International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

Frequency: 12

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 Volume 12, Issue 10 (October 2025), Pages: 139-149

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 Original Research Paper

Factors influencing the willingness to delay retirement among university teachers in Sichuan, China

 Author(s): 

 Yuqiao Shen, Supit Boonlab *, Sanitdech Jintana

 Affiliation(s):

 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi (RMUTT), Pathum Thani, Thailand

 Full text

    Full Text - PDF

 * Corresponding Author. 

   Corresponding author's ORCID profile:  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0462-115X

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2025.10.016

 Abstract

The strategic use of highly educated older people, often called the "silver-haired workforce," is gaining importance in China due to rapid population aging and the nationwide introduction of delayed retirement policies. This study applies structural equation modeling (SEM) together with follow-up interviews, using data from university teachers in different institutions across Sichuan Province, China, to examine the main factors that shape their willingness to delay retirement. The results show: (1) Policy tools have a strong positive effect on willingness to delay retirement through a three-part mechanism (mandatory constraints, incentives, and soft regulation), making them the most important factor; (2) The occupational environment has a weaker direct effect, but its influence becomes stronger when mediated by psychological factors, showing hidden effects, delayed responses, and reduced impact over time; (3) The mediating role of psychological mechanisms differs across pathways because explicit policy tools directly affect perception, while the occupational environment influences willingness through cognitive processing. These findings offer practical evidence for education authorities and university leaders to improve retirement policies and faculty management strategies.

 © 2025 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

 Silver-haired workforce, Delayed retirement, Occupational environment, Psychological mechanisms, University teachers

 Article history

 Received 29 May 2025, Received in revised form 28 September 2025, Accepted 1 October 2025

 Acknowledgment

No Acknowledgment. 

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Ethical considerations

This study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles of research involving human participants. Prior to participation, all respondents were informed about the purpose of the study, assured of the anonymity and confidentiality of their responses, and gave their voluntary informed consent.

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

 Shen Y, Boonlab S, and Jintana S (2025). Factors influencing the willingness to delay retirement among university teachers in Sichuan, China. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 12(10): 139-149

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 Figures

  Fig. 1

 Tables

  Table 1  Table 2  Table 3 

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