International students are returning to Australia after almost two years of closed borders. The number of international students in Australia increased by 29,856 in the first six weeks after the Australian government opened the border to them in mid-December. But there are still about 300,000 fewer international students in Australia than before the pandemic. Around 147,000 current student visa […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
International students are coming back and it’s not just universities sighing with relief
Universities had record job losses, but not as many as feared – and the worst may be over
Many universities, facing revenue losses due to COVID-19, announced major staff cuts over the past two years. Estimates of the job losses have ranged from 12,000 by October 2020 to as high as 35,000 in the year to May 2021. These estimates drew on university announcements and a general ABS labour force survey. I explain the problems with these estimates in more detail here. […] … learn more→
Dislodging stuck writing
Do you have a bit of writing that is stuck? I don’t mean you can’t get any words down on the page. I mean you have some writing where you just can’t work out what to do next. You think. You put the writing away for a bit. You go for a walk. You do […] … learn more→
How does open assessment renew the scientific conversation?
The polarization of the discussions but also the scale of the public health issues in the debate on the scientific reliability of preprints have not always allowed the general public to grasp the importance of the peer review process – also called “evaluation” – for the functioning of the scientific community. The publishing model in today’s academic […] … learn more→
Do you have to suffer to earn your doctorate?
Doctoral students represent the future of research, innovation and teaching within universities and other institutions. But it would seem that this future is threatened: research has revealed the fragility of their mental health . The study that I conducted with my colleagues among doctoral students in the United Kingdom shows that the latter meet the clinical criteria for depression and anxiety more than the working […] … learn more→
Why community college students quit despite being almost finished
Community colleges are designed to make college more accessible, yet 6 out of every 10 community college students cannot reap the full rewards of higher education because they do not earn their degree. For graduates, rewards often include making more money. For society, the reward is citizens who are more likely to vote, volunteer and pay more in taxes. Among community college […] … learn more→
The PhD supply chain problem
It’s been a funny old start to the year hey? As I write this, in mid January, the Omicron variant is raging here in Australia. Supply chain problems are resulting as key workers either get sick, or have to isolate. Every visit to the supermarket is an adventure – you don’t know what you are […] … learn more→
COVID halved international student numbers in Australia. The risk now is we lose future skilled workers and citizens
The saying “you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone” reminds us not to take things for granted. It is often when we no longer have something or someone that we recognise the value of what we’ve lost. This is true of international students in Australia whose numbers halved during the pandemic. Can hindsight help us […] … learn more→
Universities need to focus on students – not teach to targets – to help them succeed
The Office for Students, England’s higher education regulator, has outlined new proposals to ensure university students reach “acceptable outcomes” from their studies. The proposals, released as consultation documents, include numerical targets. For full-time students, 80% of those studying for their first degree should continue in their study after the first year, 75% should complete their course, and […] … learn more→
On being lazy
I’ve been meaning to write this post all week. But I’ve not done so. And here I am on Sunday morning with the prospect of not having anything to publish, for the first time ever. I’ve sat at my desk on several occasions fully intending to write. But other things called to me – the […] … learn more→
