School Principals’ Work Participation in an Extended Working Life: Are They Able to, and Do They Want to? A Quantitative Study of the Work Situation

The objective of this study is to increase the knowledge regarding school principals’ work situations by examining the associations between various factors and the school principals’ assessments of their ability or wish to work until 65 years of age or longer. The 1356 participating school principals in this study were aged between 50 and 64 years of age. Individual and work factors were evaluated in relation to two dichotomized outcomes: i.e., can work and want to work beyond 65 years of age, respectively. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) models were used to specify bivariate and multivariate cross-sectional logistic regression models that accounted for repeated measurements. The results showed that, both in 2018 and 2019, about 83% of the school principals stated that they could work and about 50% stated that they wanted to work until 65 years of age and beyond. School principals’ exhaustion symptoms and experiences of an excessive burden were statistically significantly associated with whether they both could not and did not want to work beyond 65 years of age. Additionally, the school principals’ experiences of support from the executive management in the performance of their managerial duties was of primary importance for whether the school principals wanted to work until 65 years of age and beyond. To conclude, it is important that school principals receive sufficient support from the management to cope with their often very stressful leadership tasks so that they have the opportunity to be able and willing to continue working their entire working life. The study strengthens the robustness of the theoretical SwAge model regarding the investigated factors related to determinant factors for a sustainable working life and as a basis for developing practical tools for increased employability for people of older ages.