Feature article

Help your students develop their own career compass

In an age when the job market is rapidly changing, equip students with the skill to understand how their personality can shape their career

Natalie Feng, Randford Joseph Tay

Singapore Institute of Technology

Lessons from being academic chair of a complex department

Being a department head takes both emotional and cognitive energy to juggle people, programmes, contracts and institutional demands. But digging into skills such as trust-building and communication will bear fruit, writes Ben K. Daniel

Ben Kei Daniel

University of Northern British Columbia

Beyond mission statements: financially literate academics make better career choices

The most valuable research you do this year will not be for your next paper but into your employer and yourself, writes Tom Chapman. Here, he outlines findings from his analysis of university financial statements, offering insight into what to expect when planning a move

Tom Chapman

University of Southampton

Young researcher making a business pitch

What you need to know about securing investment for your spin out

Venture capitalists are ‘completely different beasts’ to grant bodies so academic founders need to embrace a new style of pitching if they are to secure funding for their companies, as Tim Witney explains

Tim Witney

King’s College London

A woman starts her business plan on a whiteboard

Write a business plan for a university spin-out company

Looking to secure investment for your spin-out? Find out how to write a business plan that ticks every box

Robert Crammond

University of the West of Scotland

Students sitting in a circle on the floor with laptops

When plans meet people: navigating the friction of group assessment

Not all group work runs smoothly but educators can deal with disruptions more effectively if they have time- and situation-sensitive moves in their teaching repertoire. Here, Sarah Sholl and Stephen Yorkstone offer advice to stop group assessment falling apart

Sarah Sholl, Stephen Yorkstone

Edinburgh Napier University, Independent consultant

A group of students outside a campus building

Six ways UK universities can better support international postgraduate students

International postgraduate students navigate complex transitions. To support them, universities need to offer more inclusive support built into core systems, says Perpetual Eze-Idehen

Perpetual Eze-Idehen

The University of Manchester

From lab to market – part 2: writing a business plan

In the second part of this two-part series on finding investment for research commercialisation, here’s how to build a business plan

Eirini Epitropaki

Birkbeck, University of London

Black male student looking downcast in university corridor

Whose vulnerabilities get seen? Whose get missed?

When student circumstances fall outside standard support categories, their difficulties can deepen. This means hardship of groups such as caregivers or international students grows quietly, until it becomes much harder to address

Sorush Sepehr, David Waller, Ranjit Voola, Subhasis Ray

University of Technology Sydney, University of Sydney, XLRI Xavier School of Management

A student looking at his phone in a university library

A practical toolkit for supporting neurodivergent learners

Strategies for making learning environments accessible by design, to the benefit of all students

Multiple authors

University of Oxford, Swansea University

Scientists discuss a project with an investor in the lab

From lab to market – part 1: finding investment

In the first part of this two-part series on investment and business planning for research spin-out companies, discover all you need to know about attracting venture capital

Eirini Epitropaki

Birkbeck, University of London

red paper airplane leaving line of white paper airplanes

Academia can never be ‘just a job’ (and why that is OK)

The uncomfortable truth is that academia doesn’t conform to the regular nine-to-five, and pretending otherwise will not fix working conditions that are broken, argues Sorin Krammer

Sorin M. S. Krammer

University of Southampton

A researcher explaining her work to an investor

Who are you selling to? A marketing guide for researchers, part 2

Advice on creating a value proposition that clearly communicates the benefits of your work to different audiences

Rushana Khusainova

The University of Bristol

Male teacher working with multiracial primary school class

Four steps to embed anti-racism into teacher training

By exposing incoming educators to anti-racist principles early in training, universities better prepare them to promote fairness, critical thinking and social justice, writes Jordan Allers

Jordan Allers

Cardiff Metropolitan University

How working with deaf students changed my teaching

Adjusting your teaching when you have a deaf student in your class can help everyone learn better – and help you find new ways to communicate effectively. Find out how

Anny Maria Rodriguez

Universidad del Caribe (UNICARIBE)

A researcher pitching to a room full of investors

Who are you selling to? A marketing guide for researchers, part 1

With research, it is not just about what you produce, but how and to whom you communicate it. Learn how to identify and understand the needs of your audience

Rushana Khusainova

The University of Bristol

Statue of Plato in front of Academy of Athens in Athens, Greece

I blame Plato: how ancient thinking still might shape belonging in STEM

The history of mathematics tells a rich story of collective labour, curiosity, dialogue, adventurousness and responsiveness to human questions. Educators have responsibility to tap into this for current and future students, writes Clemency Montelle

Clemency Montelle

University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha

How universities can tackle misogyny in the age of the manosphere

From subtle undermining to overt hostility, misogyny is rearing its ugly head in higher education classrooms, fuelled by online manosphere content. Addressing it requires clearer boundaries, training and a willingness to confront harmful behaviour early

Joanna Lewis

The London School of Economics and Political Science

An illustration of a man celebrating an achievement while his shadow despairs behind him

The human side of the practitioner-to-academic pipeline

Higher education wants to hire academics with real-world experience – yet the identity shift required often goes unnoticed. Here’s how to improve support

Asrif Yusoff

University of Greenwich

A teacher at the front of class interacting with a room full of students

From policy to practice: how to embed accessibility standards at scale

How to build staff confidence, bridge communication gaps and align systems so that accessibility becomes business as usual

Rachel Griffiths , Vrinda Nayak

The University of Exeter

Male forestry officer in high-visibility gear looking at a tree

Show graduate students how to identify careers beyond academia

Graduate students often feel unprepared for roles outside research or teaching. Ashley Dayer offers advice for equipping them with practical skills, professional networks and the confidence to pursue diverse paths

Ashley Dayer

Virginia Tech

Doctors talking to non-medics around a table

Move beyond tokenism to embed patient insights in medical curricula

Patients often help with medical and healthcare teaching – yet they are rarely involved in designing what students are taught. Find out how one university team worked with patients to co-produce a medical curriculum that strengthened educational quality and public accountability

Amber Bennett-Weston, Jeremy Howick

University of Leicester

Students laugh together in front of a blue wall

Build student and community partnerships for safer campuses

Employ the local community and nearby institutions to address student safety issues in a collaborative way. Here’s how

Simon Merrywest

The University of Manchester

How to build a social transcript that helps students stand out to employers

A verified “social transcript” can turn co-curricular activity into a credible record that boosts employability. Here’s how one university designed a points-based, evidence-driven system to capture students’ real-world skills

İhlas Sovbetov

Istanbul Aydin University

How the artist game opens every classroom door

An effective icebreaker can set students up for confident participation throughout the semester. Here, Natalie Cummins shares a structured low-risk activity that draws in all participants

Natalie Cummins

University of Technology Sydney

Understand the motivations involved in research-policy exchange

The rush to expand policy engagement without understanding the goals for each side risks creating structures and processes that work for no one. Here’s how to understand each other better

Christina Boswell

Royal Society of Edinburgh

A student stands up to talk in the classroom

Multilingual learners don’t need extended time – they need intentional design

Language barriers in the classroom can present complex challenges. Instead of placing the burden on multilingual learners, let’s commit to an institution-wide approach to support them

Walaa Awad

Colorado State University Global

Why professional development in graduate supervision matters

Graduate supervision is not an innate byproduct of research excellence; it is a pedagogical practice that must be taught, learned, supported and refined, writes Katerina Standish

Katerina Standish

University of Northern British Columbia

A group of students and a teacher having a discussion in a library

Build information literacy with AI: a teaching librarian approach

Teach students to use AI appropriately for research tasks by showing them the tools’ strengths and limitations and by promoting critical reflection, says Callum Perry

Callum Perry

The University of East Anglia

Man using visual brainstorming for business planning

Plan your route from research to market

To successfully commercialise research, you need first to understand the different routes available for taking your findings to market and how your institution can help, as Nicolas Huber explains

Nicolas Huber

King’s College London

A student and an old man chat in a virtual surrounding

Using GenAI avatars to assess empathy: how it works in practice

Could GenAI offer a new way to assess communication skills? Here’s what happened when a university team built an avatar

May Lim, Caleb Or

Singapore Institute of Technology

Students in a boardroom working on a company project

Every AI learning persona needs an origin story

Anna, a fictional social responsibility consultant, mentors students analysing a company in crisis. Her story shows how thoughtfully designed AI personas can turn simple chat interactions into immersive learning experiences

Lorena Quilantán García

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Illustration of faces in blues and greens

Lecture room as tapestry: weaving culture, curiosity and learning together

Culturally inclusive pedagogy asks educators to redesign learning environments that work with, rather than ignore, the diversity in university classrooms. Here, Chipo Simbi offers advice around student engagement, assessment and safe spaces

Chipo Simbi

University of Southampton

Awareness to action: how to embed sustainability in university teaching

Almost every educator is already teaching aspects of sustainability, whether or not they name it as such, writes Esther Canónico. Here, she shares ways to include the SDGs in curricula so the learning is meaningful for students and their future careers

Esther Canónico

Imperial College London

An illustration of AI helping a student work

GenAI as a teaching colleague in assessment: a case study

GenAI can be a useful tool in assessment – if used intentionally. Find out what an intelligent dashboard can do for your students’ relationship to GenAI

Belén Pagone

Universidad Austral

Three ways to build an engaged student community from the ground up

Here’s how to bring students together to create a community on campus and encourage their active participation in university life from governance to volunteering

Denisa-Georgiana Nistor

Valahia University of Târgoviște

Lifelong engagement is the lifeblood of the academy

Universities should move beyond symbolic emeritus titles to create structured pathways for meaningful post-retirement contribution, say Theresa Mercer and Jim Harris

Theresa Mercer , Jim Harris

Cranfield University

Start written on black page with hand holding a pencil

White out: how to defeat the blank page

Efficient academic writing requires a shift in mindset from simply counting words to incremental planning and using techniques that make progress visible even when the page looks empty

Multiple authors

The University of Southern Queensland

How to get students talking in seminar courses

From setting expectations before the course begins to structuring discussion and preparation, these strategies help educators turn hesitant students into confident, collaborative seminar course participants

Daniella Sieukaran

Dalhousie University

Young Asian woman looking at wall of electronic images

Why critical visual literacy matters in a complex information landscape

Even in teaching materials and trusted sources, images are not neutral. Here, Alexius Chia explains how to guide learners from superficial impressions to being able to critique perspective, power and intent

Alexius Chia

Nanyang Technological University

The five levels of learning designer support

Learning designers and academics may have different expectations when it comes to collaborating on course design. Here’s how a five-point scale can help

Daniel Searson

Adelaide University

How employability teams can strengthen academic programmes

Working like recruitment partners, rather than just career advisers, can help align teaching with industry needs, writes Hanene Duprat

Hanene Duprat

Al Akhawayn University

A deaf student doing sign language on a Zoom call

Teaching deaf, deafblind and hard-of-hearing students: practical steps that benefit everyone

When educators design communication to work across multiple modes from the outset, classrooms become more accessible – and more effective – for everyone, says Annelies Kusters

Annelies Kusters

Heriot-Watt University

Across the divide: reimagining faculty-staff collaboration in higher education

Academic units do best when they harness different viewpoints – from field scientists and curriculum designers to extension professionals – to drive innovation and relevance. Saskia van de Gevel offers proactive advice

Saskia van de Gevel

Virginia Tech

The first step in commercialising your research: start the conversation

Your university’s commercialisation office can help start your journey from academic to CEO. Here’s how

Jim O’Connell

University of Florida

How to make curriculum mapping work in higher education

With no clear plan for how students progress towards programme goals, they can reach advanced courses without the requisite skills and knowledge. Here’s how curriculum mapping can help

Erin Nelson

University of Iowa

What it means to be a university social media director

Social media director is an often-misunderstood role. From the outside, the job can seem as if it revolves around sports highlights, trending sounds and campus beauty shots but those moments represent only a fraction of the work

Riley Phillips

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Hands type at a laptop, as seen from above

Build the ‘why’ into your online learning instructions

You could be losing your online students earlier than you think. Here’s how to engage them from the moment they encounter a task

Norman B. Mendoza

The Education University of Hong Kong

A group of smiling university students outside a campus building

Welcome new university students with inclusive events

Five ways to make welcome activities more inclusive, helping students engage at their own pace, build connections and feel a sense of belonging from the start

Megan Jones

The University of East Anglia

Details of hands playing different games

A game-making workshop to bring complex systems to life

Board games offer a powerful teaching tool to deepen understanding of complex dynamics such as climate. This analogue group task fosters the skills of systems thinking: setting boundaries, seeing multiple perspectives and holistic analysis

Adam Procter, Matteo Menapace

University of Southampton, Manchester Metropolitan University

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