Breaking News
UNITED STATES
Nathan M Greenfield
Enrolment of Black and Hispanic students in America’s top universities has fallen since affirmative action in admissions was scrapped in 2023. While enrolment of these groups has grown in flagship state universities, the implications of the new trends are raising concerns among grassroots organisations.
SAUDI ARABIA
Wagdy Sawahel
NETHERLANDS
Jan Petter Myklebust
NORWAY
Jan Petter Myklebust
UNITED KINGDOM
Nic Mitchell
AUSTRALIA
Shadi Khan Saif
UNITED STATES
Nathan M Greenfield
Top Stories
UNITED STATES
Aw: ‘Texas has a lot to lose by chasing away global talent’
Nathan M Greenfield
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is set to freeze H-1B visas allowing foreign workers with special skills to work in the United States, and demand that public universities and colleges hand over data about employees working under H1-B visas, causing alarm among national higher education leaders.
UNITED KINGDOM
Nic Mitchell
INDIA
Shuriah Niazi
AFRICA-UNITED STATES
Eve Ruwoko
News
INDIA
Shuriah Niazi
About 75% of higher education institutions in India are not adequately prepared to meet industry expectations, according to a new report. While acknowledging the importance of industry linkages, academics are wary of the idea that supplying manpower to industry is the sole purpose of higher education.
LATIN AMERICA
Mandy Garner
NIGERIA
Olabisi Deji-Folutile
INDONESIA
Kafil Yamin
Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto, who is pushing for a national economic growth rate of 8%, has urged members of the Indonesian diaspora, particularly those who work in medical fields as either doctors or academics, to return home to contribute to national development.
NORWAY
Jan Petter Myklebust
The number of international citizens taking a doctoral degree in Norway has doubled since the year 2000, but 40% of those who earn a doctorate leave within five years of graduation, according to a government-commissioned report, which proposes measures to attract and retain more of them.
DENMARK
Jan Petter Myklebust
A new analysis showing that international masters students in Denmark perform just as well educationally as their domestic counterparts and contribute towards the national economy after graduation undercuts the logic behind the government’s hesitation over international study places, say academics.
Edtech, AI and Higher Education
UNITED STATES
Nathan M Greenfield
Over 90% of US faculty are concerned that generative artificial intelligence programmes like ChatGPT and Copilot will diminish students’ critical thinking skills, according to a recent survey. That finding is a reflection of the anxiety, dread and confusion being felt by academics, say experts.
World Blog
GLOBAL
Afzal Munna
In the coming years, leadership in higher education will not be defined by dashboards or key performance indicators but by the ability to steward trust, shape narrative and make morally informed decisions. The future depends not on faster processes, but on artful leadership.
SDGs
YEMEN
Tarek Abd Elgalil
Despite a fragile ‘no war, no peace’ situation in Yemen and the loss of academic staff, the government says it is attempting to stabilise the higher education sector through financial reforms, regulation and international cooperation, while laying the groundwork for recovery should the conflict subside.
HONG KONG
Yojana Sharma
NIGERIA
Fatimah Hamid and Maina Waruru
EGYPT
Wagdy Sawahel
Features
GLOBAL
Wagdy Sawahel
University journals play an essential role in supporting locally embedded, open and non-commercial models of knowledge dissemination, and represent a vast but undervalued publishing sector whose greater recognition is essential to achieving a more inclusive and equitable scholarly communication system, according to a study.
Top Stories from Last Week
INDIA
Shuriah Niazi
Under new regulator rules, all higher education institutions in India are required to establish dedicated ‘equity committees’ in a move aimed at formally addressing longstanding concerns about caste-based discrimination on campuses. Critics say the real problem is a state that protects a ‘dominance-based ideology’.
GLOBAL
Ben Daniel
GLOBAL
Sharon Stein
UNITED STATES
Nathan M Greenfield
UNITED KINGDOM
Nic Mitchell
The United Kingdom is seeking to raise the target value of education exports to £40 billion annually and is pinning its hopes on removing obstacles to the expansion of transnational education rather than raising international student recruitment, due to political sensitivities over immigration levels.
GLOBAL
Savo Heleta, Helen Murray, Birgul Kutan, Samia Al-Botmeh, Sardar Saadi and Mario Novelli
A special journal issue containing 24 papers about higher education institutions in conflict zones fills an existing scholarship gap and is evidence that even in the darkest moments, there is light, resistance, hope – and a refusal to be silent in the face of injustice.
GLOBAL
Sarah Wolfenden
At a time when university staff around the world are feeling stressed, undervalued and are struggling with self-worth, compassionate micro-practices such as coaching can help staff resist and push back against toxic environments and discover (or rediscover) their values, agency and well-being.
CANADA-CHINA
Qiang Zha and Ya Xuan Wang
As Canada launches its new global talent attraction scheme, a recent survey showing the outsized contribution of Chinese-origin scientists to Canada’s research ecosystem underscores the need for a balanced approach – one that protects national security while preserving the openness, diversity and global engagement.