Educators around the world, particularly those in secondary schools, often default to a compelling story when they are trying to motivate their students: Work hard, achieve well and you will secure a successful future with attractive job prospects. This is currently the conventional wisdom across much of the Western world, with strong links drawn between […] … learn more→

Deciding to start a PhD is alternately exciting and terrifying, especially if you need a scholarship to afford to study. In 2012, I decided to do my PhD. I wrote an application, put together my support documents for Honours 1 equivalency (at 83% I was a few points short of a greatly desired First), and […] … learn more→

Lots of doctoral researchers worry about the Th word, Theory. When said aloud, you can often hear the capital T. It must be important. Theory. And perhaps because of the capital T, the question “What’s your theoretical framework?” can reduce doctoral researchers to a state of near panic. Now, theory is a term which often […] … learn more→

Recently, Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay published a peer-reviewed paper, subsequently retracted by the publisher, titled “The Conceptual Penis”. The paper was ridiculous in every respect. It appeared in a peer-reviewed journal, albeit one that’s pay-to-publish. These journals require the author to pay “page fees” for publishing. They may be rigorous but typically have low circulation, which […] … learn more→

“Excuse me professor, but can you write me a letter of reference?” Every semester, one student, sometimes more, will ask me for a letter of reference. Even with large classes, I still have standout students, and so if I can remember even a little about the student, I do so, presenting what I know in […] … learn more→

In 1999, as an undergraduate student in modern languages at the University of Oxford, I stumbled upon a documentary about bioethics featuring an interview with Jean Bernard, a renowned and by then elderly French haematologist, bioethicist and member of the Académie Française. He described the remarkable changes in medicine during the 20th century – from […] … learn more→

The first group of borrowers who tried to get Public Service Loan Forgiveness – a George W. Bush-era program meant to provide relief to those who went into socially valuable but poorly paid public service jobs, such as teachers and social workers – mostly ran into a brick wall. Of the 28,000 public servants who applied for Public […] … learn more→

Title This must be in two parts, separated by a colon. The fragment before the colon uses a colloquial expression preferred by your research subjects, something grammatically dubious and profane. This is placed in quotation marks to demonstrate your personal distance from it. The short sentence after the colon establishes your knowledge of the chosen […] … learn more→

The link between educational attainment and income has long been known. Now Australians have more information about what graduates earn from different universities and courses. A recent report shows graduates from NSW universities generally have the highest median income. Unsurprisingly, so do graduates from dentistry and medicine courses. It’s tempting to think these results show how some […] … learn more→

On many campuses, the political bias is massive, to the point that a student could easily spend all four years on campus without hearing any “conservative” opinions, much less meeting an actual conservative professor. Trouble is, despite what our legacy media keeps screaming at us, lots of people have conservative views. This includes devout followers […] … learn more→