Two PhD students, Nicholas Lance Bradley and Janelle Fassi, spread awareness of the opportunities available in the field of gerontology.
What professional opportunities await people who study gerontology? The variety of options often surprises people, according to Nicholas Lance Bradley and Janelle Fassi, two students in the gerontology PhD program at UMass Boston. The two won a Careers in Aging Award from the Gerontological Society of America that allowed them to showcase these options to classmates of all levels and studies.
Throughout March—Careers in Aging Month—Fassi and Bradley created a multi-platform awareness campaign for the UMass Boston community and beyond. They created and shared video profiles of people who have lesser-known jobs in the field, including an age tech entrepreneur and an older adult librarian. They hosted a panel of gerontology professionals who shared practical stories of their career trajectories, job searches, and lessons learned. In addition, Fassi and Bradley staffed a table at the student center to talk with students about the gerontology degree and field.
One of the most powerful pieces of the team’s Careers in Aging work was a Faces In Aging display, which was a collection of oversized portraits that they displayed online and in the student center near their table. Bradley, a photographer, took the portraits of members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) and interviewed them to share the stories behind the faces. The portraits became conversation starters with students.
“It surprised me how many people came up to our table and told us they thought of older adults as being frail, but they were surprised to see the portraits of people who are thriving, confident,” Bradley says. Bradley donated the portraits, as well as his interviews, to the university archives.
Many students who approached the table didn’t know much about gerontology. For some, these conversations were their introduction to the field – and they were conversations that Fassi and Bradley were happy to have.
“I think it’s important for people to know about gerontology as a field, as well as the programs we offer at UMass Boston, because the aging population is going to be the largest population segment soon, and they require specific services,” Bradley says. “It’s important for us to fight for marginalized communities, and older adults are one of those communities.”
Fassi and Bradley told classmates about how many different professions can benefit from the study of gerontology. Nearly every major can pair well with a gerontology minor.
“Studying gerontology definitely changes aging stereotypes,” Fassi says. “Having these tools aren’t only helpful for students to have in their personal lives, but also to use in their careers, whether they want to be a teacher or a filmmaker or a doctor or a nurse.”
Both Bradley and Fassi took unexpected paths to their study of gerontology. Back when Bradley was in search of an undergraduate elective, an impromptu conversation with someone on campus led to a suggestion that he try gerontology. He never got the woman’s name who made the recommendation, but he calls her an “angel” that guided a pivotal decision that led to his eventual career path. He plans to use his gerontology PhD in his work as a filmmaker, increasing representation for LGBTQ and older adults in his films. Fassi, who was a communications and psychology double major in college, took a psychology of adulthood and aging class as an undergraduate elective. The professor of that class later became her mentor who sparked her interest in the field and encouraged her to pursue a PhD in gerontology. She wants to combine her work in communications and gerontology—perhaps at the AARP or a senior center—to have a position that allows her to be at the intersection of research and practice.
“I interned with the Age Strong Commission and helped at the senior centers, and I really liked the daily interaction with older adults,” Fassi says. “I really appreciate the research, but at the same time, I want to see how what I’m studying affects the people I’m studying.”
During their Careers in Aging Month campaign, Bradley and Fassi heard from more students who began to realize how they might incorporate gerontology into their career plans. One woman with a master’s degree in social work left a conversation with them thinking of the many ways she could apply her education to serve older adults.
Who knows? One day, that woman may look back at Fassi and Bradley as the angels that led her to discover a new professional path.
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