Blog Archives

To fix higher education funding, we also need to fix vocational education

To fix higher education funding, we also need to fix vocational education

Yesterday the shadow education minister, Tanya Plibersek, announcedLabor plans to invest an additional A$174 million in the higher education sector if there’s a change of government at the next election. This extra funding would be to give first in family students, students from outer suburbs and the country, Indigenous students, and students with a disability a […] … learn more→

Black student activists face penalty in college admissions

Black student activists face penalty in college admissions

Back when I taught at a predominantly white, selective liberal arts college, I came across a book called “Acting White? Rethinking Race in ‘Post-Racial’ America.” In the book, legal scholars Devon Carbado and Mitu Gulati argue that in the “post-racial” era, white-controlled organizations prefer to hire “‘good blacks’ who will think of themselves as people first […] … learn more→

Digitising the historical fight for women’s equality at Cambridge

Digitising the historical fight for women’s equality at Cambridge

Two small boxes in the department of archives and modern manuscripts at Cambridge University Library contain a few pieces of detritus from an extraordinary afternoon in Cambridge in 1897. That day, crowds of undergraduates gathered to protest against a change in ordinances that would allow women to be granted degrees and membership of the university. […] … learn more→

Films should be an academic focus

Films should be an academic focus

I arrived at the Hotel Château Bethlehem in Maastricht moments before I was due to speak. Delays in London, Brussels and Liège meant that I staggered through the doors late, exhausted and dehydrated. I slipped off my backpack, let my tripod clatter against the leg of a chair and blundered straight into some introductory words […] … learn more→

Advice on fellowships

Advice on fellowships

Fellowship applications are hard. They force you to stand alone. You are often applying early in your career, when you feel like you don’t have much to skite about. The temptation to puff yourself up is overwhelming – then you read back on it and it makes you want to vomit, just a bit. On […] … learn more→

California U: We must remove whites from campus

California U: We must remove whites from campus

Identity politics has been an issue on campus for as long as I’ve been in higher ed. It used to be primarily in hiring, where we were “motivated” to hire people with certain genitals or skin color, on the basis that there “weren’t enough” of such in associated positions. I confess for some time I […] … learn more→

Can writing skills impact the education gap?

Can writing skills impact the education gap?

Writing plays a significant role in helping students put together their ideas and develop their thinking skills. In order to improve their knowledge and adapt to the demands of the working environment, students need a lot of practice and as often as possible. When it comes to writing, there is always the thought that it […] … learn more→