The transition to retirement has been the subject of considerable research both nationally (e.g., Fonseca, 2011) and internationally (Wood & Pachana, 2025). The literature consistently highlights the transition from professional life to retirement as a significant milestone in the life course of adults.

Within this context, we propose to develop this exploratory research project, which seeks to understand how the transition to retirement is experienced and perceived within the three Schools of Education belonging to the Polytechnic Institutes of Porto, Coimbra, and Viana do Castelo, considering both academic and non-academic staff. The central objective of the project is to contribute to a deeper understanding of retirement transition experiences in Portugal through the study of these specific workplace contexts.

More specifically, the project aims to explore work-related representations and expectations regarding retirement among professionals approaching this career transition (individuals aged 60 years and over), as well as the perceptions of those who have recently retired (within the last 0–5 years). In addition, the study seeks to understand how professionals who retired more than five years ago are currently living and how they have organised their lives beyond the period devoted to work within these public educational institutions.

Furthermore, given that all participants share a professional trajectory within one of the Schools of Education under study, the project intends to explore similarities and differences in both retirement expectations and actual retirement experiences. Particular attention will be paid to geographical factors (Porto, Viana do Castelo, and Coimbra), professional status (academic staff versus non-academic staff), gender, socioeconomic and cultural status, and the continuity or discontinuity of activities that promote agency, meaning, sense of purpose, and social status.

The study adopts a qualitative research design and employs semi-structured interviews with a non-probabilistic sample of academic and non-academic professionals from the three institutional contexts. Participants will be selected across different stages of the retirement process, including pre-retirement, transition-to-retirement, and post-retirement phases.

The findings generated by the project will contribute to a better understanding of retirement transition experiences among professionals working in a specific occupational context, exploring diverse individual pathways as well as the personal and contextual factors that facilitate or hinder successful adaptation to retirement. The study will also examine the perceived consequences of retirement for well-being and health.

Alongside this heuristic objective of advancing knowledge about retirement as a life-course process, the project also aims to generate practical recommendations for policies and support mechanisms that facilitate retirement transitions, thereby contributing to the development of practices that promote smoother and more positive retirement experiences.