security eligibility, particularly for those with greater retirement wealth. Late-career transitions to self-employment are associated with a larger drop in income than similar mid-career transitions. Data from the Health and Retirement Study suggest that hours worked also fall upon switching to self-employment. These results suggest that self-employment at older ages may serve as a ‘bridge job,’ allowing workers to gradually reduce hours and earnings along the pathway to retirement.

The association between self-reported health, late career transitions and working time modulations in England

Purpose There is an emerging literature focusing on the impact of late career transitions on health, but little is known so far about the role working time modulations might play in explaining older workers’ health. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach Using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) Waves 4–7, the paper assesses the association between the different types of change in working time, the total weekly working hours at baseline and the level of income and the change in Self-perceived health (SPH). The model controls for financial wealth, qualification, gender, age, the sector of activity and self-reported health at baseline. Findings Respondents who retire have a better SPH compared with those who keep working at constant working time. Those who work long hours benefit more from retiring. Respondents working long hours before being unemployed tend to be less affected by a negative change in SPH. Those who reduce working time by 50 per cent or more and work long hours at baseline have lower probabilities to be affected by a negative change in SPH compared with those who work fewer hours. Finally, low-paid workers are those who benefit the most from retiring or reducing working time. Social implications Results point out the need to foster working time arrangements for low-paid workers to prevent adverse health impacts. Originality/value There is a significant association between change in working time and change in self-reported health that has not been examined by previous studies.

AGENCY IN LATE-CAREER TRANSITIONS: THE IMPACT ON ADJUSTMENT AND SATISFACTION

In research on late career transitions agency is implicitly assumed. The extent to which older adults are able to shape their late career in the face of external constraints, such as a rising state pension age, may however be limited. Constraint agency may have impact on well-being. Using data from a panel study among 5,300 older workers in the Netherlands, we examined the impact of agency in the work-retirement transition on adjustment and life satisfaction. Results show that adjustment to a the higher retirement age is more challenging than adjustment to retirement. Life satisfaction increased among those who retired, but not among those who remained working. One third experienced constrained agency (involuntary retirement or non-retirement). The negative association between constrained agency and life satisfaction was stronger for participants still in the labor force than for retirees. Our findings demonstrate that involuntary non-retirement has stronger implications for well-being than involuntary retirement.

Are there health benefits of being unionized in late career? A longitudinal approach using HRS.

To assess whether unionization prevents deterioration in self-reported health and depressive symptoms in late career transitions. Data come from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 6475). The change in self-perceived health (SPH) and depressive symptoms (CESD) between wave 11 and wave 12 is explained using an interaction effect between change in professional status from wave 10 to wave 11 and unionization in wave 10. The odds of being affected by a negative change in CESD when unionized are lower for unionized workers remaining in full-time job (OR:0.73, CI95%:0.58;0.89), unionized full-time workers moving to part-time work (OR:0.66, CI95%:0.46;0.93) and unionized full-time workers moving to part-retirement (OR:0.40, CI95%:0.34;0.47) compared to non-unionized workers. The same conclusion is made for the change in SPH but with odds ratios closer to 1. The reasons for the associations found in this paper need to be explored in further research.

Meeting the Late-Career Needs of Faculty Transitioning Through Retirement: One Institution's Approach.

Medical school faculty are aging, but few academic health centers are adequately prepared with policies, programs, and resources (PPR) to assist late-career faculty. The authors sought to examine cultural barriers to successful retirement and create alignment between individual and institutional needs and tasks through PPR that embrace the contributions of senior faculty while enabling retirement transitions at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, 2013-2017. Faculty 50 or older were surveyed, programs at other institutions and from the literature (multiple fields) were reviewed, and senior faculty and leaders, including retired faculty, were engaged to develop and implement PPR. Cultural barriers were found to be significant, and a multipronged, multiyear strategy to address these barriers, which sequentially added PPR to support faculty, was put in place. A comprehensive framework of sequenced PPR was developed to address the needs and tasks of late-career transitions within three distinct phases: pre-retirement, retirement, and post-retirement. This sequential introduction approach has led to important outcomes for all three of the retirement phases, including reduction of cultural barriers, a policy that has been useful in assessing viability of proposed phased retirement plans, transparent and realistic discussions about financial issues, and consideration of roles that retired faculty can provide. The authors are tracking the issues mentioned in consultations and efficacy of succession planning, and will be resurveying faculty to further refine their work. This framework approach could serve as a template for other academic health centers to address late-career faculty development.

Uncertain Futures: Managing Late Career Transitions and Extended Working Life – ESRC

Uncertain Futures: Managing Late Career Transitions and Extended Working Life – ESRC

Late-career entrepreneurship, income and quality of life

Late-career transitions to entrepreneurship are discussed as a promising way to address some of the problematic implications of population aging. By extending employment choice theory to simultaneously account for career stage and for non-monetary rewards from entrepreneurship, we investigate how late-career transitions from organizational employment to entrepreneurship influence the returns from the monetary (income) and non-monetary (quality of life) components of an individual's utility. Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, our empirical analysis shows that for late-career individuals, starting a business is positively associated with change in quality of life and negatively associated with change in income.

Reimagining the Self at Late-Career Transitions

There is scant empirical work exploring academic physicians' psychosocial adjustment during late-career transitions or on the factors that influence their retirement decisions. The authors examine these issues through the lens of sociopsychological identity theory, specifically examining how identity threat influences academic physicians' decisions about retirement. Participants were academic physicians at a Canadian medical school and were recruited via e-mail requests for clinical faculty interested in discussing late-career and retirement planning issues. Participants included 15 males and 6 females (N = 21; mean age = 63, standard deviation = 7.54), representing eight specialties (clinical and surgical). Data were collected in October and November 2012 via facilitated focus groups, which were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and anonymized, then analyzed using thematic analysis. Four primary themes were identified: centrality of occupational identity, experiences of identity threat, experiences of aging in an indifferent system, and coping with late-career transitions. Identity threats were manifested in apprehensions about self-esteem after retirement, practice continuity, and clinical competence, as well as in a loss of meaning and belonging. These identity challenges influenced decisions on whether to retire. Organizational and system support was perceived as wanting. Coping strategies included reimagining and revaluing various aspects of the self through assimilating new activities and reprioritizing others. Identity-related struggles are a significant feature of academic physicians' considerations about late-career transitions. Understanding these challenges, their antecedents, and their consequences can prepare faculty, and their institutions, to better manage late-career transitions. Individual- and institution-level implications are discussed.

The Influence of Preretirement Planning and Transferability of Skills on Naval Officers' Retirement Satisfaction and Adjustment

Although there is a plethora of research regarding civilian retirees' satisfaction and adjustment, there has been very little systematic research on the same issues for military retirees. Therefore, we sought to determine if preretirement planning and having knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are readily transferable to civilian work affected the retirement satisfaction and adjustment of retired naval officers. Data (N=672) from a large scale, longitudinal study of naval officers' career development was used. Results indicate that both preretirement planning and transferability of KSAs influence the retirement satisfaction and adjustment of naval officers. The authors discuss how these findings add to our understanding of both military retirement and civilian late career transitions.