The week in higher education – 14 September 2023
The good, the bad and the offbeat: the academy through the lens of the world’s media
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One in four UK universities now running a food bank
Hepi report warns of ‘cost-of-learning’ crisis and finds significant variation in value of hardship funds
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Talking leadership: David Garza on enticing top scholars to Mexico
Monterrey Institute of Technology’s president says it is setting aside £46 million for international hires to compete with the global standard of living
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Are the odds still stacked against the UK’s ‘challenger institutions’?
A decade of English university policy has sought to improve standards by increasing competition. However, new institutions remain small and peripheral. Tom Williams asks whether the prestige gap and...
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Academia’s cancel culture distracts from the right’s free-speech abuses
Why are so many on the identitarian left so quick to reduce differences of opinion to existential threats to marginalised groups, asks Umut Özkırımlı
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Wikipedia ‘is ideal tool’ to measure dissemination of science
Article edit history is an untapped resource in charting the evolution of scientific knowledge over time, researchers say
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Universities can be research arms of local authorities – report
Academics say closer links with public services will help to bring scholars closer to their communities
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Efforts to reduce UK sector over-reliance on China ‘stalling’
Lord Johnson says universities’ ‘cross your fingers’ strategy is unwise and urges government action
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Peers criticise OfS ‘nonchalance’ on ‘looming crisis’ in finances
Lords committee report delivers biting criticism of ‘distant and combative’ English regulator, prompting calls for its chair to resign
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IHRA antisemitism definition ‘undermining academic freedom’
Authors of report examining complaints say definition has become ‘political tool’ used to silence criticism of Israel
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Mandatory climate courses gain popularity, but challenges too
So far few oppose the inclusion of climate change sociology and economics in university-wide undergraduate courses, but support is thinner for their integration into other curricula
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Tracking destinations ‘most powerful tool’ for doctoral careers
Academia can only host a fraction of doctoral graduates, but few universities collect destinations data showing where their other PhDs end up, making it hard to prepare new recruits for appealing...
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World University Rankings 2024: 20 years tracking global higher education
From just 200 universities to almost 2,000, the World University Rankings have become more global and more inclusive. Ellie Bothwell goes through the archives to examine the most noteworthy...
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Why I am not going to call myself ‘professor emerita’
An ungrammatical term that re-genders professorship on retirement does nothing for the advancement of women in academia, says Wendy Dossett
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The IHRA antisemitism definition chills debate without protecting Jews
The effective ban on any form of anti-Zionism or harsh criticism of Israel has had a detrimental impact on my life and career progression, says Clive Gabay