In their recent and insightful article on adjustment among retirees, Wang, Henkens, and van Solinge (April 2011) provided a comprehensive review of current theorizing on the antecedents of employees' post-retirement well-being. Central to their review is a resource-based model, which conceptualizes retirement as a stress-inducing role transition…

Uncapping the mandatory retirement age is unlikely to alter retirement age by much, but it will lead to substantially higher pensions for faculty members who continue to work. Institutions must monitor retirement-age behavior in order to restructure pension and other benefits appropriately to meet income and retirement objectives. (Author/MSE)

Changes in retirement patterns at colleges and universities can be expected because of demographic reasons and because of federal and state legislation uncapping mandatory retirement. Institutional policies that will encourage reluctant older faculty to retire need to address the three fundamental components of successful employee retirement: (1)…

The influences that demographic changes may have on the design of private pension plans in the twenty-first century are examined. Major demographic factors to be considered include the aging of the population, declining mortality rate, potential for an even lower mortality rate, improved health for all ages and especially for older workers, and…

A study analyzed the changing nature of older persons in the labor force, factors that may affect their work decisions, and policy changes that could facilitate their continuation or reentry into the work force beyond the normal retirement age. Data examined during the survey indicate that while the number of people aged 65 and older is continuing…

Aging baby boomers approaching retirement, more educated than previous generations, may see proximity to a college or university as a factor in relocation. Institutions can offer residential and recreational facilities for special programs or for adults seeking advanced degrees. Colleges and universities can adapt to this new trend and…

This article explains why college faculty benefit by taking large portions of their compensation in fringe benefits, presents data showing trends in the provision of fringe benefits to college and university employees, and suggests that academic supply and demand conditions during the 1990s may lead to resumption of the upward trend in…

This paper questions whether there is sufficient evidence, as presented in the popular press, to support special action to increase the supply of college and university faculty. The higher education popular press has published several forecasts of faculty shortages due to the mass retirement of expansion era faculty and the forecasted low numbers…

Work years are being compressed into a smaller portion of midlife while non-work time (schooling and retirement) is growing rapidly. Analysis of these trends suggests greater future interest in flexible retirement ages, reduction of work time (work sharing) to attenuate unemployment, and part-time jobs among older workers. (MF)

Thirteen essays describing current research in sociology are included in this publication. The essays fall into ten categories: individual and society, differentiation and stratification, institutions, political and economic sociology, social processes, policy, historical sociology, and sociology of world regions. Titles include: The Self-Concept;…

The future of affirmative action in higher education is considered in three papers. In "Age, Sex and Ethnic Trade-Offs in Faculty Employment: You Can't Have Your Cake and Eat It Too," Robert H. Linnell examines faculty employment forecasts and factors that could increase faculty openings. It is suggested that it is not possible to support a…

In the coming decade, three major developments will become important factors for change in vocational education. These are changes in the demographic profile and retirement practices, regional shifts in economic activity and in employment, and renewal of the industrial sector as a key ingredient in economic growth. Because of inflation, greater…

Events and conditions over the last 20 years that have altered the course of higher education are briefly noted, and trends in higher education for the early eighties are examined. Among the past influences on higher education that illustrate the wisdom of planning for a realistic period of time, such as five years, are the following: the massive…

This paper synthesizes issues and informational needs regarding the supply and demand for doctoral level personnel in special education and stresses the importance of obtaining accurate data on teacher supply and demand for planning training activities and analyzing manpower needs. Existing findings on teacher employment, teacher shortages,…

This publication addresses 10 "front-burner" public policy issues in higher education for 1994 which were identified and discussed by higher education policy experts in two meetings during the fall of 1993. A single page at the beginning of the document presents all 10 issues in a format designed for easy photocopying or overhead projector…