The Dispatch
Age of learning
With a globally ageing population, how can education adapt to meet evolving needs in the society?
By Niamh Ollerton
"Education cannot be abandoned once the first part of your career is underway; it needs to be a lifelong endeavour, either through continual incremental updates or by taking blocks of time to retrain."
The era of the global ageing population has arrived. With a fall in birth rates and extended life expectancy across the globe, the trend of an ageing society is already impacting all advanced economies in the world, and will continue to do so in our lifetimes.
Globally, 1 in 10 people are aged 65 or above; by 2050 it will be 1 in 6 people.
Japan has the fastest growing ageing population with the greatest longevity in the world, with 1 in 3 people now aged over 65, and by 2030, almost 40 percent of the workforce will be over 55 years old.
Similarly in the US, workers aged 75 and older are the fastest-growing age group in the workforce, which has more than quadrupled in size since 1964.
Living to 100-years-old - a prospect once thought to be rare, is becoming increasingly likely, with the number of centenarians worldwide quadrupling over the last two decades.
The importance lifelong learning plays in the lives of individuals in the 21st century has long been documented, but with 100-year-life spans increasingly in our reach, what does this mean for education and learners?
Professor Dr Carmela Aprea Chair of Economic and Business Education, Instructional Systems Design and Evaluation at Mannheim Business School, and Director of the Mannheim Institute for Financial Education (MIFE) says: “For learners, it means taking lifelong learning seriously, i.e., to embrace change and to keep curiosity and willingness vivid over the whole life span. For us as educators, it surely means to adapt our efforts to new groups of learners. As these groups may change, we need to be lifelong learners too.”
Although the ageing population will place greater importance on lifelong learning in the future, Professor Aprea believes two further aspects are important.
“Demographic change is making the so-called war of talents, as we know it from the world of work, a challenge for higher education too.
“Universities should not only reach out to new target groups, but also adapt to the greater heterogeneity of these groups. This is also very important in terms of diversity and inclusion.”
Preparing for age-diverse classrooms
In our lifetime, we will likely see greater numbers of mature students at higher education institutions - whether online or in-person - and HEIs should be preparing for this shift.
Professor Aprea notes that educational technology is a big help as there are many sophisticated tools that can support higher education teachers in their assessment and design tasks, but she notes that technology isn’t everything.
“Like any other education, higher education is an interactive endeavour, so the human factor is most central.
“This means that higher education institutions need to invest in the development of their teaching staff so that they can meet the new demands. However, it also means that universities should rethink their incentive systems, as these often do not give equal weight to research and teaching.”
Adapting our learning for different life stages
According to a study from management consulting firm Bain, approximately 150 million jobs will shift to workers 55 and older by the end of the decade globally - which means more jobs will need to be created to accommodate a larger global workforce.
In today’s competitive job market and higher education landscape, adaptability isn’t just a desirable trait, it’s a survival strategy to elongate our working lives and learning in an effective and productive way. It allows learners, academics and entrepreneurs alike to respond to market shifts, technological advancement and unforeseen challenges around the corner.
Lifelong learning demonstrates how important it is for humans to continuously evolve and require new knowledge throughout their lives, to adapt to the needs of the market, or to innovate for the future.
But how can we adapt our learning for different life stages? Professor Aprea says that “firstly, valid data is needed to understand about the learning needs of learners in different life stages. “Then we need intelligent learning systems that are capable of tailoring educational interventions to these learning needs,” she adds.
“At our research centre, the Mannheim Institute for Financial Education (MIFE), we are currently developing approaches to appropriately assess the financial literacy of all age groups and then design educational interventions to best help them learn how to manage their money and other financial issues. Perhaps our approaches will also be of interest for future learning in higher education.”
Adapting our learning for different life stages
According to a study from management consulting firm Bain, approximately 150 million jobs will shift to workers 55 and older by the end of the decade globally - which means more jobs will need to be created to accommodate a larger global workforce.
In today’s competitive job market and higher education landscape, adaptability isn’t just a desirable trait, it’s a survival strategy to elongate our working lives and learning in an effective and productive way. It allows learners, academics and entrepreneurs alike to respond to market shifts, technological advancement and unforeseen challenges around the corner.
Lifelong learning demonstrates how important it is for humans to continuously evolve and require new knowledge throughout their lives, to adapt to the needs of the market, or to innovate for the future.
But how can we adapt our learning for different life stages? Professor Aprea says that “firstly, valid data is needed to understand about the learning needs of learners in different life stages. “Then we need intelligent learning systems that are capable of tailoring educational interventions to these learning needs,” she adds.
“At our research centre, the Mannheim Institute for Financial Education (MIFE), we are currently developing approaches to appropriately assess the financial literacy of all age groups and then design educational interventions to best help them learn how to manage their money and other financial issues. Perhaps our approaches will also be of interest for future learning in higher education.”
Living longer, more productive lives
Continuous learning is essential to ensure long-term employability for all in an ageing society. In classrooms, lectures and projects with transgenerational learners, both old and young students have a lot to learn from one another.
Universities can offer reverse mentoring programmes where younger students can mentor their older counterparts on digital media, emerging technologies or other emerging trends, filling in knowledge gaps where necessary, while also bridging generational divides. In the same token, the skill sets and experiences of older students can be transferred to younger members, offering wisdom and insight for individuals who have already put their learning into practice during their career.
Not only does this facilitate knowledge exchange, it also fosters mutual respect and intergenerational collaboration across the higher education landscape.
According to Andrew J. Scott in his book ‘The Longevity Imperative: Building a Better Society for Healthier, Longer Lives’, individuals who want to extend their career to be productive for longer requires thinking about a number of factors.
Scott believes that longer lives do not need to be filled with doom and gloom, but can be fulfilled and prosperous if humans take the opportunity to pursue the evergreen agenda which promotes a sustainable lifestyle for ourselves as individuals - investing in our health, skills, relationships and finances to support a longer life and for the planet.
According to Scott, if we are to achieve an evergreen agenda, we need to develop a lifelong focus on health and education. He writes in his book: “Education cannot be abandoned once the first part of your career is underway, it needs to be a lifelong endeavour, either through continual incremental updates or by taking blocks of time to retrain.
“There is already an explosion of short courses and longer degree programs emerging as firms and colleges sense the commercial opportunities from this expanding market. Whether in person or online, you need to continually scan what you need next.”
To enjoy a more fruitful professional career, Scott’s book says we must create multi-staged careers to fit in with the multi-staged lives that come with longer lives, for example, retraining in our 40s as many of us will likely have another 30 years left in our career.
Mixing it up in our education and careers, discovering how we learn and work best will be key to longer, happier careers.
Diversifying for the future will also be imperative according to Scott. Many of us will change jobs, walk away from industries for new prospects and embark on a multitude of learning opportunities throughout our life.
And to adapt for the future, we must focus on portable skills which can be used throughout our learning and career as we age, ensuring all that we learn enables us to navigate later transitions with ease.
Age inclusivity in higher education
Within our ageing population, older learners are turning to higher education institutions to meet their professional needs as they experience longer working lives. Older adults want to stay engaged in learning for personal development, with campuses and higher education programmes being appealing educational destinations.
Programmes that cater to age-diverse learners will benefit institutions by helping to offset the realities associated with the shrinking enrolment of younger learners.
Of course, preparing for greater age diversity is important on a societal level in an ageing society too - with greater need to reject ageist stereotypes and negative perceptions felt towards older students and workers as our society continues to age.
The challenges associated with an ageing society aren’t going away, and so higher education institutions - and society at large - need to develop strategies to ensure strong socio-economic conditions for the future.