Opinion

Don’t blame university support staff for not joining the strike over pensions – it is because too often they are left out of the conversation, says Fiona Whelan

Talk of making arts degrees cheaper than science courses disregards the mix of disciplines that creative industries demand, says Bashir Makhoul

Pensions industry must use academia’s knowledge to create more imaginative solutions to global pensions crisis, argues Lionel Martellini

Ahead of University Mental Health Day on 1 March, Robin Brinkworth argues that institutions must become far more open and accountable on how they are handling student problems

Warwick's vice-chancellor Stuart Croft explains how radical government action might help to avert the pensions strike affecting half of all UK universities

Extraordinary demand for a conference on how universities support staff with invisible disabilities highlights how ableism remains widespread in academia, argue Jennifer Leigh and Nicole Brown

Free Speech University Rankings coordinator Tom Slater says academics are peddling myths and smears to downplay the shocking level of censorship on campus

Nottingham Trent University’s chair of governors Neil Goulden explains why institutions need to do more to regain public esteem

Academics do not want to damage students' education but strike action is the only option left to protect pensions, says Sam Marsh

Canadian universities’ recruitment of teachers must be done purely on academic merit, say Rodney Clifton and Alexandra Burnett 

Their emphasis on cultivating understanding makes universities natural homes for those at war with their societies, says Shahidha Bari

Employers and workers want higher-level skills but apprenticeship infrastructure is still built around further education, says Adrian Anderson

Market forces unleashed on the UK university sector have pushed up senior pay, fuelled the rows over it and posed questions about ‘value for money’ that are shaping the future of universities

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Teaching would improve if all scholars were required to undertake regular secondments in industry, says Cecilia Chan

Alexander Clark and Bailey Sousa urge academics to leave their ‘fixed mindsets’ behind if they want their careers to flourish

The prime minister’s review of higher education is an exercise in self-harm that will also inflict damage on universities, says Patrick McGhee

Threats to dock pay from university staff working only their hours during the USS pensions dispute ignore academics’ unpaid hours, says Will Pooley

Murky cross-subsidy between university courses must be addressed by the government’s review of higher education funding, argues David Robinson

Launching the post-18 education review in Derby tells you all you need to know about why yet another look at HE is vital for the prime minister’s political future

The University of Essex’s vice-chancellor explains why he disagrees with Universities UK’s position on USS pension reform

Making arts and humanities degrees cheaper than science courses would be 'cultural heresy' and 'economic barbarism', argues the University of Hertfordshire's vice-chancellor Quintin McKellar

Sheffield Hallam University's vice-chancellor Chris Husbands explains why cutting tuition fees would harm social mobility and why variable fees are also a bad idea

Ahead of the prime minister’s speech on reforming university funding, Charles B. W. Prince suggests four routes to improving student finance

Getting professional experience puts postgraduates in situations that they are unlikely to have faced in their university life, says Alfredo Cumerma

The evidence used to compile Spiked Online’s Free Speech Rankings is not to be trusted, says Carl Thompson

Sarah Stevens looks at how universities are endeavouring to deliver the skills and learning the UK needs

Analysis of government data reveals that Australian universities’ surpluses have effectively halved over the past six years, says Conor King

The UK Border Agency’s treatment of non-EU musicians is undermining vital cultural exchange, says Michael Edwards

US universities’ public approval is best guaranteed by boldly defending non-partisan values such as tolerance and free speech, says Darren Linvill

The concept of the graduate career is breaking down as university leavers spread across the employment spectrum, says Gerbrand Tholen

Ignore the politicians’ jibes: history is crucial to develop critical minds, make sense of the present and prepare people for the future

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Compound interest rates of 6.1 per cent on student loans are unfair and create a debt trap responsible for today’s worsening mental health crisis, says Estelle Clarke

The ‘leaky pipeline’ metaphor for the lack of women at senior levels of academia can demotivate those whose professional paths meander, says Aileen Fyfe

A law graduate’s attempt to sue the University of Oxford for £1 million over ‘inadequate teaching’ sheds far more light on how students learn than current TEF metrics, says Gill Evans

Successful trials of a robot tutor should encourage universities to ask which roles can never be replaced by artificial intelligence, argues Robert MacIntosh

Attending the criminal trial of a dissident scholar brings home the inhumanity of Turkey’s academic purge, says Masi Noor, and underlines the importance of showing solidarity

Universities must resist the urge to make knee-jerk cuts after disappointing application numbers – better times are on the horizon and we must be prepared, says Zahir Irani

Universities’ demands are taking too great a toll on individuals’ health and happiness, as our first work-life balance survey shows

The former Soviet state’s National Academy of Sciences is too focused on its own survival to improve its research performance, says Ararat Osipian

Books offer an experience, evidence trail and egalitarianism that could never be digitised, say Al Martinich and Tom Palaima

Suspension is a legal and emotional minefield that can blow up in managers’ faces, says a wrongfully suspended scholar 

Academics routinely offer praise and encouragement to their students. Why are they so reluctant to offer it to each other? asks Terri Apter

New Office for Students guidance hints at a more adversarial approach to sector that most wish to avoid, says Gill Evans

Accepting that your doctoral studies will sometimes take second place to family commitments is part of the journey of a PhD student mother, says Annabelle Workman

Universities must dramatically increase their levels of technical training to close the skills gap and deliver social justice, says Robert Halfon

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Just as the ‘little red dot’ city state has made an indelible mark on the global stage, president of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Subra Suresh examines how his institution has garnered attention

China’s Southern University of Science and Technology puts an overriding emphasis on knitting together talented people from all regions and levels, says its president, Shiyi Chen

Futao Huang considers the five nations trying to compete with China, Asia’s higher education superpower

Growing interest in the student mental health crisis is welcome, but it is overburdened hourly paid lecturers who are most at risk of stress in universities, says Sam Christie

Qatar is improving its university system faster than any other world economy, explains Cesar Wazen

Universities must do more to tackle the class privilege that is still rife in the ranks of academia, says Louise Morley

Long-held beliefs about the UK’s hierarchy of institutions do not stand up to scrutiny, and hold back progress, argues Edward Peck

As Theresa May concludes her trade visit to China, Tim Bradshaw reflects on how research-intensive universities have paved the way for increased East-West trade

But sophisticated New Zealand analysis also belies assumption that highly educated international students are most likely to find local employment, says Roger Smyth

India has made clear that education is key to a future trade deal; the UK must take note, says Lord Bilimoria

Asian universities in particular are embracing a technological future, but they should bear in mind the words of two wise Americans, says Alice Gast

Better policy would result from improved global scrutiny of student migration, says Rajika Bhandari