One of the most difficult things I’ve had to deal with whilst working on my PhD is managing the expectations of my university. In the end, I realised we were working towards two different goals. While we both wanted me to complete the PhD, our relationship was more complicated than that. My Graduate School and […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Dealing with administrative grief
Networking that works
Does everyone keep telling you that the key to a successful career is to have great networks? Well, I hate to be the one to say it again, but it’s true. Having great networks makes working life – and research life in particular – much, much easier and more fun. Where I diverge from much […] … learn more→
More Professors letting students pick their grades
At many schools, faculty face tremendous pressure to pass students, even if those students never demonstrate understanding of the material…even if they ever even show up. I’ve certainly been at places where I felt I needed permission to fail students, both from the student and from admin. Every single time there’s been a problem with […] … learn more→
MOOC: the revolution did not take place
Allowing anyone who wishes to attend the courses of the most prestigious universities, without prior diploma and from all over the world, this is the attractive prospect opened up by the rise of massive open online courses (MOOC) in From 2012. To support the institutions in the design of these online programs, the Ministry of Higher Education launched in […] … learn more→
Peer reviewed research: Women put off of Stem because syllabi are “chilly”
There are many things men aren’t particularly good at, or even suited for. Lactating is as good an example as any. Yes, you can totally have a male lactate from medical conditions or drugs. It’s not even sexist to ask women not to lactate at work, since men can do it as well (our court […] … learn more→
I acted like a complete jerk to my students just to prove a point
During a recent lecture, I purposefully antagonized students. I belittled one student by criticizing him in front of others. I favored another student by telling other students they should be more like her. I responded impatiently to questions. I told one student his contribution to class was incompetent. Yes, I felt like a jerk by […] … learn more→
A thesis supervisor, what’s the point?
To embark on a doctorate is to accept to question one’s certainties and achievements to venture on previously unexplored fields. In this face-to-face three to five years at once exciting and challenging that engages with his subject, the young researcher is however not alone. As stated in the decree establishing the national framework for doctoral training in […] … learn more→
Means-tested fees come with a lower political price tag
It is an intriguing coincidence that just as the Augar Review plunges England into yet another round of introspection on tuition fees, the biggest idea sweeping higher education finance across the globe is one that England itself abandoned for no particularly good reason about a decade ago. Between 1998 and 2006, the headline tuition fee […] … learn more→
Sub-prime College crash quietly continues
“Sub-prime” refers to loans which basically should never be made, because the borrower has no legitimate chance of paying it back. The sub-prime real estate crash of 2008 came very close to revealing the fundamental fraud of the entire economic system, only the last minute printing of trillions of dollars and handing it over to […] … learn more→
University students: how to manage the stress of studying for your degree
According to the recently published Natwest Student Living Index, 64% of university students rated the stress of studying for their degree as seven or above out of ten. Other studies have estimated that up to 82% of UK university students suffer from stress and anxiety, and the number of students dropping out of university due to mental health problems […] … learn more→
