I said, you said. Is conflict resolution about one side winning? It’s not. Usually, a good resolution involves identifying how parties have a concern for both self and others. Social psychologists Dean Pruitt and Jeffrey Z. Rubin discussed this as the “dual concern” concept of conflict management. The best resolutions involve this balancing of needs. I had […] … learn more→

“We would like to wholeheartedly invite you to give the introductory keynote speech at our conference,” said the message on Research Gate. “Oh yeah,” I thought, “Another scam conference invitation!” But one that was not scheduled for Las Vegas or Bangkok. Working from the cautious maxim that I should not be so cynical, I decided […] … learn more→

Congratulations on PhD graduation! But what’s next? To be frank, I do not know. Don’t take me wrong, I’m not saying I do not have life goals. In fact, I am very clear about the kind of person I want to be. I’m driven by curiosity, I like listening to people’s thoughts and ideas, and […] … learn more→

It took a Nobel Prize before Canadian physicist Donna Strickland got promoted to a full professorship. As anecdotal evidence that women have to prove themselves even more than men to earn a job promotion, her story is hard to beat. Looking deeper, it’s more complex than outright sexism. Strickland herself dismissed suggestions her career had ever been stymied […] … learn more→

Theory is explanation. Last post I suggested that this understanding might help to reduce fear of theory. This week, another piece in the fright reduction puzzle. Something else that might help reduce fear of theory is the understanding that not every piece of research uses theory. But all research, regardless of its aims and objectives and […] … learn more→

Around 50,000,000 people have student loans (more official numbers are like 45,000,000, but I dispute their accounting methods). The bulk of these people have taken these loans in exchange for worthless college credits, while perhaps 20% actually managed to get a degree, with the value of such a degree varying from $0 to, well, something […] … learn more→

President Joko Widodo often touched the performance of the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education (Kemristekdikti) regarding the competitiveness of universities in Indonesia which he considered to be unsatisfactory. Lastly, last October, Jokowi was surprised why only three universities (PTs) had succeeded in entering the world’s top 2018 universities in 2018 version of Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) . The President […] … learn more→

How to respond to requirements that arise from the provision of knowledge in contexts where requests for technical expertise in health or medical intervention are increasing? In June 2018, at the West African Research Center (WARC) in Dakar, we presented for the first time our collective book Tu seras docteur.e mon enfant , in the presence of […] … learn more→

This week the government asked former High Court Chief Justice Robert French to head an inquiry into free speech on universities. Education minister Dan Tehan claimed it was because concerns had been raised about people shutting down the views of those they disagree with, and security costs for controversial speakers on campus. Universities are accusing the minister of “jumping to the […] … learn more→

Kelsey Hrubes knew she had a challenge on her hands when she visited Germany as a study abroad student back in 2015. “I was forced to adapt to cultural norms I had never considered before and try to comprehend everything in a new language,” recalls Hrubes, a software engineer at Microsoftand 2017 Iowa State graduate in […] … learn more→