For an academic, participating in conferences is important for lots of reasons: sharing research and having it critiqued, building networks, identifying collaboration opportunities, and staying up to date with advances in the field. For PhD students there are additional advantages: you can use conferences to make your name known outside your immediate geographical area, potentially […] … learn more→

Playing games is ubiquitous across all cultures and time periods – mainly because most people like playing games. Games involve rules, points, systems, as well as a theme or storyline and can be massively fun and engaging. And there is an increasing body of research that shows “gamification” – where other activities are designed to […] … learn more→

On April 24, graduate students at Yale University announced a hunger strike in support of Local 33 of Unite Here, a labor union that represents workers in a variety of industries (including higher education) in dozens of cities across North America. On May 22 – nearly a month later – more than 1,000 protesters joined […] … learn more→

There was a fascinating moment towards the end of Wednesday’s hearings of the Senate Inquiry into the Future of Public Interest Journalism. Journalist Michael West was at the stand. West’s experience is in many ways emblematic. Once a marquee investigator for Fairfax Media with multiple scoops to his name, West was made redundant in one […] … learn more→

The kangaroo campus court system is doing a fine job of wrecking lives; it has way too much power, and is devoid of anything resembling the checks and balances system necessary to anything resembling justice. Instead, our campus courts are merely reinforcing the totalitarian infantilism that has become the trademark of many of our universities. […] … learn more→

Should PhD supervisors publish with their students? Should PhD students include their supervisors as co-authors on articles emanating from their PhD projects? To many academics, the answer seems, self-evidently, yes. But some – especially, in our experience, in the social sciences – remain adamantly unconvinced. We have worked in two universities where PhD supervisors publishing […] … learn more→

For the first time, students may have to pay up to A$3271 for “enabling” courses, designed to prepare students for university study. The change was announced as part of the government’s recent higher education reform package. Until now, university enabling programs have been subsidised by the government – and are therefore free for students. The […] … learn more→

Earlier this month, I submitted my PhD in Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management at the University of New England Business School.  I did my PhD part-time, while I worked full-time in the IT sector, and I did my PhD through distance, so my project had a few challenges along the way.  I live in […] … learn more→

Last June, as I was leaving the polling station at which I had just voted in favour of the UK’s leaving the European Union, my eldest son was passing on his bicycle. He stopped to talk, but, on learning what I had done, he berated me, albeit jovially, mentioning in particular his difficulties in recruiting […] … learn more→

Most universities boast “centres” or “institutes” designed to announce their strengths in a certain field. But there’s more to it than that: when a university establishes a new centre, it is making a statement of intent. It’s saying that it perceives a need for more work in that area, and that it intends to drive […] … learn more→