Social science

Clive Bloom enjoys a sociological study of why a group of rich layabouts became crooks – and how society dealt with them

Academics and professional staff reveal the things that prey on their minds at 2am

Book of the week: His passion is evident, his work prodigious, but an ex-minister has blind spots that trouble Nigel Thrift

A badly understood notion of risk has created a fake crisis in university pensions that will devastate academia, argues Dennis Leech

James Stevens Curl on a study of symptoms of consumer culture and those who built them

Largest amount of cash handed out by research councils overall since 2014-15 brings an end to negative trend

University of Westminster music academic on fighting with punks, boosting Peter Andre’s career and pioneering ‘classical reggae’

Witty asides permeate a study contemplating money, love, hope and rappers, says Emma Rees

Ahead of his Vincent Briscoe Lecture, Bill Durodié calls on researchers to engage with issues of great social and technological ambition

British Academy report marking 500 days until ‘Brexit day’ throws spotlight on the money and academic talent in the subjects that come from the EU

Several top researchers exit Teesside after professors given individual ratings out of 32, senior academic claims

Broad-brush efforts to support female and ethnic minority academics will not address ‘multidimensional inequality’, says Warwick professor

Nobels and suchlike can motivate good behaviour but beware hidden costs, says Marina Della Giusta

Book of the week: The reality of the present world has fallen short of science fiction’s predictions, says Jon Turney

University of Hertfordshire job cuts add to fears staff could be forced out ahead of REF 2021

Almost 50 years after it was dismantled, the celebrated institution is making a comeback

A sexist industry that misunderstands half of its audience disappoints Esther MacCallum-Stewart

A defence of non-academic university leaders fails to make the grade, says Amanda H. Goodall

Book of the week: Christopher Hill praises an engaging but limited history of the role of law in achieving peace

Turkey’s president was unwise to evoke Animal Farm when his attack on academics has eerie echoes of George Orwell’s novel, says Umut Özkirımli

Junior researchers being ‘held back’ by the ordering of names on joint papers, study finds

Aniko Horvath on the disconnect between data and policymaking decisions that allows foreign learners to be framed as the ‘other’

Joanna Williams on the rules for classroom confrontations that can build inclusiveness

Swedish-based academic Ahmadreza Djalali will be executed following 'grossly unfair trial', says Amnesty International

Strong turnout in ballot over USS changes ‘sends a clear message’ that union members will take action to protect retirement fund, says UCU

The ‘welfare queen’ myth and business’ power is crushing American families, says Lynne Segal

Emma Rees on a study of refugees’ remarkable transnational journeys in our post-Brexit, Trumpian world

Contrary to the cultural meme, Canadian graduates in all subjects earn far more, on average, than coffee shop workers, say Ross Finnie, Richard Mueller and Arthur Sweetman

Book of the week: Communism around the world was shaped by its opportunistic leaders, finds Yvonne Howell

Colin Bailey on a gamble to attend university that nearly backfired, and the institution that is academia’s ‘best-kept secret’

Student accommodation wardens are latest to be imprisoned in Turkey's anti-Gülenist crackdown

While proportion of foreign faculty at Japanese universities has increased, study finds no rise in share of leaders

With latest application for teaching licence rejected in long-running battle with authorities, time is running out to start the new academic year

Office for Students’ Nicola Dandridge says new regulator will not guarantee union seat on board

Watchdog’s new guidelines aim to stop ‘contract cheating’ on campus

The new chair of the Campaign for Social Science on ethnic minorities, the similarity between law and academia and universities swallowing the management textbook

Social scientists must create a culture in which individuals regularly observe, analyse and interpret their own data, says Geoff Mulgan

Quiet acceptance of accent discrimination damages efforts to make classrooms more inclusive, says Katerina Loukopoulou

This study of how ordinary people view human rights is depressingly honest, says Jane O’Grady

Robert A. Segal enjoys a rigorously researched volume on the relationship between religion and the secular state

Some researchers worry that lack of female laureates devalues prestigious awards

Cost of compliance with Home Office rules uncovered by Study Group

Adam Szetela has been speaking to some high profile scholars about how to write well, and this is what he found out

Elite universities must expand their intake to combat rising resentment directed at higher education, says Catharine B. Hill

Despite advances in artificial intelligence, humans will always have the edge over machines when it comes to teaching, says Aldwyn Cooper

Downplaying the vital role that universities play in encouraging creativity could endanger the main engine of economic growth, say Luca Cacciolatti and Soo Hee Lee

Social scientists are innovating to ensure their research is relevant, but more must be done, says Rick Delbridge

Kalwant Bhopal finds a text based on Harvard lectures given by the great sociologist in 1994 poignantly relevant today

Book of the week: Is poor housing here to stay? Hopefully not, but one word associated with it has a grip on our culture, says Danny Dorling

Universities are right to re-examine the support in place for students in light of soaring suicide rates, says health secretary Jeremy Hunt

As The Sunday Times reports proposals to cut fees, Sir Keith Burnett asks how we measure ‘value for money’ in education?

Iran's detention of a history PhD student for alleged spying has been condemned by Princeton and US government

Times Higher Education will publish expanded league tables for 11 different subject areas

No tax inspector or police officer can claim rights over what they write for their jobs, so why should academics, asks Gabriel Egan

Glasgow vice-chancellor Sir Anton Muscatelli defends ‘cost-efficient’ sector driving UK growth

Digital media democracy expert on tension between control and engagement, and need for less interesting research in his field

Thousands of university staff are set to pay more towards pensions under proposals

HEA's latest National Teaching Fellows announced

This brave book attempts to show that social anthropology and social anthropologists can offer insights into today’s world and also point to solutions, says Simon Underdown