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Are high student:staff ratios bad for retention?
According to the Universities Australia productivity paper, high student:staff ratios have a negative effect on retention. The citation for this claim is to a 2001 American academic journal article....
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The university gender gap
My semi-regular piece in the higher education section of The Age was this week on the gender gap at universities, with women making up 58% of domestic enrolments. The figure below shows the post-WW2...
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Enrolment share in deregulated higher ed markets
With the supply of Commonwealth-supported places to be largely deregulated from next year for public universities, there is considerable anxiety at some institutions about how this will turn out. My...
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On track for 20% low SES students by 2020?
As education minister, Julia Gillard set a target of 20% of undergraduate university students coming from the lowest 25% of SES backgrounds by 2020. Some enrolment statistics released last week showed...
View ArticleIs academic professionalism adequate?
“Over the past two decades, there has been a serious diminution in professionalism as we are compelled more and more to complete accountability/kpi measures, as if jumping over ‘productivity’ hurdles...
View ArticleSeparate student amenities fees to return
After much Coalition stalling, the government’s amenities fee legislation passed into law today. However, it is not a restoration of the previous status quo. The key differences are: * while before...
View ArticleAre Australian students reluctant to choose?
The visiting boss of Universities UK, their Universities Australia equivalent, says that Australian students are used to studying near their home. It means student choice here will take longer to...
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What’s happening with maths at university?
According to The Australian this morning, THE Gillard government is under fresh pressure to counter the decline of maths at universities and at schools after scrapping an incentive plan that will see...
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The employment numbers for maths
In this morning’s Higher Education Supplement, Chief Scientist Ian Chubb was given prominent coverage for his marketing of maths courses (it was based on this speech). The HES reported: “Unfortunately...
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Is the university experience worse than 40 years ago?
”I don’t think the university experience is nearly as good for students as it was 40 years ago. There are a number of changes, but most important is teaching is taken much less seriously than it used...
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30-somethings the smartest
At least if we are to believe the results of an ‘adult competencies’ survey: Literacy: Numeracy:
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Should unis voluntarily cap student numbers?
From my perspective, the demand-driven funding system is Labor’s main higher education achievement (it’s described at pages 56-58 of this report). Over time, I expect it will drive a more efficient...
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Increasing higher education spending, even after cuts
The higher education budget papers let us see in more detail what is going with spending after last month’s cuts. The chart below tracks successive budget forecasts on the core tuition subsidy program,...
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Science demand keeps increasing, despite a higher student contribution
Science has been one of the most popular university courses over the last few years, with strong increases in applications year after year since 2009. The demand shift coincided with a slashing of...
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What other degrees do science graduates hold?
This morning The Conversation ran another article by me on the employability of science graduates. I used some data from the ABS Learning and Work survey. Unfortunately access to their micro-data is...
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The persistence of health and education students
I recently received some new data on completion and attrition rates by ATAR, a surprisingly under-examined topic in Australian higher education. My Mapping Australian higher education publication...
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Why is student satisfaction with teaching increasing?
My new Grattan report argues that teaching in Australian universities could be improved. But despite remaining shortcomings, I think significant progress has been made since the 1990s. We often hear...
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The complicated university teaching-research relationship
In The Age this morning, Don Aitken argues that university teaching has come off second best. ‘Today research, and only research, is really important,’ he says. I certainly think that university...
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New data on the close link between SES and university attendance
I’ve criticised the government’s exclusive focus on attracting more university students from the lowest 25% of geographic areas, as measured by an index of education and occupation. I had found several...
View ArticleThe case for including for-profit higher education providers in the demand...
Reaction to the report of the demand driven review, which I co-authored with David Kemp, has been pretty positive overall. But our proposal to extend Commonwealth supported places to non-university...
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