International Collaboration

Currently, there is a validated German-language and English-language version of the Later Life Workplace Index that can be applied in Germany and the U.S. We collaborate with international research partners to provide further language versions of the measurement to be used in other countries.

Overview ©Prof. Dr. Jürgen Deller et al. (2023)
Overview
  • Belgium
  • China
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Mexico
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Republic of Korea
  • Taiwan

Belgium

Eva Derous is a professor of Personnel Psychology at the Vocational and Personnel Psychology Lab of Ghent University (Belgium). She received her Ph.D. from the University of Leuven (Belgium) and previously worked at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam (Netherlands), where she is still affiliated with. Her research focuses on recruitment, personnel selection, and diversity/discrimination at work (ethnicity, age, gender). She received a Fulbright research scholar grant from KNAW (Michigan State University, USA), sits on editorial boards of international journals, and has published in journals such as Personnel Psychology, the Journal of Organizational Behavior, the Journal of Vocational Behavior and Human Resource Management Review.

Maaike Schellaert is a doctoral researcher and teaching assistant at the Vocational and Personnel Psychology Lab of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at Ghent University (Belgium). Her research interests focus on age discrimination during personnel selection and retirement decisions among older workers.

China

Jie Yang obtained his Ph.D. from the Institute of Psychology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2002. He was promoted to be a professor at Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics in 2005. Now, he is a senior professor in the School of Business at Guilin University of Electronic Technology.

His research and teaching expertise is in organizational behavior and human resource management, with a particular focus on identity change and leadership, psychological contract and conflict management, ageing challenges and effective coping practices. He has conducted extensive research on social identity and organizational identification, leadership, role modeling, knowledge work, conflict management, and retirement. His work has been published in some famous academic publications such as Frontiers in Psychology, Psychology of Sport and Exercise, Human Resource Management Journal, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Journal of World Business, International Journal of Conflict Management, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Social Issues and Policy Review, The Journals of Gerontology Series B, and Social Science and Medicine.

Israel

Hila Axelrad holds a PhD in Public Policy and Administration from Ben Gurion University of the Negev. She is a senior researcher at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, and a researcher in the School of Social and Policy Studies at Tel Aviv University.

Her research and teaching expertise is in labor economics, with a particular focus on economic and policy aspects regarding the challenges faced by the aging population in Israel and worldwide. She has conducted extensive research on discrimination, employment, unemployment, and retirement.

This research will increase knowledge about employer perspectives on work in later life and in retirement. It will improve our understanding of the employer perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of work at older ages and identify details concerning the demand side, details which can incentivize employers to hire and retain older workers. In the research we will detail dimensions that must be taken into account and the costs, if any, of increasing the retirement age for employers and organizations.

Italy

Michela Vignoli is an Associate Professor in Work and Organizational Psychology at the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science at the University of Trento where she coordinates the we.be.wo Lab (Well-Being at Work Laboratory). She obtained her PhD at the University of Bologna and her dissertation focused on how to enhance employees' well-being.

Her research interests focus on well-being at work and aging and retirement processes and her studies have been published in Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Journal of Career Development, International Journal of Human Resource Management, and International Journal of Psychology.

The more time passes, the more it is important to understand aging processes in the organisations. Organisations need reliable tools in order to assess whether they are correctly dealing with complex processes such as aging. Research on the Later Life Workplace Index can support organisations in dealing with these potential issues by providing reliable and scientific-based instruments.

Japan

Xiuzhu Gu is an Associate Professor in Department of Industrial Engineering and Economics at Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Her main research interests are in human factors, risk management and healthcare management. Her work has been published in academic journals such as Journal of Patient safety,Accident Analysis and Prevention,and Cognition, Technology & Work.

Mexico

Antonio Valdivia Ph.D. is an educational/clinical psychologist from Monterrey, Mexico. He received his Educational Psychology Ph.D. from Washington State University. His research focuses on the construction of validity arguments from both technical and non-technical evidence of psychological and educational tools when they are adapted to Spanish language/culture. Regarding assessment areas, his interests relate to clinical, non-cognitive, wellbeing, and learning features.

His research has been presented at the American Psychological Association (APA), American Educational Research Association (AERA), International Society for Emotional Intelligence (ISEI), and International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) conferences. He has published his work in Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, European Journal of Psychological Assessment, Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, and Educational Media International, among other journals.

In 2019, Antonio Valdivia was recognized as the APA Division 52 International Outstanding Early Career Psychologist. Currently, for this APA’s section, he serves as Chair Board Member of the Early Career Psychology Committee (2019-2022) and has recently been appointed as Co-Chair of the Latin-American Affairs Committee (2022).

Netherlands

Beatrice I.J.M. Van der Heijden is professor of Strategic HRM at the Radboud University, Institute for Management Research, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and Head of the Department Strategic HRM. Moreover, she occupies a Chair in Strategic HRM at the Open University of the Netherlands, at Ghent University, Belgium, at Hubei University, Wuhan, China and at Kingston University, London, UK. In 2019 Beatrice Van der Heijden has been appointed as a member of the Academy of Europe, and in 2022 as a member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities. She is a Knight in the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands since 2021.

Her main research areas are: sustainable careers, employability, and aging at work. Beatrice Van der Heijden is Associate Editor for the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology and Co-Editor for the German Journal of Human Resource Management. Her work has been published in, among others, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Human Resource Management, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Human Relations, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Career Development International, Personnel Psychology, and Academy of Management Annals. She is Co-Editor of the Handbook of Research on Sustainable Careers (EE Publishing).

Given the huge diversity in career patterns, as well as in perceptions regarding individual career and life success, career research should, in my opinion, be undertaken by using a non-normative framework. Nobody has the capacity to decide for somebody else what career success and life success imply and how and when, i.e., at which age, it should be experienced. The Later Life Workplace Index enables scholars and practitioners to build bridges in order to protect and further enhance the career sustainability across all career stages, taking into account the idiosyncrasy of career patterns.

Norway

Reidar J. Mykletun is professor emeritus at the University of Stavanger Business School in Stavanger, Norway. He holds a Candidatus paedagogiae degree from University of Oslo and is Doctor of Philosophy from University of Bergen with a thesis on work-life stress, personality, wellbeing, and health. From 1990 and onwards, the main research focus has been on ageing workers, leadership, age discrimination, working career prolongation versus retirement, and workplace bullying. Current studies address the role of older workers in the innovation processes in organisations, and why business schools should teach their students about demographic changes and age management. Other research includes leisure and tourism topics. His work experiences contain teaching and supervision at all levels in the educational system, six years as a Dean, research, and head of research. He is member of the Royal Norwegian Scientific Academy, Class of Humanities and member and board member of the Stavanger Scientific Academy and is an active participant and board member of several voluntary organisations.

Poland

Izabela Marzec is a Professor at the Department of Digital Economy Research at the University of Economics in Katowice. She received the postdoctoral degree (habilitation) in the domain of management of Economic Sciences in 2016. She is also a consultant and trainer in the field of HRM and Organizational Behaviors.

Her main research interests focus on career management and employability, as well as HRM methods and practices in the Digital Economy. She is an author and a co-author of over 100 publications on HRM, career management and employability. Her works have been published in such journals as Personnel Psychology, European Management Review, International Journal of Manpower, Frontiers of Psychology, Group & Organization Management, Human Resource Development International, International Human Resource Management, International Journal of Aging and Human Development.

Robert Wolny is Vice-Rector for Development and Cooperation with External Environment and head of the Department of Digital Economy Research at the University of Economics in Katowice. In 2016–2019, he held the position of Vice-Dean for Development and Cooperation with External Environment, and in the academic year 2019/20 the position of Vice-Dean of the School of Undergraduate and Graduate Studies. Since 2007 he has been the head of the Culture Management postgraduate study program. In 2012–2021, he held the position of director of Research and Development Center. Robert Wolny is a member of the ERECO-PGV research network, the Polish Scientific Marketing Association, the Polish Association of Public Opinion and Marketing Research, and the Program Committee of the Chorzów Entertainment Theater. He is the author of more than 130 scientific publications. His research work is currently focused on e-services and behavior of market entities in the digital economy.

Portugal

Eduardo Oliveira holds a PhD in Management from the University of Porto and is the Economics and HRM Master Course Director at the University of Porto. He was also an Academic Visitor at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing at the University of Oxford and is currently a member of the Sloan Research Network on Aging & Work.

Eduardo Oliveira’s research focuses on aging workforces, age management, and ageism in the workplace. He has authored several publications in peer-reviewed journals (e.g., Personnel Review, Journal of Managerial Psychology, and Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied).

You can find a YouTube video of Eduardo Oliveira taking about the LLWI here.

The Later Life Workplace Index project hits the spotlight by underlining the role organizations can play in a context of ageing workforces and longer working lives. Thus, the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Later Life Workplace Index to Portugal is a great opportunity to bridge the gap between academics interested in ageing workforces and organizations facing this demographic trend in most Western societies. Portugal is no exception and transnational collaboration is key to build solid assessment tools for organizations to use in the context of the current demographic shift.

Republic of Korea

Su Jung Choi obtained her Ph.D. in Education from Seoul National University of Republic of Korea. She is an associate professor at the Department of Agricultural and Vocational Education at Seoul National University.
Her research interests focus on career development, skill acquisition, and vocational education. She has authored several publications in peer-reviewed journals (e.g., Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, International Journal of Educational Development).

Jaeyoung Ha holds a Ph.D. in Education from Seoul National University of the Republic of Korea. She is a post-doc at the Research Center for Career & Vocational Education in Seoul National University.
Her research expertise is in career development regarding the challenges faced by the aging population and automation of job. She has conducted several research on employment, unemployment, retirement, and automation of jobs.

Eun Seok Kim holds a Ph.D. in Education from Seoul National University of Republic of Korea. He is a senior researcher at Korea Employment Information Service. His interests focus on the aging population and career development.

Taiwan

Lillian (Lih Rong) Wang is a professor at Department of Social Work at the National Taiwan University. She had several visiting scholars experiences in her career, including the Kyoto University and Chiba University in Japan, the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), and the University of Oxford.

She received Ph.D from the School of Social Welfare at the UCLA. Now her research focus is on gender justice in the workplace, gender-based violence, gendered care, gender and fertility, and migrant workers' well-being. She has published several books such as Women and Social Policy, and Risk Society in Asian Countries (with other scholars), Social Quality and Social Policy (with other scholars), and Gender, Care and Migration (with other scholars). Her papers have been published in areas such as gender and social empowerment, family-friendly workplace, social inclusion and migrant worker, sexual assault. In addition to academic work, she has been active in NGOs and different levels of governmental agencies for advocating gender equality and women's rights.

On behalf of Taiwan, she has organized and attended the forums of UN NGO CSW for many years to present best practices of women's rights in Taiwan.