The Conversation

University of California’s break with the biggest academic publisher could shake up scholarly publishing for good

Libraries subscribe digitally to academic journals – and are left with nothing in the stacks when the contract expires. Eric Chan/Flickr, CC […]

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Supporting mature female students enrolling in university STEM programs

Mature women students face additional barriers when enrolling in STEM programs. Shutterstock Women face many barriers when it comes to post-secondary education, […]

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All publicly funded research could soon be free for you, the taxpayer, to read

The new ‘Plan S’ initiative focuses on making all publicly funded research immediately fully and freely available by open access publication. from […]

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Overworked and isolated: the rising epidemic of loneliness in academia

Shutterstock Universities were created to be places where people learn and educate together. But a UK survey has found 46% of researchers […]

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The more women in government, the healthier a population

Canada’s Minister of the Status of Women Maryam Monsef is pictured in the Library of Parliament on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa on […]

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The English-Canadian media’s selective outrage on bilingualism

Québec Premier Francois Legault, left, exchanges hockey jerseys with Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Queens Park, in Toronto on Nov. 19, 2018. […]

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Ontario’s ‘Open for Business’ law will erode workplace rights

The purpose of Bill 47 is to “bring jobs and investment back to our province” and to increase “opportunities” for workers. One needs to look harder for any mention of fairness for workers or the creation of decent jobs, although the government claims to wish to “protect” workers. At the end of the day, however, Bill 47 will do none of the above.

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College students with disabilities are too often excluded

All students need to feel included in order to succeed in college. But when a student has a disability, inclusion can be more difficult to achieve. One study shows students with disabilities participate in fewer extracurricular activities, like clubs or on-campus events, than non-disabled peers.

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Educators must commit now to tackle grade inflation

Thousands of students received unsettling news this fall regarding the rigour of their high school grades. They learned that at least one university in Ontario — the University of Waterloo — assesses new engineering applicants partially on the basis of which high school they attended and not solely on their grades.

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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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