NEWS – Our correspondents worldwide report
CHINA
University teachers fired on say of student informants
Yojana Sharma
As China tightens ideological control of universities, an increasing number of university teachers have been suspended or fired after students informed on them for making politically inappropriate remarks in class or for not conforming to ideological diktats handed down by the Communist Party.
UNITED STATES
Minority-serving institutions are ‘engines of mobility’
Brendan O'Malley
Minority-serving tertiary institutions or MSIs propel students up the economic ladder to the top of income distribution at two to three times the rates of non-MSIs, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis from the American Council on Education, using newly released federal data to examine upward income mobility rates.
SOUTH KOREA
Government approves student exchanges with North Korea
Aimee Chung
The government of South Korea is permitting students at the country’s top university to discuss academic exchanges with North Korea’s Kim Il Sung University, with the hope that regular exchanges and joint projects can be set up between the two most prestigious universities of North and South Korea.
GLOBAL
UK, Ireland top U-Multirank on teaching and learning
Nic Mitchell
The latest U-Multirank offers new insight into the relative strengths of higher education systems across Europe and the United States, with the United Kingdom and Ireland performing the strongest for teaching and learning. The US leads on research but was poor on international orientation.
AFRICA-GLOBAL
Technology transfer boost for least developed countries
Wagdy Sawahel
Africa’s ‘least developed countries’ are to benefit from the launch of a United Nations’ Technology Bank in Turkey, which aims to drive science, technology and innovation and promote sustainable development – with African universities playing a key role.
EUROPE
Universities demand hike in EU research funding
Brendan O'Malley
Following the European Commission’s launch of its proposal for its next research programme, 14 European university associations have released a joint statement demanding a budget of €160 billion (US$186 billion) and greater focus on open research and societal challenges.
AFRICA
NEPAD agency partners with UK universities to set up hub
Kudzai Mashininga
The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) agency and Durham University in the United Kingdom are to jointly set up an Africa Hub to help African countries and universities increase their research, it has been announced. The NEPAD Africa Hub will be part of the partnership with the ‘N8 hub’, which includes eight UK universities.
DENMARK
Foreign researchers pessimistic about career – Survey
Thomas Trøst Hansen and Jan Petter Myklebust
A survey of more than 1,000 foreign researchers at Aarhus University has found that only one third of foreign scientists think they have as good a chance as Danish staff of being able to forge a career in Denmark, and many blame this on the negative political focus on foreigners.
AUSTRALIA
Graduates overqualified for the work they do
Geoff Maslen
More than a quarter of Australian graduates are overqualified for the jobs they find after completing their degrees. The field of study chosen is the key factor in the education-job mismatch, which is greater for graduates from broader fields of study, researchers have found.
GERMANY
University bar lowered to raise rural doctor recruitment
Michael Gardner
North Rhine-Westphalia intends to introduce incentives for medical students to commit to work as country doctors for 10 years – university applicants would not have to have excellent grades to study medicine and awards of €60,000 (US$70,700) would be paid to graduates to take up posts in large rural communities.
COMMENTARY
GLOBAL
Universities suffer under free-tuition regimes
Ariane de Gayardon
Abolishing university tuition fees may seem a popular move, but governments do not have the money to replace tuition fees, resulting in short-term funding freezes and cuts and forcing long-term choices to be made between quality and open access.
NORTH AMERICA
How to improve selection for professional schools
Andrej Arsovski
Selecting ill-suited applicants for professional schools has far-reaching consequences for the institution and the public at large. Studies show an array of different measures for screening applicants that could be useful for securing the best candidates and turning out a more diverse workforce.
AFRICA
Addressing sexual harassment as institutional failure
Christine Dranzoa
Sexual harassment and gender-based violence in higher education are signs of institutional failure. Countering an abusive culture that harms victims and may leave their academic career in ruins requires bold institutional leadership dealing decisively with cases of sexual misconduct.
AFRICA
African student flows – Challenging prevailing paradigms
Chika Sehoole and Jenny J Lee
A recent gathering of African researchers to share and exchange findings of a major research project on African student mobility revealed that while the Global North continues to dominate as the world’s international student hosts, Africa educates mostly African international students, with considerable mobility within its various geographical regions.
NORWAY
Automating recognition of academic qualifications
Terje Mørland and Stig Arne Skjerven
The Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education’s introduction of a new service for the automatic recognition of higher education qualifications is innovative and could be a model of best practice for greater mobility across Europe and beyond.
WORLD BLOG
CANADA
Does Ford’s victory pose a threat to universities?
Grace Karram Stephenson
Doug Ford’s victory in Ontario’s elections could spell funding cuts for higher education or steep rises in the cost of tuition, or both, if he follows in the footsteps of the last Progressive Conservatives to hold a majority, back in the 1990s.
PACIFIC RIM HE AND RESEARCH
GLOBAL
Universities and our digital future in a divided world
Yojana Sharma
In what ways can higher education and research direct digital innovation to benefit society and how should universities respond to the current socio-economic and international divisions in the world? University leaders from Pacific Rim countries will discuss these issues in Taipei next week.
ACADEMIC FREEDOM
TURKEY
Academics for Peace – Imprisonment, censorship continue
Elif Ceylan Ozsoy
Not only have academics lost their jobs and faced being denied the chance of getting any other job, all for signing a peace petition, but hundreds have now been charged with terrorist offences and face either prison or delayed judgment and with it five years of censorship.
FEATURES
GLOBAL
Universities’ marketing is out of date, says web guru
Nic Mitchell
Universities are lagging behind in understanding how marketing to people has shifted in the digital age, according to one of the top visionaries of recent web developments. He urged them to recognise the change in customer behaviour and allow authentic student reviews on their websites.
SOUTH AFRICA
Health systems crisis – Medical deans proffer solutions
Sharon Dell
South African medical deans say they stand ready to make available expertise in the university sector to help the country deal with the crisis in the national health system and “systemic failures” in the provincial health departments, which they say are negatively affecting both patient care and the training of the next generation of medical professionals.
AUSTRALIA
Some universities better at tackling student drop-out
Geoff Maslen
About one in seven of Australia’s nearly one million undergraduates will drop out of their courses. The reasons why they leave may well apply to those in most other countries – and how to stem the outflow is outlined in a new report.
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