For decades, colleges, government agencies and foundations have experimented with recruitment and retention efforts designed to increase diversity in engineering programs. However, the efforts have not significantly boosted the number of women, students of color, individuals with disabilities and other underrepresented groups studying and earning degrees in STEM and engineering fields. Latino, Black, Native American and Alaska Native students are […] … learn more→

Inserting brief quiz questions into an online lecture can boost learning and may reduce racial achievement gaps, even when students are tuning in remotely in a distracting environment. That’s a main finding of our recent research published in Communications Psychology. With co-authors Dahwi Ahn, Hymnjyot Gill and Karl Szpunar, we present evidence that adding mini-quizzes into an online lecture […] … learn more→

Graduate students interested in an academic career after graduation day have often been told they need to be open to moving somewhere they may not want to live. This advice is because of how hard it is to get a tenure-track professor position. These days, this advice may be less relevant as graduate students are increasingly pursuing and […] … learn more→

As the Class of 2025 graduates into an uncertain and fast-changing working world, they face a crucial question: What does it mean to be successful? Is it better to take a job that pays more, or one that’s more prestigious? Should you prioritize advancement, relationship building, community impact or even the opportunity to live somewhere new? […] … learn more→

In a world facing complex and interrelated challenges—such as climate change, poverty, accelerated disruption from new technologies, migration, and international conflict—the social sciences play a fundamental, though often undervalued, role in the search for sustainable solutions. Faced with this challenge, ten leading European universities in the social sciences are joining forces in CIVICA to discuss the need […] … learn more→

I’m a writing professor who sees artificial intelligence as more of an opportunity for students, rather than a threat. That sets me apart from some of my colleagues, who fear that AI is accelerating a glut of superficial content, impeding critical thinking and hindering creative expression. They worry that students are simply using it out of […] … learn more→

In the most non-controversial and basic sense, the rule of law means formal legality. The law binds citizens and governments. When it comes to nation states, law is enacted by democratically elected legislatures; legal statutes are openly available and sufficiently clear to follow. State actions can be judicially reviewed for compliance with a constitution. In its […] … learn more→

In early April 2025, the Trump administration terminated the immigration statuses of thousands of international students listed in a government database, meaning they no longer had legal permission to be in the country. Some students self-deported instead of facing deportation. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently announced that it would reverse the terminations after courts across the country […] … learn more→

Recently, some colleagues and I released a paper about the experiences of neurodivergent PhD students. It’s a systematic review of the literature to date, which is currently under review, but available via pre-print here. Doing this paper was an exercise in mixed feelings. It was an absolute joy to work with my colleagues, who knew far […] … learn more→

The sustainability of our planet is a challenge that requires us to change the way we live and consume. There is a key place where the professionals of the immediate future are being trained: the university. What can it do to promote a profound change in perspective and a sustainable revolution? The answer is: a […] … learn more→