Presidential Initiatives

Retiring Psychologists Initiative

The demographics are clear: Baby-boomers are approaching the age group developmental psychologists euphemistically call the "young-old." The very large cohort born between 1946 and 1964 begins to turn 60 in 2006. There are societal-wide implications for which we, as psychologists, need to be prepared. We also need to be prepared as an association to meet the needs of a large number of our own members who will be making changes - or at least thinking about making changes - in how and how much we work and how we use our knowledge and skills as we age.

In the mid 1990s, the Committee on Women in Psychology conducted a survey on older psychologists (http://www.apa.org/pi/wpo/older.html). From their work, we know that unlike our younger members, approximately 68% of members who are 65 years old or older are male (from 2000 membership office data). Information obtained from the survey data shows very different work patterns for older women versus men psychologists. For the youngest women in the sample, those in the age group 55 to 64, 72.5% worked full-time and 16.5% worked part-time. By contrast, men in this age group reported that 71.4% worked full-time and only 8.9% worked part-time. These data show that among the young-old, men are less likely to work part-time. Large differences are found in the oldest ages, with women 75 years old and older reporting that 10.9% worked full-time and 23.8% worked part-time. Men aged 75 and older reported that only 2.1% worked full-time and 12.8% worked part-time. These data are harder to interpret, given the 7-year advantage for women in female-male life expectancies, but they show that there are important differences when thinking about women and men retiring psychologists and that it is important to differentiate between the younger retirement ages and the older retirement ages.

The primary work settings for women and men are private practice and colleges and universities. Most of the respondents (75%) said that they stay current on issues in psychology by reading and attending workshops and conventions. One of the recommendations from this study was that "APA . . . should mobilize the strengths and experiences of older psychologists by creating volunteer opportunities. The respondents to the survey reported a desire to continue to contribute to the field after retirement."

Volunteer Opportunities for Retiring Psychologists

A talented group of psychologists is determining what resources older psychologists need and want as they move toward and into retirement, so that we can find and keep meaningful work as we age. Some of those who "speak from experience" tell tales of marvelous creativity in theatre and the arts that they did not fully pursue during their working years; others are using retirement to "give back" to society for a rich and fully-lived life. There are several possible models that we are exploring at this time, including models similar to that used by SCORE, Counselors to America's Small Business, a society for retired executives that works with small businesses to help them succeed.

The Retiring Psychologists initiative is chaired by Bob Johnson now retired from Umpqua Community College in Oregon. Other committee members include