Abstract
In some population groups, human life expectancy is much higher compared to the average in the population, which can provide new hints to postpone aging and prolong life. Studies show that university professors have a later onset of age-related diseases compared with most population groups. Their productivity mostly increases up to their 60s and remains high for many years afterward. Aging processes appear later compared to the average in the population. Studies in Estonia have shown that university professors have 9 years longer life.
Introduction
A university teacher reaches his or her career peak after many years of professional studies and working. A later retirement age is typical in the case of university teachers and researchers. Mandatory retirement in 60s would often be a disaster for them. Therefore, university full professors and associate professors in many countries, although retired, continue working with the title “emeritus” and have a pension instead of a salary. In many former socialist countries, emeritus positions are not popular because income decreases significantly.
Probably some of the causes of university teachers' high workability in older years is a good complex of health determinants, especially fewer risk factors and good health. However, this question has been studied only very superficially. The health and efficiency of older university teachers are important problems for universities managements, as retirement of some professors represents a significant loss of experience and talent.
Determinants of Health and Aging in University Teachers
Let us consider aging as the accumulation of damage in cells, tissues, and the whole organism during a lifetime. According to this definition, aging also includes those age-related changes that are observable (e.g., pain), pathologies, and diseases. These changes mostly develop from small age-related changes, which appear for risk factors. This fact points to concrete ways of maintaining youth and postponing aging—diminishing risk factors of age-related diseases. Principally, there are many factors that can retard aging and postpone the onset of age-related diseases.
Among the different stages of university teachers (assistant, lecturer, professor, etc.), it is probably professors who have the best complex of heath determinants. There are several aspects of university professors' work that can postpone aging: Creative work, academic freedom, control over own work activity, work is often their hobby, brain training, relatively good physical and chemical working conditions compared with most workers, possibilities to have optimal physical loads, many positive top events, work with young persons, a relatively high salary and thus better food and housing conditions, and better than average knowledge on prevention.
Mental activity is good for the status of the brain. Older people must take into account that mental activity keeps one healthier and hinders the aging processes. 1,2 It is a widespread view that a brain loses its cells during aging. Throughout recent history, neuroscientists have commonly believed that once cells are lost, there is no way to repair the brain. However, in the 1960s and 1970s, researchers discovered that some parts of the adult brain can repair itself. New neurons are generated in the human hippocampus, an area of the brain that helps regulate memory and learning. The brain can repair itself by replacing its own cells. Enriched living conditions can promote an increase of new cell growth; “use it or lose it” is a natural law for brain. Also, if a nerve cell is not appropriately stimulated by other cells, it self-destructs. 3
During their professional life, professors have many top events, such as defending their thesis, promotion to full professor, getting prizes, etc. These events have an essential influence on health and aging, but they are studied only very superficially. Sometimes only one event can prolong life for more than 1 year. When 524 nominees for the Nobel Prize were examined and compared to the actual winners from 1901 to 1950, the winners lived longer by 1–2 years and even by 2.1 years in America. It seems just having won and knowing you are on top gives a boost to your life expectancy. 4
There are also factors that increase the velocity of aging processes: Time pressure and stress, intensive visual strain, respiratory infections, decreasing recreation time and recreation activities, and chronic fatigue and burnout.
Peak Age of Productivity
Many people think that young teachers are the most productive in universities. One of the best indices of the productivity of the researcher or university teacher during his/her life is citation of his/her works, a question that has been studied superficially. According one detailed study, mean peak age for the citation stock for the six samples was 59 years of age. That is 30 years later than in the case of simple physical work. There were considerable differences between the samples, with the peak age for annual citations ranging from 39 for Berkeley physicists to 89 for Illinois mathematicians. The peak age for Berkeley economists was 56. 5 After the peak, the workability of academics remains relatively high for many years. Often academics can work efficiently in their 70s or 80s. This is very individual and depends on work activity. Academics should use the experience of these individuals many years after their peak productivity. Retirement decisions should be based on the data of health and workability.
Studies in Tallinn University of Technology
Mortality
The analysis of professional work influence on health in the university is complicated because most university teachers move up the ladder from assistant professor to professor during tens of years when health determinants are changing. Some professors work most of their work life as a full professor, but many only last 5–15 years. Some spend all of their life working at a university, and some only several years.
Tallinn University of Technology has 13,000 students, 138 full professors, and 47 professors emeriti. During 6 years (2000–2006), we collected lifetime data from male professors and professors emeriti and compared these data to average male data in Estonia. The average length of life of studied academics was 72 years compared to 63 years for the general population. These additional 9 years probably depend mostly on working and living conditions. Factually, our professors had even a little longer life because we had exact data only about those who had an employment relationship (and emeritus) at the time of death; we did not have data about those who did not have any contacts with the university at the time of death.
According some old data (1969), the life expectancy of scientists was 71.1 years in engineering (but 68.8 years in medicine and 64.4 years in physics). 6 As our studied contingent was relatively small—only one university—we cannot draw conclusions about all professors in Estonia or in the European Union. However, these data are of special value for research and practice because they have been obtained under real conditions and in human beings. They provide valuable ideas for postponing human aging and life expectancy.
Health and efficiency
Our study was carried out among teachers and researchers in the School of Economics and Business Administration at Tallinn University of Technology. 7 Their working conditions were relatively good, their work schedules were mostly under self-control, their main working hours were at the computer, and there was less stress compared to traditional workplaces.
Data regarding the teachers' scientific and pedagogical productivity (published articles, books, supervised Bachelor and Master of Science students, etc.) at the university were collected, and questionnaires were compiled. The questions considered different aspects of working conditions, work motives, and plans for the future, including activities during retirement. All 97 teachers received anonymous questionnaires and 57 returned them (58.8%).
The study showed that the intensity of different bodily symptoms of older teachers was similar to the intensity of bodily symptoms of younger teachers. There was no correlation between disorders of health and age. The oldest age group of 56–65 years was relatively healthy and showed the highest productivity. Older teachers publish more articles per year than younger teachers do. Some studies have shown that the average number of papers in highly cited journals and among highly cited papers rises continuously until retirement. 8
Teachers of the age group 56–65 years were the most active also as supervisors of Master of Science and Ph.D. students. Compared with most other professions, age-related changes appeared in the university many years later.
University teachers are typical knowledge workers. Good life expectancy of knowledge workers will have some positive effect on life expectancy of whole population in the future.
Conclusions
University teachers, especially professors, are relatively healthy and have high workability, even in older age groups. Professors of Tallinn University of Technology had 9 years longer life than the average population. Studying professions where older people are relatively healthy and have good work ability can provide valuable ideas for biomedical gerontology and economy.
Footnotes
Author Disclosure Statement
No competing financial interests exist.