Some universities have revised their retirement policies to open more positions for younger academics.Credit: Carl Court/Getty
Gaining a foothold in academia is becoming increasingly difficult. Early- and mid-career researchers are facing fierce competition for stable academic jobs and funding, often because of a mismatch between the number of doctorates awarded to students each year and the number of tenure-track faculty positions available to them.
Contingent job positions at universities in the United States have risen — from 47% in 1987 to 68% in 2021 — giving many young researchers a sense of job precarity. And more than two-thirds of faculty members in US-based higher-education institutions had part-time employment or full-time posts that were not eligible for tenure in 2023, according to data published last year by the American Association of University Professors.
In attempts to improve job prospects for young researchers, some have taken aim at academic retirement rules. “We must redefine our perception of academic retirement,” wrote Thomas Roulet, a social scientist at the University of Cambridge, UK, on LinkedIn last year. “It does not mean ceasing all research and teaching. It simply means vacating an established post — a post that will then become a life-changing opportunity for those looking to kickstart their own academic careers.”
Some universities have revised their retirement policies to create opportunities for new generations of academics. For example, the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge brought in mandatory retirement ages to open more positions for young researchers. In Spain, professors and academic staff have a mandatory retirement age of 70. In France, professors can request to remain in their posts up to the age of 69.
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Meanwhile, in Germany, academics are divided over a debate about whether to extend their retirement age. David Spergel, an astrophysicist and president of the Simons Foundation — which supports research in mathematics and basic science — in New York City, says that the retirement of professors can create opportunities for young academics — but retirement must not be forced. “People at different ages should make that choice, but with that flexibility comes responsibility that people need to think [what’s for] the good of the research enterprise,” says Spergel.
Does mandated retirement create academic jobs?
According to some researchers who have studied the impacts of mandatory retirement among academic staff, the evidence does not suggest that it sufficiently creates more job opportunities.
The University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge implemented a mandatory retirement age of 67 for their academic staff in 2011 and 2012, respectively, and later increased the age to 69. The aim of the policy — known as Employer Justified Retirement Age (EJRA) — is to create jobs for younger academics and routes for career progression.
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