The Effects of Social-Withdrawal Characteristics Among Older Academics: An Indonesian Case Study

Abstract

Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous country, sees a significant increase in its aging population each year. This demographic shift is reflected in the country’s public higher-education sector, where the number of older academics has been growing substantially in recent years. However, older people’s social participation is often limited due to certain forms of withdrawal, such as shyness, avoidance, and unsociability. This research report aims to explore the impact that these social-withdrawal characteristics among older people may have on data collection and policy-formulation processes in public universities in Indonesia. To gather data for this study, an online questionnaire was employed. The results of this study suggest that older people’s social-withdrawal characteristics can have two effects. First, older individuals are often reluctant to participate in research, particularly as online questionnaire respondents, which can result in a lower response rate. Second, our study found that most older academic staff were unwilling to request or demand specific services or facilities from university administration, making decision-makers unaware of the needs of their older staff and aging issues in general. As a consequence, university administration may not consider instituting an aging policy at their institution, as they believe that older workers do not require special attention. This lack of awareness can have serious implications for the well-being of older academic staff and the overall effectiveness of university policies.