Our focus this time, the interesting and sometimes perplexing dilemmas colleges and universities face as their teaching workforce is graying.

本期我們關注的焦點是，隨著教師隊伍白髮蒼蒼，高校面臨著有趣的、有時甚至是令人困惑的困境。

Economics correspondent Paul Solman was back on campus, part of his ongoing reporting, Making Sense of Financial News.

經濟學記者保羅-索爾曼（Paul Solman）回到了校園，這是他正在進行的 "解讀財經新聞 "報道的一部分。

When my doctor or my wife tells me I ought to stop, I will stop.

當我的醫生或妻子告訴我應該停止時，我就會停止。

Seventy-five-year-old former George Washington University president Steven Trachtenberg still teaches public service there.

75 歲的喬治-華盛頓大學前校長史蒂文-特拉滕伯格（Steven Trachtenberg）仍在那裡教授公共服務課程。

You guys are all working well together, and that's wonderful.

你們合作無間，這很好。

At George Mason University, 71-year-old writing professor Don Gilear is still teaching, too.

在喬治梅森大學，71 歲的寫作教授唐-吉列爾（Don Gilear）也依然在教書。

If the kids are happy and learning, and I'm happy and learning, I'm here.

如果孩子們學得開心，我也學得開心，那我就來了。

And how long does 69-year-old Boston University particle physicist Larry Sulak plan to keep blowing up protons?

69歲的波士頓大學粒子物理學家拉里-蘇拉克（Larry Sulak）打算繼續炸質子到什麼時候呢？

I have no idea.

我也不知道。

Shelley's a good model.

雪萊是個好榜樣

That'd be his 80-year-old colleague, Nobel-winning physicist Sheldon Glashow.

那就是他 80 歲的同事、諾貝爾物理學獎得主謝爾頓-格拉肖（Sheldon Glashow）。

And when do you intend to retire?

您打算什麼時候退休？

That I don't know.

這我就不知道了。

America's workforce is graying, and so is academia along with it.

美國的勞動力正在白髮蒼蒼，學術界也是如此。

Professors over 65 have more than doubled since 2000.

自 2000 年以來，65 歲以上的教授增加了一倍多。

Some 40 percent of all workers say they'll work past 65.

約 40% 的工人表示，他們將工作到 65 歲以後。

In academia, however, a full 75 percent plan to work past the normal retirement age.

然而，在學術界，整整 75% 的人計劃工作到正常退休年齡之後。

Historian Claire Potter is at the New School in New York.

歷史學家克萊爾-波特現就職於紐約新學院。

Most of us believe that we should be able to work on our own terms for as long as we want.

我們大多數人都認為，只要我們願意，就應該能夠按照自己的意願工作。

Potter blames lifetime tenure, meant to protect professors from political firings, and the legal end to mandatory retirement in 1994.

波特將此歸咎於旨在保護教授免遭政治炒魷魚的終身終身制，以及 1994 年強制退休的法律終止。

But Potter insists she'll be different.

但波特堅持認為她會與眾不同。

I'm going to retire when I'm 67.

我打算 67 歲退休。

A blogger for the Chronicle of Higher Education, Potter has argued that older scholars are clogging the pipeline for the younger ones.

波特是《高等教育紀事報》的博主，他認為年長的學者堵塞了年輕學者的晉升通道。

The number of PhDs now far outstrips the number of tenured job openings.

現在，博士的數量遠遠超過了終身職位空缺的數量。

There's a lot of rage out there about being trained for jobs that you can never have.

有很多人對接受培訓後從事永遠無法勝任的工作感到憤怒。

Is it worth keeping younger people out, not giving them the chance to have full-time work, to develop themselves, so that older people can hang on to keep everything we love?

為了讓老年人能夠堅持下去，保留我們所熱愛的一切，把年輕人拒之門外，不給他們全職工作的機會，不給他們自我發展的機會，這樣值得嗎？

And these days, even younger people aren't always spring chickens.

如今，即使是年輕人也不總是春風得意。

It's been seven years since 38-year-old Joe Frischone earned his Ph.D. in English from George Washington University.

38 歲的喬-弗里斯科內（Joe Frischone）從喬治-華盛頓大學獲得英語博士學位至今已有七年。

He is yet to land a full-time job.

他還沒有找到一份全職工作。

The market for Ph.Ds in humanities is almost super saturated.

人文學科博士的市場幾乎達到了超級飽和。

There have been some positions where I've had to compete with hundreds of applicants who all, on paper, have roughly the same education and skill sets.

在有些職位上，我不得不與數百名應聘者競爭，而這些應聘者在紙面上都擁有大致相同的學歷和技能。

So Frischone works three part-time gigs.

是以，弗里斯科內做了三份兼職工作。

One is running a Moby Dick discussion group at a Washington, D.C., bookstore.

其中一個是在華盛頓特區的一家書店舉辦白鯨討論小組。

When you hear Moby Dick, you think, whale.

當你聽到《白鯨記》時，你會想到鯨魚。

Frischone also has part-time gigs at University of Maryland Baltimore County and George Washington.

弗里斯科內還在馬里蘭大學巴爾的摩郡分校和喬治華盛頓大學兼職。

So-called contingent faculty, like Frischone, are paid class by class.

像弗里斯科內這樣的所謂特聘教師是按課時計酬的。

Frischone earns $4,500 to $7,500 per course, typically teaches eight over two semesters.

Frischone 每門課程的收入為 4500 美元至 7500 美元，通常在兩個學期內教授 8 門課程。

All in, less than $50,000 a year.

總之，一年不到 5 萬美元。

There aren't any guaranteed benefits or anything toward retirement, essentially getting paid just for the teaching.

沒有任何福利保障，也沒有任何退休福利，基本上只是為了教書而教書。

It's hard in some level to predict how much I'll get paid per week or per month.

在某種程度上，我很難預測每週或每月能拿到多少報酬。

Of course, cost-conscious colleges could rely on cheaper contingent labor even if tenured faculty were retiring.

當然，即使終身教職員工退休，注重成本的學院也可以依靠更便宜的臨時工。

But immovable veterans are an added impediment.

但是，無法動彈的退伍軍人是一個額外的障礙。

Don Gilear has been teaching just what Joe Frischone does for 47 years.

47 年來，唐-吉萊爾一直從事喬-弗里斯科內的教學工作。

Am I keeping somebody who wants a tenured track job from getting a job?

是我阻礙了想要終身職位的人找到工作嗎？

Yes.

是的。

And that's OK.

沒關係。

As long as I'm a good teacher, that's what's important.

只要我是個好老師，這才是最重要的。

Sheldon Glashow, hired away from Harvard by Boston University at age 67, heartily agrees.

謝爾頓-格拉肖（Sheldon Glashow）在 67 歲時從哈佛大學被波士頓大學聘用，他對此深表贊同。

I'm still actively engaged in the triumvirate of activities that are required of a BU faculty member.

我仍在積極參加大學教師必須參加的三項活動。

I teach and I teach well most of the time.

我教書，而且大部分時間都教得很好。

And I engage in service activities and I do research.

我還從事服務活動和研究工作。

And I do it well.

而且我做得很好。

Now if some of us don't ebb as we age, Glashow is a good bet to be one of them.

如果說有些人不會隨著年齡的增長而退潮，那麼 Glashow 很有可能就是其中之一。

At age 78, he debunked a much-publicized experiment claiming that particles could move faster than the speed of light.

78 歲時，他推翻了一個廣為人知的實驗，該實驗聲稱粒子的運動速度可以超過光速。

For most of us, though, cognitive function shrinks with our height, our abs, our libido.

不過，對於我們大多數人來說，認知功能會隨著身高、腹肌和性慾的增長而減弱。

In work by Harvard economist David Labeson and others, skills like word recall and counting backward from 100 by 7s decline steadily throughout life.

根據哈佛大學經濟學家戴維-拉貝森（David Labeson）等人的研究，單詞記憶和從 100 開始倒數 7 等技能在人的一生中會逐漸下降。

But as we age, we gain experience.

但是，隨著年齡的增長，我們會積累經驗。

Our so-called experiential capital rises.

我們所謂的經驗資本也會上升。

And the net effect is positive.

淨效應是積極的。

People become better decision-makers as they age, up to a point.

隨著年齡的增長，人們的決策能力會越來越強，但這只是在一定程度上。

But the negative effects start to dominate in our 50s.

但到 50 多歲時，負面影響開始佔據主導地位。

And by the 70s, the decline steepens for the average person.

而到了 70 年代，普通人的體重下降速度會更快。

Steve Trachtenberg is 75.

史蒂夫-特拉滕伯格 75 歲。

I'm still, you know, cooking with gas.

我還在用煤氣做飯。

But I'm not the man I was at 65 or 55.

但我已經不是 65 歲或 55 歲時的我了。

Even so, Trachtenberg thinks traditional retirement at age 65 is too young.

即便如此，特拉滕伯格還是認為傳統的 65 歲退休年齡太年輕了。

People live longer now and are healthier longer now.

現在人們壽命更長，更健康。

But I think that having an age at which the institution and the individual could together decide whether the person ought to retire would be a useful thing.

但我認為，規定一個年齡，讓機構和個人共同決定該人是否應該退休，將是一件有益的事情。

Trachtenberg says 70 would be a good age to do that.

特拉滕伯格說，70 歲是個好年齡。

So why does he continue to work at 75?

那麼，他為什麼要在 75 歲時繼續工作呢？

Well, if we had the conversation, I'd push back.

好吧，如果我們進行了對話，我會反擊的。

I'd say, no, I'm still working.

我會說，不，我還在工作。

Everybody's situation is different.

每個人的情況都不一樣。

George Mason psychology professor Lou Befarty is retiring this spring at age 70.

喬治梅森大學心理學教授盧-貝法蒂（Lou Befarty）將於今年春天退休，享年 70 歲。

But he doesn't think everyone should.

但他並不認為每個人都應該這樣做。

There are many folks my age and older who are some of our very best people.

有許多與我同齡或更年長的人都是我們最優秀的人。

Sure, says Claire Potter.

當然，克萊爾-波特說。

But there's a catch.

但有一個問題。

I think one of the things you get if you have an aging faculty is there's a kind of break on innovation that is unnecessary.

我認為，如果教師隊伍老化，就會出現一種不必要的創新斷檔。

Younger people who are going into academia are more excited about their teaching.

進入學術界的年輕人對自己的教學工作更有激情。

Many of them are involved in the digital world.

他們中的許多人都參與了數字世界。

And they have a substantially less important role in shaping what we teach, how we teach, and how our universities run than much older people who were educated 30, 40, and even 50 years ago.

與 30 年前、40 年前甚至 50 年前接受教育的年長者相比，他們在影響我們的教學內容、教學方式和大學運行方面所起的作用要小得多。

But let's face it.

但讓我們面對現實吧。

Today, many of us are working past the traditional retirement age.

如今，我們中的許多人已經超過了傳統的退休年齡。

I myself am 68, have been a TV business reporter for 36 years, and teach.

我自己今年 68 歲，當了 36 年的電視商業記者，還在教書。

But I have no plans to hit the hammock.

但我不打算去睡吊床。

Look, a lot of us love our work, even define ourselves by it.

聽著，我們很多人都熱愛自己的工作，甚至以此來定義自己。

Professors are no different.

教授也不例外。

It isn't just a job.

這不僅僅是一份工作。

It's who we are.

這就是我們。

And to leave that is just tough.

離開那裡是很艱難的。

Lou Befarty has joined George Mason's voluntary phased retirement program.

Lou Befarty 已加入喬治梅森大學的自願分階段退休計劃。

Long-serving faculty teacher reduced course load for two years at full pay in return for a promise to retire thereafter.

長期任教的教師減少課程量，全薪任教兩年，以換取此後退休的承諾。

As it gets closer, I thought, you know, what was I thinking?

當它越來越近時，我想，我到底在想什麼？

One-third of George Mason's tenured professors are 60-plus, up from just 10% in 1990.

喬治梅森大學三分之一的終身教授年齡超過 60 歲，而 1990 年這一比例僅為 10%。

It's one of many schools trying to grease the skids to retirement.

這是眾多試圖為退休鋪平道路的學校之一。

The central task of retirement is really finding activities that provide meaning and purpose for your life.

退休後的中心任務其實就是尋找能為生活帶來意義和目標的活動。

It gives courses on lifestyle and financial planning, even tips on staying in shape.

它提供有關生活方式和財務規劃的課程，甚至還有保持身材的小貼士。

This is your new favorite exercise.

這是你最喜歡的運動。

More faculty left after phased retirement debuted in 2010.

2010 年開始分階段退休後，更多的教師離開了學校。

Mason now runs focus groups to find new incentives.

梅森現在通過焦點小組來尋找新的激勵措施。

If they had offered a part-time job in perpetuity, I would be first in line to grab it.

如果他們提供一份永久性的兼職工作，我會第一個去爭取。

But don't these people have a fallback?

但這些人就沒有後路了嗎？

Hobbies, say?

愛好？

We're so entrenched in everyday crises, you know, and writing and doing what we have to do here, that we leave very little time for anything outside.

我們如此深陷於日常的危機之中，你知道，寫作和做我們在這裡必須做的事情，以至於我們很少有時間去做外面的事情。

I think it's more also that when you leave, there's a real sense of being physically disconnected, that you don't belong in that place somehow.

我覺得更重要的是，當你離開的時候，會有一種身體上被切斷了聯繫的真實感，你不屬於那個地方。

I'm not sure what it would look like, but if there were a space where you could work, or you could, you know, have some of your books or something.

我不確定它看起來會是什麼樣子，但如果有一個空間，你可以在那裡工作，或者你可以，你知道，有一些你的書什麼的。

We should just take over a building.

我們應該佔領一棟大樓。

Larry Sulek claims neither he nor his older colleague Sheldon Glashow has lost a step, but as chair of Boston University's physics department, he had to ease out many over-the-hill underachievers.

拉里-蘇萊克（Larry Sulek）聲稱，他和他的老同事謝爾頓-格拉肖（Sheldon Glashow）都沒有退步，但作為波士頓大學物理系的系主任，他不得不讓許多過氣的成績不佳的學生退學。

Their first reaction?

他們的第一反應是什麼？

I'm not going to go.

我不會去的。

I don't have any reason to.

我沒理由這麼做。

But you sit down and find out what the sweeteners are.

但你坐下來，就會發現甜味劑是什麼。

What does someone really want?

某人到底想要什麼？

An office forever?

永遠的辦公室？

A title of emeritus?

名譽頭銜？

Help getting a job elsewhere?

幫助您在其他地方找到工作？

Helping his wife get a job or his husband get a job?

是幫妻子找工作，還是幫丈夫找工作？

All these things are necessary, and you play every trick you can.

所有這些都是必要的，你要使出渾身解數。

Because, say Sulek and others, you need to renew the ranks, nurture the next generation.

蘇萊克等人說，因為你們需要更新隊伍，培養下一代。

And these days, more and more scholars wait in the wings.

如今，越來越多的學者在等待著。

Like Joe Frischione, who, after wrapping up his contingent class at George Washington, traipses back to his car, he doesn't even get parking, and drives to his next adjunct class in Baltimore.

就像喬-弗里斯喬內，他在結束了喬治-華盛頓大學的特遣隊課程後，連停車位都沒停，就徑直回到自己的車上，開車去巴爾的摩上他的下一堂兼職課。

It takes about 45 minutes to get there in the middle of the afternoon, which is not horrible, it's not great.

中午到那裡大約需要 45 分鐘，這並不可怕，但也不是很好。

No wonder folks like Frischione are called road scholars.

難怪像弗里斯喬內這樣的人被稱為道路學者。

Their careers a constant commute as their elders stay put.

他們的職業生涯就像他們的長輩在原地踏步一樣。

What keeps them humming along?

是什麼讓它們繼續嗡嗡作響？

There's a way where this is a very nice job.

有一種方法，這是很好的工作。

A tenure-track job with one set of colleagues, one office, one parking space.

終身職位，只有一組同事、一間辦公室和一個停車位。

And if he got that, he might never want to leave either.

如果他明白了這一點，他可能也永遠不想離開了。

So, how long do you plan to work?

那麼，您打算工作多久？

We want you to weigh in.

我們希望您能參與進來。

Go to Paul's Making Sense page to let us know.

請訪問 Paul's Making Sense 頁面告訴我們。