I was very pleased to have been asked to respond to an article that Relocate Magazine were putting together regarding STEM careers and specifically the disconnect between the genders when it came to studying it in Higher Education. As a father to a daughter and with a mother in law who has a Masters in … Continue reading STEM careers, not just jobs for the boys.
Tag: higher education
What to do if my child doesn’t want to go to university?
If the *shudder* unthinkable happens and you find yourself holding a family meeting with much hand wringing and chest beating it can mean only one thing - your child has confessed to not wanting to go to university. 'How could this happen?', you ask yourself, 'we have books, they eat brie etc etc etc.' Well … Continue reading What to do if my child doesn’t want to go to university?
It’s coming home, it’s coming home, it’s coming, education’s coming home!
It truly has come to something when our country turns to ex-footballers for ideas about how to reinvigorate or in actual fact re-imagine higher education. I don't say that in any way sneeringly but more often than not, sporting culture is rarely discussed in the same breath as HE. However, that all changes with the … Continue reading It’s coming home, it’s coming home, it’s coming, education’s coming home!
New year, new you? Or rather new academic year/start of real life – what to do now?
Maybe it's the time of year, maybe it got posted at the wrong hour of the day, who knows, what makes one post soar like an eagle and another sink like the Titanic? My last post didn't get a huge amount of love or views from any quarter and rather than accept defeat graciously I've … Continue reading New year, new you? Or rather new academic year/start of real life – what to do now?
Good news A level students! Come results day, universities are more afraid of you than you are of them.
Der dum. Der dum. Derdum Derdum Derdum... DerlaLUM. Onomatopoeic writing has never been my strongest suit but that was the Jaws music for those of you didn't get it. Given that many of you reading this will probably have only a vague notion of what that is doesn't perhaps ringingly endorse my relevance to you … Continue reading Good news A level students! Come results day, universities are more afraid of you than you are of them.
The great grade giveaway. Like beads for boobs but with 1st class degrees.
I like universities. Really I do. I think they are fantastic, inspiring, inspirational, wonderful cathedrals of thought, activity and ambition. Which makes reading and then writing these nasty, brutish comments about them all the more galling but they really aren't helping me out. Every day sees a new and embarrassing cavalcade of cynical devaluation of … Continue reading The great grade giveaway. Like beads for boobs but with 1st class degrees.
Why dropping out of university is the inevitable result of bad advice.
There's lots in the news today talking about tackling the degree drop out rates and how it is essential but I think they've got it the wrong way round. What needs to be tackled is this dogged insistence that university is right for everyone. The Social Market Foundation (SMF) has lobbied the government to do … Continue reading Why dropping out of university is the inevitable result of bad advice.
Choose wisely for today’s choices affect tomorrow.
Another month and another set of stats to look at, it seems that every week around this time of year someone else is throwing their hats in to the ring demanding that their university league table should be regarded as the definitive version. Lo, today is no different as The Guardian publishes their version of … Continue reading Choose wisely for today’s choices affect tomorrow.
8 of the best – top tips for what not to say in your personal statement.
It's too hot to think, much less create fascinating content on a daily basis. So instead I'm going to take the lazy route and do a list. Yeah, lists are good right? Easy, digestible, bite size morsels of fact based goodness without all the filling excesses of a paragraph. It is that time of year … Continue reading 8 of the best – top tips for what not to say in your personal statement.
The relentless march towards faux social mobility is devoured by its own hubris. (Or why university is getting worse. Still.)
What's that? Did anyone else hear clucking? Pay it no never mind, it's just the chickens coming home to roost. I've spoken a lot on this page about the danger of the 'university at any cost' thinking, as well as the risk posed to the devaluation of degrees because of this and the fallout from … Continue reading The relentless march towards faux social mobility is devoured by its own hubris. (Or why university is getting worse. Still.)