A knowledgeable workforce is key to meeting the demands of an aging population that is expected to nearly triple by 2030 and attitudes influence propensity to seek aging-related careers. Post-secondary education offers an opportunity to increase aging-related knowledge and facilitates intergenerational experiential-learning opportunities; however, research is lacking regarding attitudes towards aging and experiences among an academically diverse sample. To address this gap, the aims of this study were to: (1) examine differences in students' attitudes toward older adults by academic college; (2) assess differences in aging-related coursework and course experiences by academic college; and (3) explore key factors associated with students' attitudes toward older adults. Online survey methodology was used with a sample of 816 undergraduate students from a single university who represented all academic colleges offering undergraduate degrees. Significant differences among students' attitudes toward older adults by academic college were noted: those enrolled in the College of Human Sciences reported better stereotype, separation, and affective attitudes. Furthermore, factors associated with students' aging-related attitudes were sex, affiliation with academic college, perception of 'old', contact frequency, and desire to learn aging-related content. We suggest both interdisciplinary and disciplinary-specific educational recommendations to improve students' attitudes toward older adults.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 July 2021.
All research outputs
#27,736,601
of 34,372,222 outputs
Outputs from Gerontology & Geriatrics Education
#234
of 394 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#273,818
of 356,599 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Gerontology & Geriatrics Education
#4
of 4 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,372,222 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 16th percentile – i.e., 16% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 394 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 3.7. This one is in the 15th percentile – i.e., 15% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 356,599 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 19th percentile – i.e., 19% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 4 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one.
