Elon Musk’s unanticipated acquisition of Twitter (X), and the rapid alterations he has instituted have led many academics to look for alternative social media platforms. Mark Carrigan proposes Bluesky, a social media platform derived from Twitter…
Author: Taster
What counts for more in the UK job market – a PhD or a Master’s?
There are obvious intrinsic motivations to undertake postgraduate study. Although, in an increasingly precarious academic job market, the prospects of securing better employment as a result of education are considerable. Giulio Marini and Golo Henseke …
Finding a growth mindset for graduate writing
Despite being at grad school, one important part of academic life that is not always on the syllabus is academic writing. Drawing on work for her recent book, Thriving as a Graduate Writer, and blog, Explorations of Style, Rachael Cayley suggests three…
Generative AI – the latest scapegoat for research assessment
Reflecting on the debate around generative AI and its impact on scholarly communication, Danny Kingsley argues, much like open access twenty years earlier, AI holds a dark mirror to enduring flaws in research publishing and assessment. It has been inte…
The Perfection Trap: The Power Of Good Enough In A World That Always Wants More – review
In The Perfection Trap: The Power Of Good Enough In A World That Always Wants More, Thomas Curran examines the reasons for a rise in socially prescribed perfectionism and its negative mental health effects on individuals. Combining extensive research w…
Countermapping – How visualising landscapes of power can unravel dominant development narratives
Maps often represent dominant social, technical and political systems. In this post, Cla Ruzol and Cian Dayrit describe their work ‘Terrains of Power’ and how the creation of counter-maps can be a valuable tool for disrupting and reimagining unequal so…
Four challenges for funding research with societal goals
Drawing on a recent study of systemic challenges to delivering research funding for societal change and evidence from a recent meeting of research funders, Andreas Kjær Stage, Carter Walter Bloch, Duncan Andrew Thomas, Maria-Theresa Norn and Irene Ramo…
How to make Theories of Change deliver societal impact
Theories of Change have become a popular mechanism for research funders to build impact into the design phase of research projects. Laurens Hessels, Fedes van Rijn, Stefan de Jong, Wendy Reijmerink, Jeroen van Houwelingen, Allison McIntosh, Gerald Jan …
Elite Universities and The Making of Privilege – review
In Elite Universities and The Making of Privilege: Exploring Race and Class in Global Educational Economies, Kalwant Bhopal and Martin Myers examine how elite universities uphold race- and class-based privilege. Drawing on interviews with students and …
The gap between AI practitioners and ethics is widening – it doesn’t need to be this way
The application of AI technologies to social issues and the need for new regulatory frameworks is a major global issue. Drawing on a recent survey of practitioner attitudes towards regulation, Marie Oldfield discusses the challenges of implementing eth…