Doctoral students show high levels of stress in comparison to other students, and ongoing uncertainty in terms of graduate career outcomes can make matters worse. Before the pandemic, one in five research students were expected to disengage from their PhD. Disengagement includes taking extended leave, suspending their studies or dropping out entirely. COVID-19 has made those statistics far worse. […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
1 in 5 PhD students could drop out. Here are some tips for how to keep going
Why young people still want to go to university, even though it’ll be very different to usual
Applications to universities in the UK have increased during the COVID-19 lockdown. UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, has reported a 1.6% increase from last year, and over 40% of all UK 18-year-olds have now applied to university. This rise may come as a surprise. The university experience for those starting in autumn 2020 will be very […] … learn more→
We need a Tripadvisor for PhD examiners
Defending your doctoral thesis should never be an overly comfortable affair for candidates. After all, those seeking academia’s highest award should expect their research to be thoroughly tested by experts in their discipline. But too often, UK PhD vivas are recalled as frightening and upsetting encounters that many spend their careers trying to forget. I […] … learn more→
How to excel at the ‘structured improvisation’ of online teaching
As leaders of an executive MBA at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business, we felt the burden of expectations as we discarded our established game plans in March and started again with a virtual delivery model. This is, after all, an EMBA in digital transformation, designed to develop leaders for an age of technological disruption. […] … learn more→
Universities must collaborate to better inform public policy
The coronavirus pandemic has brought many unexpected changes – including a sudden prime-time role for government scientific advisers. What has until recently been rather a niche area within both government policymaking and university activity has now found itself centre stage – with not a few pitfalls along the way. As well as exposing some of […] … learn more→
Sending international students home would sap US influence and hurt the economy
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, made a decision on July 6 regarding international students in the U.S. that will affect far more than just the roughly 870,000 international students themselves. Based on what I know about the power and influence of higher education in the U.S., this decision could increase the tuition American students pay, cost thousands of jobs […] … learn more→
How not to be an academic A-H during Covid
I’m popping a content warning at the top of this one: I’m going to talk about mental health and quitting the PhD. If that’s not good for you to read right now, feel free click away. As lockdown closed on Australia in March, I posed a question: should you quit (go part time or pause) your […] … learn more→
Corporate statements on racial equality must lead to real change
Over the past few weeks, the Black Lives Matter protests have moved from the streets into boardrooms. Public bodies and private companies across the Western world are revisiting their histories, publishing statements apologising for past involvement in slavery and committing themselves to tackling racial injustice in future. But is this ephemeral virtue signalling or a […] … learn more→
How to write a law essay in an exam
If you ask any student about the most difficult period during his or her college years, the answer will be unambiguous – finals. Taking exams is a challenging and nerve-racking process. It takes a lot of time and energy. When it comes time to write an exam, the greater part of students gets confused and […] … learn more→
Towards a non-classroom university? Decalogue for essential reflection
Among many others in many different fields, one of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the need to resort to the development of online learning , given the impossibility of doing it in person. The phenomenon is not at all new, since it had previously registered significant progress at all educational levels. But the current crisis situation has […] … learn more→
