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Framing Jim Craiglow's Senior Synergy: Re-careering Older Adults to Serve Society

Half of all adults aged 50 to 70 are interested in work that will help improve the quality of life in their communities, according to the New Face of Work Survey (MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures, 2005). A majority of those respondents identified an interest in working with health issues—in a hospital or with an organization fighting a particular disease—as well as teaching or working in a youth program. At the same time, in 2004, 27.5 million older adults did not engage in paid work or formal volunteering, and more than 10 million were healthy and did not have caregiving responsibilities (Zedlewski & Butrica, 2007).

What would it take to tap into the interests of these older adults, make use of their experience, and in turn, better meet widespread community needs? New initiatives like Broad Center's Superintendent Academy and IBM's FedExperience try to do just that. These are programs that use older adults' experience to address critical needs such as leading urban K–12 school districts or working in U.S. government positions.

How could higher education partner in such efforts? Jim Craiglow, president emeritus of Antioch University New England and chancellor emeritus of Antioch University, offers his perspective in the essay below.

We'd like to hear your point of view as well! When you finish reading the essay, please click on the "post your comments on senior re-careering" link to tell us what you think.

Read Senior Synergy: Re-careering Older Adults to Serve Society.

For more information, please contact:
E-mail: reinvestinginthethirdage@ace.nche.edu
This page last updated: 01/30/2009