tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post8032623015262406743..comments2024-03-28T21:32:26.550+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: Changing attitudes to retirement in medicine and academiaBruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-64654320202296840042010-09-07T17:14:49.317+01:002010-09-07T17:14:49.317+01:00@Dearieme - "Academics will often take an ear...@Dearieme - "Academics will often take an early retirement and then potter into their old departments, unpaid, to pursue research." I have no data, only personal impressions, but I think this is *much* less common than it used to be. And in the past the research was often a lot more heavyweight than pottering e.g. Oswald Avery's discovery that DNA was the gene.Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-16661211401147934272010-09-07T16:57:13.914+01:002010-09-07T16:57:13.914+01:00Bill, British academic contracts still have retire...Bill, British academic contracts still have retirement ages. Academics will often take an early retirement and then potter into their old departments, unpaid, to pursue research.deariemenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-43427893481107970592010-09-07T13:28:59.250+01:002010-09-07T13:28:59.250+01:00There must be a difference in the academy on the t...There must be a difference in the academy on the two sides of the Atlantic. In the US, it is difficult to get unproductive, old academics to retire. Because of the combination of tenure and the illegality of mandatory retirement ages, it is impossible to force old academics out. Furthermore, because salaries are high and teaching workloads at decent places are constructed on the theory that most of an academic's time is spent in research, it is straightforward to retire on the job. One just stops doing research and stops updating one's teaching. Then, you have a fifteen hour a week, nine month a year job at full salary.<br /><br />Now, this is not really a major problem since the "research" most of these people would be doing isn't really worth much. But, the institutional environments must be very different.Billnoreply@blogger.com