30 January 2022  Issue No: 677

Students are seeking a paradigm shift from mobility to engagement, more co-creation of learning and learning pathways and a greater focus on climate change, employability and the impact of artificial intelligence, according to new UNESCO research on students’ vision for higher education in 2050.

The Free University of Amsterdam or Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands has pledged to return Chinese funding for its Cross Cultural Human Rights Centre after an embarrassing row over Chinese influence on academia when it emerged that several of the centre’s academics publicly denied China oppresses Uyghur peoples.

Amid ongoing concerns over academic freedom, the Egyptian government has been urged to release masters student Ahmed Samir Santawy, who was imprisoned in 2021 for publishing fake news. The call came from a seminar organised by the Central European University and activist organisation Scholars at Risk.

Following COP26, universities need to go further than greening their campus or installing solar panels. With 24 million green jobs expected to be created worldwide by 2030, universities need to teach students the skills they need to serve society in a green economy.

At a time of increasing competition for staff, universities should consider investing in mentoring to aid academics’ career progression. This brings benefits for mentors, mentees and the institution itself in terms of talent retention, since without good staff an organisation’s progress and productivity suffers.

A new book which tracks the long and bitter struggle by racial and ethnic minorities for access to America’s higher education institutions shows how, contrary to the national discourse of inclusion, identity politics has always been part and parcel of colleges and universities.