Foto: Adobe StockThe retirement of the baby boomers from the 1960s also affects universities. From 2029 until 2033, at least 2,000 professors in Germany will reach the age of 65 every year. In subjects such as Protestant theology, more than half of the professors are expected to retire by 2033. This is according to an analysis by the CHE Centre for Higher Education. A generational change has risks but also offers great opportunities for young academics and universities.
Generation change among professors is imminent
According to the German Federal Statistical Office, there were 43,078 full-time professors under the age of 65 permanently employed at German universities in 2023. Around 44 per cent of them are expected to reach this age limit by 2033. 65 years of age is the benchmark for the CHE analysis: DatenCHECK: Demographische Entwicklung bei Professor*innen in Deutschland.
From 2029 until 2033, at least 2,000 university professors will reach the age of 65 every year. The approaching retirement of the baby boomer generation means a personnel upheaval for the German higher education system. ‘In the next ten years, more than 40 per cent of professors in Germany will have to be replaced due to demographic change,’ says Frank Ziegele. ‘This generational change, with the corresponding calls for applications and selection procedures, costs time and money. Personnel upheavals must not be used as an excuse for cost-cutting programmes,’ says the Managing Director of the CHE Centre for Higher Education. Instead, universities and politicians need to prepare well for demographic change and utilise it strategically.
Large differences in age structure by type of university and subject
Analysing the age data from the Federal Statistical Office also reveals major differences at the level of the federal states, university types and funding bodies, subject groups and teaching and research areas.
The proportion of professors who are expected to be 65 years old by 2033 is highest at universities of teacher education, at 55 per cent. Private universities of applied sciences have significantly younger staff, with a ratio of 34 per cent.
‘Many universities of art and music are also facing a generational change in the medium term,’ summarises Marc Hüsch, Director of Studies. The Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences and the University of the Arts Bremen are among the two institutions with the highest proportion of professors who are expected to retire in the next ten years.
A differentiated picture also emerges from the detailed analysis of the age structure by teaching and research areas. ‘Many professorships in the fields of art and media, history, dentistry and architecture will need to be reappointed in the next decade. In Protestant theology, more than 60 per cent of current professors will reach retirement age in the next ten years,’ explains Marc Hüsch. ‘This could also increase the opportunities for young academics to pursue an academic career in certain subjects. The new appointments also offer strategic development opportunities for universities,’ says the head of the CHE data portal hochschuldaten.de.
About the publication:
The DatenCHECK 2/2025: Demographische Entwicklung bei Professor*innen in Deutschland provides an overview of how many university lecturers are expected to retire in the next ten years. The analysis is based on data from the Federal Statistical Office for the year 2023 and determines the respective proportions of professors who are expected to be 65 years old by 2033. Interactive charts and tables illustrate the differences in age structures for individual universities, federal states, types of university, funding bodies, subject groups and teaching and research areas. The author of the DatenCHECK on the CHE data portal hochschuldaten.de is Marc Hüsch, Senior Expert for Statistics and Data Visualisation at the CHE Centre for Higher Education.