Blog

The never-ending checklist of skills required by academia means careers advice is rarely consistent, says Maarten van Smeden

The Turing mobility scheme is a poor substitute for Erasmus+ but UK universities must learn to love it or it will soon crumble, says Marcus Dowse

Researchers should campaign with the public to build back better, say Stephen Bradley, Jessica Butler and Chris Chambers

When students can’t or won’t cross borders, universities can do it instead, says Wing Lam

The unique skills that academics bring to local projects underline that they change lives well beyond the lecture theatre, says Zahir Irani

Biden must unravel the whole sordid mass of restrictive laws and venomous vitriol that drove down overseas enrolments, says Aditya Sharma

The way US graduation figures are calculated misses out those with a non-traditional path through higher education, says Corey S. Bradford

It is often forgotten that this group suffers from even worse educational outcomes than white, working-class boys, says Nick Braisby 

The new coronavirus variant means that the costs to public health outweigh any pedagogic benefits of reopening campuses sooner, says Simon Williams

Senior administrators should serve the greater good, not pander to their most powerful stakeholders, says Kathy Johnson Bowles

New research shows that inadequate oversight is leaving institutions dangerously exposed, says Andrew Kakabadse

The president-elect may have academic connections, but the path from campus to cabinet is rarely travelled successfully, say three political scientists

Having surveyed thousands of instructors on their lockdown experiences, James T. Walker discusses two key findings and their practical implications

The European programme’s globe-spanning successor, the Turing scheme, is more suited to meeting today’s challenges, says Louise Nicol

The Turing scheme’s focus on outbound mobility will take the UK off the map for most European exchange students, laments Barbara Lorber

Nurturing talent via teaching and research is a well-established pathway to building an innovative, prosperous society, says Dawn Freshwater

Universities may think they have more pressing priorities than the UN’s SDGs. But they don’t, say Martha McPherson and Kate Roll

The proposed Turing scheme will be hard to set up – especially given its lack of reciprocity, says Martin Paul

University administrative staff are often the first point of contact for troubled students but training on how to manage these encounters is non-existent, says Sarah Bones

Uneasy bonds between lecturers and education specialists must be strengthened to deliver post-pandemic learning, says Neil Mosley

Growing impatience with online learning in South Korea highlights the limitations of socially distanced teaching, says Justin Fendos

Practitioners have a lot to teach students, but the value of research training should not be dismissed lightly, says Sam Christie

Some countries and institutions are already grabbing the chance to widen access, says Graeme Atherton

Essay mills’ opportunism, preying on student anxiety about online assessment methods, strengthens the case for legislation, says Douglas Blackstock

Mass reliance on the traditional 50-minute lecture format will soon be a thing of the past, says David Maguire

Pandemic or no pandemic, academics should try to find time for regular rethinking of their curricula and methods, says Jessica Johnson 

Two decades of Bologna-driven programme accreditation has proved that universities can be trusted to assure their quality, says Michèle Wera 

Rules requiring students to show their faces during online lessons are misguided, says Mark Heaton

A rationalisation of transnational delivery was already in the offing, but post-pandemic austerity will hasten it, say Matt Durnin and Jazreel Goh 

In the new world order, leadership is about collaboration and coordination. Higher education networks are an obvious forum, says Annelise Riles  

The US’ announcement that it now regards Israeli settlements as consistent with international law does not make them so, say eight senior academics

Gavin Williamson’s directive will embolden other groups to demand the enforcement of their interests by ministerial fiat, says Geoffrey Alderman

The Purpose Coalition will bring together the skills and the jobs needed to create a fairer, greener UK, says Justine Greening

Professionalising university teaching and changing incentive structures are the first steps, says Steven Mintz

Universities’ ethics oblige them to pay their own interns, so why do they permit their students to work many months for free, asks Sam Scott

Evidence suggests that different personality types are drawn to – and excel at – teaching and research, says John Dreijmanis

Inevitable examples of jargon or poor research are no reason to reject an entire discipline, say Debby Cotton, Elizabeth Cleaver and Dilly Fung

Academics remain wedded to prestige indicators, but peer reviewers may conclude that the journal is profiteering, says Dorothy Bishop

The ‘Tasmania Model’ of addressing social need offers lessons for the wider sector, say Rufus Black and Nick Fowler

With global warming a priority for the next US president, the International Universities Climate Alliance can lead the academic response, says Ian Jacobs

An Australian university’s attitude towards Rwanda illustrates the West’s failure to treat African academics as equal partners, says Timothy Carey

Until they have their allotted departure time, no one is meant to travel home. So, asks George Bass, should security guards dive on anyone pulling a suitcase? 

This week’s spending review could see commitments revisited and important policy documents released, predicts Nick Hillman

Pledged support for equality must be put into practice on multiple fronts, from syllabi and curricula to advising and recommending, say Chisomo Selemani and Anna Young

University careers attract intellectually curious people who want to make a difference. But Donna Swarthout has been disillusioned once too often

It is crucial to adapt teaching methodology to students’ specific cultures and traditions of learning, says Bashir Makhoul

Academics justifiably express disbelief and outrage when librarians inform them that they can’t afford a particular title, says Caroline Ball

Pre-arrival checks and continuous monitoring of student health are replicable elements of China’s successful approach, say Yingru Li and Jane Duckett

If we can’t find the narrative forms to make the world real to one another, we risk losing our politics to the fantasists and cynics, says Lyndsey Stonebridge

UK universities must investigate how many of their students are affected by homelessness – and what can be done about it, says Ricardo Visinho

For a successful transition to open access, we must respect the needs and requirements for different types of output and disciplines, says Rhodri Jackson

The experience of Monash University suggests that staff members’ greatest mental health needs are not necessarily obvious, says Kim Cornish

Support must continue beyond 9 December for those with positive Covid-19 tests, international students and others, says minister Michelle Donelan

Linguistic framing of coronavirus on campus by management has dodged a proper assessment of risks to students and staff, writes a UK academic

We need to teach all students to listen better, to ask the right questions and to be willing to be wrong, says Anne Houtman

Rationalising online and in-person offerings and establishing mutually beneficial partnerships will be crucial, say Michael Braun and Scott Latham

Until we stop glorifying self-achievement, collaboration will remain transactional, say Maru Mormina, Romina Istratii and Alex Lewis

The pandemic has underlined the need for student assessment strategies to adapt to extraordinary circumstances, say Alexander Amigud and David J. Pell 

The holy grail of a business model for open access monographs that works at scale for publishers, libraries and scholars is close, says Martin Paul Eve

The removal of Donald Trump from the White House could lead to major reform in college education, but many other issues require urgent action, argue Sandro Galea and Nason Maani