Strategic Hrm for Managing Multigenerational Academic Workforces in Higher Education

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-539-3_20How to use a DOI?

Keywords

strategic HRM; multigenerational workforce; higher education; generational diversity; organizational effectiveness

Abstract

Purpose: To examine how strategic HRM can manage multigenerational academic workforces in higher education and address the gap in tailoring practices to reflect values across Baby Boomers to Gen Z.

Design/methodology/approach: Explanatory sequential mixed-methods design with triangulated data from surveys and in-depth interviews (n > 300) across multiple universities. The analysis integrates AMO (Ability–Motivation–Opportunity) and life-course perspectives within an SHRM framework, considering governance constraints in HEIs.

Findings: Significant generational differences emerge in leadership preferences, career development priorities, and work–life balance needs. Uniform HR practices are insufficient to sustain engagement and retention; an integrative, generationally informed SHRM framework better aligns individual needs with institutional goals, fostering higher perceived organizational support and commitment.

Practical implications: Universities should implement cohort-responsive HR policies—such as differentiated development pathways, flexible performance management, and adaptable work–life arrangements—within existing governance structures to enhance engagement, productivity, and retention.

Originality/value: Provides a theoretically grounded, methodologically robust framework for generationally informed SHRM in higher education, offering actionable guidance for policy and practice and a blueprint for future empirical testing.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Nguyen Thi Phuong Nam
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/02/17
TI  - Strategic Hrm for Managing Multigenerational Academic Workforces in Higher Education
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Culture and Humanity in the Era of Rising and Integration (ICDHV 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 266
EP  - 290
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-539-3_20
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-539-3_20
ID  - Nam2026
ER  -