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Considering late-career academics as dead wood is rarely correct.

There is a diversity of productive roles and functions for late-career academics.

Searching for joyful and productive roles in late career is a key part of academic development.

As academics get older, their roles and functions at a research university evolve. Throughout the academic lifespan, there are diverse and changing ideas, conceptions, and goals concerning academic tasks and identity. The developmental trend tends to move from gaining a tenure-track position, chasing tenure and promotion to associate professor, maintaining a productive research lab, increasing administration and university governance responsibilities, promotion to full professor, a plateau phase, and (probably overdue) retirement. I once had sympathies with the anti-tenure crowd who argue that tenure protects professors of poor quality, those who have checked out of their responsibilities and do the minimal amount of work. Rooting out the deadwood old professors to replace them with younger, hungrier, and cheaper assistant professors is one goal of the folks wanting to get rid of tenure. I had an appreciation for the mandatory retirement age for professors that many nations use. I had complained that old professors are often not current on growing scientific literature, they have given the same lectures for the last 30 years, and their ideas are fossils dated from the time they were in graduate school. Now I am an old professor; do I still think this way? And what lessons are there for the not-quite-so-old professors?

Are There Dead Wood Professors?

A dead wood professor is one who teaches their required classes without enthusiasm, never volunteers for tasks, engages in the minimum of service, supervises few graduate students, and conducts little, if any, research. With experience, much of my thinking was not correct. I am fortunate in my time at McGill University that I have not experienced many professors who could be classified as dead wood. I can think of one or two examples in my 20 years in academia. Certainly, such people exist, but this is not the norm.

I have seen a different dichotomy of old professors. We have people who retire at 65 years of age or even earlier. These folks are often highly accomplished and respected teachers and researchers. Often, they leave when they convert their side gig (e.g., private practice or consultation) into a full-time job. Those who retire early, and this includes younger folks who choose to leave academia entirely, tend to have something in common. They work to the incentive structure. They win grants, publish papers, and supervise students because this is what it takes to receive merit raises, receive awards, or gain promotion to full professor. To a large degree, they have not left the pre-tenure mindset. But when the opportunities and economic incentives are great enough, they leave.

The other group is professors who stay on the job until they physically or mentally cannot do the job. Usually, these folks work well into their 70s. They are productive researchers, respected mentors, and quality teachers. Those who stay longer work for different reasons. They always have a new challenge or a new idea they need to test. At McGill, we have the legendary Professor Brenda Milner, who is still active at 107 years of age. She is not an emerita professor, but remains a full-time faculty member. And she is productive. She credits her longevity as a professor to still being "nosy." She needs to know. I have seen a lot of that among this group. They have a purpose that academic life supports. For this group, the work is taken joyfully, as a challenge, and is simply who they are. Awards, raises, and promotions are things that happen, but not why they do what they do. Everyone needs to find their own path that meets personal goals and university needs. There are a range of options for how an old professor can end an academic career.

Now that I have accepted the fact that I am an old professor, it is time to develop a plan for my late career. I believe that I can still produce useful work. Academia is a second career for me after spending 16 years as a clinician and a hospital lead psychologist. I was in my 40s when I started my career as an academic, so that influences how I think about my role. Moreover, I have been more of a leader than a scholar in my career. I have spent 11 years as a journal editor; a lot of time as a program director, department chair, accreditation site visitor, and mentor; and served as a consultant to new and developing professional programs around the United States and Canada. I have also grown skeptical of the quality of published research and the true meaning of evidence-based interventions. While I have the energy and time, I can step back and integrate these experiences and perspectives to provide a road map and improved tools for the next generation of scholars and clinicians.

So what is the plan for this final stage of my academic career? I find myself in the second group of old professors and plan on working as long as I can be productive and teach well. My goal is to step back and work on the big picture of how to build credibility in the research and practice of psychology. This means critical consideration of the current state of the field while developing novel approaches. The primary topics will be forensic meta-science audits of high-impact published or government studies that influence policy or practices; developing novel approaches to implementing evidence-based practices; and creating new research designs and approaches to knowing in school, counselling, and clinical psychology. The primary tools for dissemination will be far fewer scholarly journal articles. Authored and edited books, workshops and consultation, blog posts, and video presentations will be the primary venues for dissemination. It may not be for everyone, but this is a good opportunity to make trouble, be useful, and build new tools to improve our evidence-based practices. This is one way to create a path for young academics, by working with joy while avoiding being labeled as dead wood.

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