In many professions, the young are beloved and the aged are forgotten. Forty is often considered retirement age in sports, and with some recent exceptions, film roles for women over 50 are few and far between, at least until they’re wrinkled and white-haired enough to fill the role of granny.
So we were curious about vocations where age is a boon; where folks gain status and reverence as they gather years. Here’s a list we’ve started of occupations that consider advanced age a good thing.
Art
Consider Alice Neel, a portrait painter whose work was largely rejected by the establishment until she was in her 60s. It was her passion and her persistence that made her such a hit, leading to a major retrospective in her 80s. And Neel is not alone. The art knows no age – it’s all about what you produce and the ability to keep creative juices flowing and to stay relevant. Just look at the art- and fashion-world stir that 84-year-old Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama created last year with her dazzling Whitney retrospective and Louis Vuitton collection. (If you saw large red dots all around NYC, those were Kusama-inspired.)
One fine example of someone who stayed at the top of her game into her latter years was the French-born sculptor Louise Bourgeois, who died in 2010 at 98. She was already 70 when she had her first retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in 1982, and she continued to exhibit her haunting sculptures, containing plaster casts of mutton or room-sized metal spiders, until her death.
Bourgeois’s contemporary Nancy Spero was a force in the painting world until her death in 2009 at 93. Spero was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2006, at 90.
Politics
With Congress’s approval ratings at all-time lows, it might seem that no one is revered in politics, let alone older folks. However, voters don’t seem to discriminate against those over 65 who run for office. The average age of the 112th Congress is 62.2 years old – only slightly younger (nine-tenths to be exact) than that of the 111th Congress, the oldest in recent history. Up until very recently, that average skewed older thanks to a couple of truly senior members, like 89-year-old Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) and the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) serves as chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee at age 80. Members of Congress do not have a required retirement age; they decide for themselves when it’s time to leave the political boxing ring, or they may get voted out. (Top picture: Diane Weinstein)
The Law
The law profession tends to appreciate those with a lot of experience. The more cases lawyers or judges have worked on, the better they know the law – at least in theory. Our best example is the United States Supreme Court, where Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the oldest judge at 80. Some judges even serve into their 90s – it is a lifetime appointment after all. They work from October to around June (during recess they review upcoming cases); their workday is from 10 am–3 pm; and they have three or four clerks working for them. You’ll find several federal judges over 80, too; among those who are in their 90s is Solomon Blatt, Jr., who’ll turn 91 in August. Solomon serves in the U.S. District Court in South Carolina. And in the Eastern District of New York, United States federal judge Jack Bertrand Weinstein (pictured) turns 92 in August.
Academia
Universities traditionally reward those in their later years. Currently, in the United States, the median age of full professors is 55 years. Few associate professors reach this level before they are 40. Even retired professors, who hold the title “professor emeritus,” continue to teach while drawing a pension (they might even get office space). Madeleine Albright, the former Secretary of State, is now a professor at Georgetown University, at 76. Thomas A. Steitz, professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University, won the Nobel Prize at the young age of 69. And at the University of Minnesota, Professor John Fraser Hart (above) turned 90 this year; he uses a Kodachrome slide projector and his collection of 50,000 slides in his geography classes.
Architecture
Let’s face it: Most of our “starchitects,” living and dead, are old white guys: Philip Johnson, Frank Gehry and Renzo Piano were or are all designing well into their twilight years. Frank Lloyd Wright was still creating spaces when he was 92. Gehry continues to create buildings at 82, and Chinese-born I.M. Pei (okay, they’re not all old white guys) is still working at 94. His latest major project was the Macau Science Center in Lisbon, Portugal which opened in 2009.
Can you add to our list of occupations that most appreciate their older workers?
COMMENTS
15 responses to “5 Professions That Say Yes to Older Workers”
In medical doctors cntinue working till the age of 70 years. I dont know it right or wrong?
Add Teaching to your list – You are never to old to teach ! Once a teacher, always a teacher!
As a teacher of profession, I taught in secondary and high school in Norway for a few years after I graduated in 1976 until I went on to another career path. This year, at the age of 63, I have taken up teaching in secondary school again. This time in the small mountain village where we settled after returning home from 20 years overseas living and working. I really enjoy it!
With almost 40 years working experience from many walks of life, including UNICEF, I feel strongly connected to the children and young people and have no problems of interacting and sharing experiences with them. I feel respected and useful, and find that I can help them far beyond their assignments. This may help them plan for as rich a life as I have had.
writing!
Caregivers for seniors–the senior clients themselves and their younger relatives both commonly favor older caregivers.
Software Development is mixed territory for seniors. I have been developing software for close to fifty years and recently got a top, senior developer position in Boston. It pushes me pretty hard, but there are several senior senior-developers in the company and we’re doing well. The youth culture is common but not rampant.
Oz
Have just landed a job with Blue Cross/Blue Shield as an RN Care Management Coordinator. They are expanding to allow for the influx of Medicaid eligible people. As a 65 year old RN in the Operating Room I am changing to the above so that I can prolong my productive years. It will be much lower stress and less physically exhausting. I warned my bosses I would find something to do. They said I would never quit. Plus I get to work from home. Gonna love that commute!
John, congratulations! That sounds like the perfect career shift – enjoy your “commute.”
As I send out resumes for a job in Academia at the “golden” age of 64, ( PhD received 9 years ago), I am very pleased to see this story!
Insurance Salesman
With the exception of one well known carrier, this is true. I sell insurance. One of my colleagues is 81, and he is very productive he works hard and smart. He has no problem keeping up with and surpassing us youngsters.
Also, how comfortable would you feel about dealing with a 21 year old with respect to long term care insurance?
I like this so much about professions that say yes to older workers. I wish I could add to that list of occupations.
I am a 61-year-old addictions counsellor & I think that age & maturity & life experiences are appreciated in the counselling field. Of course I work in the north – 900 miles north of Idaho – in Alberta, Canada, and many seniors move to warm climates when they retire. I intend to work here full-time until I’m 75.
Writer
Musicians are usually more revered as they gain more experience, especially classical musicians and jazz players.
Career counsellors ( e.g. Five O’clock club NYC), Plumbers, Electricians, Chefs. Manufacturers Representatives, Managent positions in Non-Profit organizations
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Internet of Things: Healthcare
Aging Discussion Group – Lunch & Learn
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