Forbes highlights the growing focus of business schools on the topic of Longevity

Business schools are paying increasing attention to the topic of longevity, and women have been pioneers in this process. This conclusion is drawn in an opinion piece published in Forbes magazine, which highlights several international examples, including the Longevity Leadership Programme at the Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics.

In the article, the author, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, begins by emphasising that longevity should not be viewed as a secondary issue, associated with ageing, pensions and retirement or healthcare, but as a profound shift in the way we learn, work, lead and live. This vision, emphasises the co-director of the Longevity Leadership executive education programme at Católica Lisbon, represents a challenge with implications for management and repercussions for career development, the workforce and the markets.

She then lists some examples of initiatives undertaken by women in business schools to strategically position longevity on the business agenda, and thereby maximise the attention the topic deserves, as is already the case with globalisation, digitalisation, sustainability and artificial intelligence.

Around 20 years ago, the author notes, Laura Carstensen co-founded the Stanford Centre on Longevity. Four years ago, Céline Abecassis-Moedas, Pro-Rector and lecturer at Católica, together with Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, launched the Longevity Leadership Programme at the Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics. This week, Lynda Gratton and Herminia Ibarra presented the SARI Foundation Institute for Work, Careers and Longevity at London Business School.

"Our aim was explicitly strategic: to help executives understand the scale and implications of the demographic shift, prepare their organisations for a new longevity era, and get the issue onto their companies’ strategic agendas.", explains Wittenberg -Cox, speaking about the Longevity Leadership Programme at the Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics, noting that this initiative paved the way for the creation, at Católica, of Europe’s first Centre on Longevity Leadership by the end of 2025.

"Three initiatives, on two continents, spanning almost 20 years. Five women at the heart of them. Coincidence? Perhaps. But what connects these women is more interesting than their gender. All have spent years examining how lives, careers and organisations actually evolve over time. And all have arrived at essentially the same conclusion: the longevity revolution is no longer about trying to make people live longer. They already are. The challenge now is adaptation. This is where business schools come in," writes Avivah Wittenberg-Cox.

It is true that she names several men who have contributed to bringing longevity onto the academic and public agenda, but argues that they were not working within business schools.

"What interests me here is the emerging effort to bring longevity into management education itself — because this is where many of the leaders who will have to respond to our new demographic realities come to prepare for what’s next," she concludes.