Parking space is a major concern for many universities. You want to enroll more students in your school, but you only have a limited amount of space to work with. If you enroll too many students, and they all decide to drive to campus, you’ll quickly run out of parking space and create traffic jams. […] … learn more→

U.S. colleges and universities will be embracing diversity training with renewed vigor this fall. In response to the killing of George Floyd, the massive Black Lives Matter protests and pressure from students, dozens of colleges and universities have made public commitments to new anti-racism initiatives. The University of Florida will require all students, faculty and staff to undergo training on “racism, inclusion […] … learn more→

Many people – me included – start their career in the so called academic hunger games ‘gig economy’. It’s common to try to cobble together some kind of living wage from multiple jobs – most of them paid by the hour or extremely short contracts. Some people call this a ‘portfolio career’: but this always seems to […] … learn more→

Thinking of starting a doctorate? Already deep into PhDing and worried about the literature work? Well, when it comes to working with literatures, the old saying that there’s more than one way to skin a cat might be ugly, but it contains an important truth.  There is no one best way to do a literature review. But […] … learn more→

The series of measures that China has launched to protect graduates against the worst economic consequences of the Covid-19 epidemic include a significant expansion of postgraduate enrolment. But while 189,000 extra places might be good news for candidates competing for a place this year, it has triggered concerns in China about the possible devaluation of […] … learn more→

#MeToo was widely heralded as a tipping point. Women, it seemed, were actually being believed about their own experiences. Following a media exposé and the bravery of women speaking out, Harvey Weinstein was jailed. But this is one perpetrator. So how much do we really believe women as credible authors of their own experiences? Brett […] … learn more→

  I have stopped counting the number of times that I have heard academics use “binary” as a description of contempt. In academic conferences and workshops, the mere mention of the word provokes knowing smiles of derision towards those accused of “simplistic binary thinking”. Binary concepts – such as “us and them”, “man and woman”, […] … learn more→

Whatever happens elsewhere in the world, the universities of Hong Kong will never return to normal after the end of the Covid crisis. Higher education systems across the globe have been deeply shaken by the pandemic, but Hong Kong’s has been triply blighted. First, we saw a wave of temporary university closures in response to protests at […] … learn more→

A recent review of available pathways after secondary school into work, further education and training recommended all students leave school with a learner profile. Recommendation four of the report, commissioned by the Education Council, said: Students should leave school with a Learner Profile that incorporates not only their ATAR score (where relevant) together with their individual subject […] … learn more→

Colleges routinely assess faculty research, but few have thought carefully about why they want faculty to engage in research. They should. For 35 years, I was a student, postdoc and faculty member at top universities and research institutes, where “doing science” was at the top of the job description. Seven years ago, I switched gears […] … learn more→