GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS STUDENT PRACTICUM
In the winter term of 2012, two students from the Graduate School of Business, Christine Luby and Henry Davis, completed a practicum with the Center. The culmination of their work was a paper, “Working Beyond Retirement: Professional Paths for an Aging Workforce.” In the paper, the Luby and Davis took on the task of analyzing the state of the market for older workers from the perspectives of both the individual and the employer. They sounded a hopeful note regarding the capabilities of older workers and were able to point to several corporate success stories. For example, CVS drugstores have implemented a “snowbird” program in which their older workers migrate south for the winter along with their main customer base. They contrasted these positives with concerns over sectors such as technology and entertainment/hospitality, where older workers are significantly under-represented. An analysis of entrepreneurial opportunities revealed highly capable individuals, but a less than welcoming investment community. Luby and Davis closed with a number of key takeaways and recommendations for future studies. For a copy of the full paper, please contact the Stanford Center on Longevity.
YOUR LIFE, STARTING NOW
The Stanford Center on Longevity’s student practicum helps Stanford undergraduates explore different aspects of longevity. Students choose a particular area of concentration, and the Center connects them with experts from academia, industry and government. Students also draw on their personal experiences and contacts. The students challenge their own preconceptions about growing old, get the true implications of an extended lifespan, and take us along for the ride through weekly blog postings.
SPRING 2012
Emma Makoba: Chronic Disease in the Developing World – “What I want to do in these next series of blogs is provide a more nuanced picture of an incredibly charged and complicated issue: how to increase the life expectancy of those in the Third World with health interventions addressing both chronic and infectious diseases.” Visit blog
Tess Rothstein: Designing Our Lives – “One of the most valuable things I’ve learned is that many people live outside of America’s mainstream model of life. Instead of working forty-plus hours a week from their 20’s till their 60’s, and then landing in full-time retirement, these people follow some other path. The stereotype about the typical life-course is that adults are dissatisfied with how much they work and retirees are dissatisfied with what little they have to work on. ” Visit blog
WINTER 2012
Steven Crane: Aging in Community – “…as I look beyond Stanford into my young adult years and even well into old age, I ask myself, ‘What else is out there? What’s next?’ And therein lies my motivation for learning about aging in community.” Visit blog
FALL 2011
Leslie Johnson: Ageism and Cultural Norms – I believe in the power of positive thinking, thus I am curious about the interaction between self-beliefs and the aging process. I am interested in exploring our society’s norms and beliefs to see how they might limit the elderly in their physical, mental, and social activities. Visit blog