Topic: International issues
Universities: increasingly stressful environments taking psychological toll – here’s what needs to change
shutterstock Every year, millions of international students travel to different countries to study at university. This, together with a lack of public […]
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Subsidized privilege: The real scandal of American universities
U.S. federal prosecutors have charged 50 people — 38 of them are parents — for allegedly being involved in fraud schemes to […]
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Four fundamental principles for upholding freedom of speech on campus
It goes without saying – or at least it ought to – that freedom of speech should be a core value of universities. As a scholar of freedom of speech and a university academic, it has been gratifying to see so many Vice Chancellors (and a former Chief Justice of the High Court) take it so seriously.
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We all put too much emphasis on test scores
We live in testing times. We also live in a time of globalization, immigration and the internationalization of schools and universities around the world. Our current obsession with school accountability and student learning outcomes has resulted in the increased use and abuse of test scores — in particular language test scores.
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Gender quotas and targets would speed up progress on gender equity in academia
Recently, the University of Adelaide used a special exemption under the Equal Opportunity Act to advertise eight academic positions in the faculty of engineering, computer and mathematical sciences for women only. This raises questions about why a university might take this approach. While Australia has had gender equality legislation for 30 years, there has been very slow progress towards addressing the gender equity issues plaguing the sector. To illustrate, women are still under-represented at senior levels. Only 27% of full professors (the main recruitment pool for top jobs) are women, and only 32% of Vice-Chancellors in public universities.
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For universities, making the case for diversity is part of making amends for racist past
The Trump administration recently announced plans to scrap Obama-era guidelines that encouraged universities to consider race as a factor to promote diversity on campus, claiming the guidelines “advocate policy preferences and positions beyond the requirements of the Constitution.” Some university leaders immediately went on the defense.
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South Africa’s new higher education disability policy is important, but flawed
South Africa finally has a disability policy that’s specific to the higher education sector. The new policy framework should be celebrated as an achievement. Its value is that, because it’s specific to the sector, it gives institutions (such as universities) a common vision. It also enables monitoring and evaluation of progress that is context specific.
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University students aren’t reporting sexual assault, and new Australian guidelines don’t address why
Guidelines for how universities should respond to student sexual assault and sexual harassment released late last week fail to address the reason so many students don’t actually report their experiences. Nor do the guidelines, released by Universities Australia, address prevention of student sexual assault and harassment.
READ MOREHow not to defend free speech
“Newspapers across Europe reprinted cartoons Wednesday ridiculing the prophet Muhammad, saying they wanted to support the right of Danish and Norwegian papers […]
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When race triggers a call to campus police
On a beautiful spring afternoon on a picturesque college campus, two campus police officers responded to a black professor’s “good afternoon” with a request to see his identification. The professor paused for a moment but decided to comply. He wondered if perhaps his attire – slacks, a button-down shirt and loafers – didn’t signal that he belonged.
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