Category: Higher Education

Increasing involvement of private finance in Higher Ed will have lasting consequences for stability of the sector.

Changes in higher education policy are altering the way academic institutions are functioning in Britain. Andrew McGettigan takes a look at the implications of new funding mechanisms for higher education and writes that new methods of debt issuance will increase the financial fragility of academic institutions. Furthermore, due to the increase in students accessing loans, governments will soon be forced to find […]

Social media is a ticking time bomb for universities with an outdated web presence.

There are pressing questions academic institutions will need to address over the next couple of years regarding their expanding participation in social media streams. Andy Tattersall argues that with such blurred boundaries of ownership, access and support, what is needed is wide-scale demystification to help academics dovetail a few choice tools to bring how they work into a modern setting. Social Media, […]

Recruiting talented researchers is easier in recessions and universities benefit from increased productivity.

Between the end of 2007 and the middle of 2009, Britain and the United States experienced the worst recession for more than half a century. Evidence suggests that during that time entry into high-paying and high-risk private sector jobs declined substantially while many talented graduates tried to stay on at university. Using data of economics PhD graduates, Michael Boehm and Martin […]

Impact Round-Up 8th March: Happy International Women’s Day, the failures of PowerPoint, and mental health in academia

Managing Editor Sierra Williams presents a round-up of popular stories from around the web on higher education, academic impact, and trends in scholarly communication. On International Women’s Day, do we know what academic success looks like? by Athene Donald delves into the issues raised in research from The Meaning of Success: Insights from Women at Cambridge by Jo Bostock. Similarly, GrrlScientist at the Guardian looks […]

Book Review: Browne and Beyond: Modernizing English Higher Education, edited by Claire Callender and Peter Scott

Reflecting the changing ideological and economic perspectives of the government of the day, the expansion of higher education in England has prompted numerous reforms aimed at reshaping and restructuring the sector and its funding. Leading to student riots and sparking … Continue reading

Book Review: The Question of Conscience: Higher Education and Personal Responsibility by David Watson

Does a university education hold any value? How do universities determine what skills are relevant in today’s ever-changing world when information could become outdated even before students graduate? These are some of the questions and problems that David Watson sets out to explore … Continue reading

The death of the theorist and the emergence of data and algorithms in digital social research.

Computer software and data-processing algorithms are becoming an everyday part of Higher Education. How might this be affecting research in the social sciences and the formation of the professional identities of academics? Ben Williamson argues that these are important challenges … Continue reading