Same challenge, different forms: A comparative study of age-friendly university readiness, barriers, and opportunities in two Turkish universities

This study examines how academic staff at two Turkish public universities, Ege University (İzmir) and Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University (Bolu), perceive and evaluate their institutions’ capacity to become Age-Friendly Universities (AFU), and compares the institutions’ distinct trajectories toward age-friendliness. Employing a qualitative comparative design with four focus group interviews (n = 29), guided by the AFU principles and the World Health Organization Age-Friendly Cities and Communities framework, and reported in accordance with the 32-item COREQ checklist, the study identifies five interconnected themes: institutional engagement gaps, social and community integration needs, physical accessibility barriers, intergenerational learning and knowledge transfer, and digital literacy and technology challenges. A consistent cross-institutional contrast emerged: Ege University exhibits more established, institutionalized provision (e.g. a Third Age University and a continuing-education center), whereas Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University advances through newer, individually driven initiatives, in particular its Co-Learning University program designed around older adults’ educational needs. Despite these differences, both campuses share substantial unmet needs in physical accessibility, communication reach, retired-faculty engagement, and disaster preparedness for older adults. No Turkish university currently holds membership in the AFU Global Network, and this study is, to our knowledge, the first empirical investigation of the AFU framework in Turkey. The study extends AFU literature to a rapidly aging national context and demonstrates that institutional maturity shapes the form, but not the fundamental nature, of the age-friendly transformation challenge.