It’s a tough time to be a university student. Amid a global pandemic, overstretched mental health services and sweeping university staff cuts, students have had to attend classes and hand in assignments while juggling work, family and finances. For international students, isolation, cultural differences and extra expenses added to their worries. Unsurprisingly, university enrolments have […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Stressed out, dropping out: COVID has taken its toll on uni students
The future of agriculture: why unis must prepare students to secure both our food and our planet
Agriculture will soon be worth A$100 billion a year to Australia. The industry employs more than 250,000 people, stewards 80% of our land area and drives world-class agribusiness and food sectors. In an uncertain employment market, every new agriculture graduate has a choice of six job opportunities. Agriculture today is fast-paced, global, diverse, reliant on high-end scientific discovery and increasingly responsive […] … learn more→
Racial stereotypes drive students of color away from STEM, but many still persist
Dominique, a Black electrical engineering doctoral student, found herself in an awkward situation in the lounge of a hotel where she had been attending a conference on science. A white man at her table assumed a nearby Black woman was on the hotel cleaning staff, so he asked her to clean their table. The woman […] … learn more→
Working up a first draft: a twelve step strategy
If you are drafting, it is pretty easy to find a lot of advice about the benefits of free writing. Lots of people find that timed writing sprints help to generate content. Unstructured writing is useful to work out what you want want to say. The pomodoro sprint works really well for many academic writers, […] … learn more→
Covid will downsize universities’ overseas partnerships
Good news on Covid vaccines has finally provided hope that the international student number may bounce back sooner rather than later. But the journey to something close to “normal” will be a tough one and the final destination may bear little resemblance to the student recruitment market that existed before the pandemic. The most immediate […] … learn more→
Universities can help the US retake its seat at the global table
On his first day in office, President-elect Biden vows to take swift action to ensure that the US rejoins the World Health Organization and Paris Climate Accord. But while the US might be about to rejoin the international community, it should not return to its old role as “leader of the free world”. That […] … learn more→
Feel free to disagree on campus … by learning to do it well
The French Review didn’t confirm a “free speech crisis” in Australian universities. But nor did its report last year confirm free speech was “alive and well”, as Universities Australia would have it. In many university policies the report found vague language, which could rule out voicing a view deemed offensive. Most universities have updated their policies in […] … learn more→
Give postgraduate scholarships to those who need them most
The postgraduate scholarship process is a tedious business for everyone. But it is a living nightmare for working-class students. Specifically, it is a nightmare in which you’re being chased by a ravenous monster – who bears an uncanny resemblance to both your landlord and your university bursar – while searching desperately for one of the […] … learn more→
Computer science jobs pay well and are growing fast. Why are they out of reach for so many of America’s students?
When it comes to the digital divide, often the focus is on how lack of internet service and basic technology will hurt students’ academic performance. This is particularly true during the pandemic, when most schools are operating online. But as a STEM educator at one of the nation’s elite historically Black colleges, I see another negative effect of the […] … learn more→
Most of Australia’s uni leaders are white, male and grey. This lack of diversity could be a handicap
Australian universities are diverse places. They are a mix of students, staff and communities from different demographic backgrounds. This is not true of the people who run universities. Higher education leaders tend to have backgrounds that are “WEIRD”: Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic. In 2018, of the 699 governing council roles across Australia’s 41 universities, 94% […] … learn more→
