Animal (or in vivo) experiments play an important role in biomedical research. They are essential to support the development of innovative medicines that can ultimately improve human and animal health. But for these studies to be scientifically valid, laboratory animals must be used appropriately by researchers. Similarly, researchers must be able to meaningfully interpret and […] … learn more→
Using animals in biomedical research: why education holds the key
School safety commission misses the mark by ignoring guns
A federal school safety commission that formed after the Parkland, Florida, school massacre won’t be focusing on guns. That’s according to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who statedrecently that firearms were “not part of the commission’s charge per se.” She made the remark in response to a U.S. senator who asked if the commission would consider the role of firearms in […] … learn more→
How does a society lose respect for experience and age?
In the days since Academe published my essay, “The Monument and the Wrecking Crew: Ageism in the Academy,” which explored the misery of individuals and the high costs to society at large of losing tenure, additional faculty members have written to tell me their formerly hidden stories. The ways of getting rid of tenured people, comparatively protected from […] … learn more→
The dreaded doctoral defense
Most universities in the United States require a final doctoral defense of your precious work, although the procedures and formats may different from those in other countries. In the U.S., the advisory committee you’ve had a love-hate relationship with throughout your dissertation constitutes your defense committee as well. In other countries, the defense may be […] … learn more→
Wyoming best practices: Destroy Higher Ed
A few years back, I called attention to changes to the way how higher education in Wisconsin was being run. Namely, they were introducing new rules which potentially could eliminate tenure, annihilate academics, and reorganize higher education into a jobs training program. Naturally, the politicos making the changes said that the “potential” was just pure […] … learn more→
Are universities such as Oxford biased towards class or race?
A senior lecturer in my department – a white, working-class woman – was telling me about her daughter who was applying to Ucas a few years ago. When she suggested Oxbridge, her daughter replied, “It’s not for the likes of us, Mum.” Her mother was sad and disheartened that even as a university academic, her child didn’t feel that her […] … learn more→
Global market overview of technical talent shortage
Taking into account the tech talent gap in the prevailing demand/supply market of software developers around the world, many entrepreneurs, nowadays choose to develop an offshore software development company to avoid the local tech talent shortage. In the software development industry, a large number of technical hiring takes place through the recruitment agencies with different […] … learn more→
Students need IT skills to compete in the new economy
By 2026, employment in computer and information technology occupations is projected to grow 13 percent over what it was in 2016. Jobs in these fields will require skills in cloud computing, big data collection and storage, information security and more. As I argue in a forthcoming paper in the Journal of Monetary Economics with Giovanni Gallipoli, these information technology – […] … learn more→
Universities should drop criminal records from admissions process
News that Ucas is removing the requirement for applicants to declare if they have relevant unspent convictions when applying to university is a significant step forward. It recognises how, for the past two decades, access to higher education in the UK for people with a criminal record has been perceived as very difficult and has deterred many […] … learn more→
The Computer scientist “shortage”
Although there is a Ph.D. glut for much of higher education, there is one field where there’s something of a shortage: computer science. A recent article on Inside Higher Ed highlights the immense cluelessness of the “leaders” which led to this situation, although the author of the article seems to miss this detail: System Crash […] … learn more→