Is your latest career success testimony to your no doubt commendable talents? Connecting career achievements to ability seems obvious – and crucial in today’s competitive academic environment. Yet we would argue that we are often blind to the connections between ourselves and our work, and seriously underestimate the influence that our mindset has over career […] … learn more→

I have worked exclusively with PhD students for over a decade now. I have clocked up the 10,000 hours Malcolm Gladwell says you need to be an expert, so I hereby declare myself an expert in the problems of research education. One sign that you can genuinely claim the title of ‘expert’ is when you […] … learn more→

It’s no secret many of our institutions of higher education have a real problem with rabid, vicious, White-Hating Social Justice Warriors (or SJWs, or Leftists, if you prefer) overrunning campuses across the county. For “converged” institutions, that is, institutions where the takeover is complete, I see no solution beyond bulldozers. These guys have no tolerance […] … learn more→

Earlier I covered a position for a Kentucky physicist where the job posting made it perfectly clear that no white person could get the job, on account of being white. Admin made it perfectly clear that the posting was a mistake. Honest, they would consider any candidate, regardless of skin color, so they say (wink, […] … learn more→

Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s recently released their updated outlooks for American higher education. The news is not good. Moody’s revised its 2018 outlook for higher education from stable to negative “as aggregate operating revenue moderates while expense growth increases.” Moody’s vice president, Susan E. Shaffer, elaborated: “the annual change in aggregate operating revenue for four-year colleges […] … learn more→

As you probably already know Inger, Shaun and I are writing a book about Academic Writing Trouble and How to Fix It that distills the advice you would get if you took us out for lunch and asked us your most pressing questions. I’d love to have lunch with every single one of you, but […] … learn more→

As a college student, you are on your own. You are living your best life (let’s face it, the college years are some of the best years!) and you are doing your own thing while trying to earn a degree. The beauty of higher education is that you aren’t limited to the colleges or universities […] … learn more→

Thinking of using images in your thesis? Good idea. And easy to do with everything now being digital. I love an image. I enjoy a photograph. I like a good diagram. I’m happy pouring over a graph or table. But not always. And I’m not alone. Key thesis readers, the examiners, are not always thrilled when […] … learn more→

In earlier essays I mentioned how once a Social Justice Warrior gets control of hiring, it’s a lockdown: all further hires are SJWs, or Progressives, or Leftists, or whatever you want to call them. Now, as evidence for my claim I could simply point to the strong Leftist leanings of the admin/faculty/staff on our campuses: […] … learn more→

Bank clerks, hotel receptionists and assembly line workers might eventually be replaced by technology because their roles are structured and repetitive in nature. For those in higher education, there is the reassurance that teaching students, grading assignments and undertaking research require the services of a living, breathing academic. A permanent position is still exactly that, […] … learn more→