tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/educational-attainment-42508/articleseducational attainment – The Conversation2023-12-14T13:19:10Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2184692023-12-14T13:19:10Z2023-12-14T13:19:10ZBlackpool: why seaside towns in England are struggling – and what they’re doing about it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565567/original/file-20231213-15-870da0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Blackpool's seafront.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/blackpool-united-kingdom-august-06-2016-481530364">jremes84|Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.blackpooljsna.org.uk/Blackpool-Profile/Life-Expectancy.aspx#:%7E:text=Life%20expectancy%20for%20men%20in,in%20life%20expectancy%20within%20Blackpool">Life expectancy</a> in Blackpool, in the north-west of England, is the lowest in the country: 5.3 years lower than the national average for men and 4.2 years lower than the national average for women. </p>
<p>Commenting on these stark health inequalities, former children’s commissioner for England Anne Longfield <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/suicidal-children-have-to-make-several-attempts-before-accessing-nhs-mental-health-services-times-health-commission-693f2tpvz">recently noted</a> that healthy life expectancy for children in Blackpool was the same as for those living in Angola. </p>
<p>Children in the town are also struggling at school. In the 2022-2023 academic year, the average educational attainment rate (or highest level of education achieved) for students at state-run secondary schools in Blackpool hit a low of 34.9, down from 38 the previous year, and 40.9 in 2019-2020. Only Knowsley, in Merseyside, 50 miles to the south, scored lower, with 33.2. </p>
<p>This is a far cry from the early 20th-century, when writer Thomas Luke <a href="https://heritagecalling.com/2020/05/14/eight-things-to-know-about-blackpool/">declared</a> Blackpool “one of the wonders of the world”. Quite how the thriving 1930s holiday destination on the Irish sea has become a struggling coastal community reflects wider societal shifts and economic challenges. </p>
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<img alt="An early 20th-century archival photograph of a pier in England." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565549/original/file-20231213-19-ftmzvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565549/original/file-20231213-19-ftmzvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565549/original/file-20231213-19-ftmzvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565549/original/file-20231213-19-ftmzvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565549/original/file-20231213-19-ftmzvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565549/original/file-20231213-19-ftmzvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565549/original/file-20231213-19-ftmzvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Victoria pier in 1904.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rossendalewadey/50041630253">Robert Wade|Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<p>Our <a href="https://www.thenhsa.co.uk/app/uploads/2018/11/NHSA-REPORT-FINAL.pdf">research</a> shows that Blackpool is not unique. Many coastal communities across the UK face similar challenges. </p>
<h2>Mid-century troubles</h2>
<p>Blackpool sits on the edge of Lancashire, the county widely regarded as the cradle of the industrial revolution. The histories of both are firmly entwined. </p>
<p>Today 141,100 people call Blackpool home, the introduction of the railway in 1846, saw almost as many visitors – 100,000 people – spend their annual holiday there every year. They came from Lancashire and Scotland to enjoy the Pleasure Beach amusement park, the piers, the ground-breaking electric street illuminations. </p>
<p>By the eve of the second world war, its annual visitor count had risen 100 fold, to 10 million. From the late 1960s, however, things changed. </p>
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<img alt="An archival photograph of people on deckchairs on a beach." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565569/original/file-20231213-15-fsnait.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565569/original/file-20231213-15-fsnait.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565569/original/file-20231213-15-fsnait.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565569/original/file-20231213-15-fsnait.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565569/original/file-20231213-15-fsnait.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565569/original/file-20231213-15-fsnait.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565569/original/file-20231213-15-fsnait.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Beachgoers in the mid-1930s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/40878011@N07/7381490716">sps1955|Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>The introduction of cheap travel and package holidays to the Mediterranean, saw Blackpool, like all English coastal resorts with less reliable sunshine, fall out of favour as overnight holiday destinations. </p>
<p>In the 19th century, Blackpool had seen a boom in multi-occupancy housebuilding, in response to the demand for tourist accommodation. The slump in tourism numbers from the 1970s onwards now meant the town was left with an aging multi-occupancy housing infrastructure – expensive and difficult to maintain.</p>
<p>Today, Blackpool is the seventh most densely populated area in England outside of Greater London. The population is heavily concentrated in Blackpool’s inner area, a very <a href="https://democracy.blackpool.gov.uk/documents/s70282/Appendix%204a.%20Greening%20Blackpool%20SPD%20Final.pdf">dense and grey urban environment</a>. It is characterised by guest houses, no longer required, which have been converted into rented bedsits and flats. </p>
<p>The local economy has suffered further from <a href="https://transportforthenorth.com/wp-content/uploads/Northern-Powerhouse-Rail-Connect.pdf">continued underinvestment</a> in railway infrastructure by the government. This has made travel to Manchester and Liverpool and other cities difficult, resulting in fewer job opportunities for local residents. </p>
<p>The town has experienced large reductions in central-government funding for local services too. Between 2010 and 2017, core funding for Blackpool Council had the highest reduction out of any <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-66570587">local authority in England</a>. And these <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/local-government-funding-england#:%7E:text=Cuts%20also%20fell%20more%20heavily,central%20government%20allocated%20funding%20cuts.">cuts</a> were greater than in more affluent areas. </p>
<p>Our research has shown that reductions in government funding has contributed to <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(21)00136-5/fulltext">stalling life expectancy across England</a>. </p>
<p>Health outcomes in the area have suffered as a result, compounding the harms wrought by poor market conditions and a historic lack of infrastructure investment. The long-term sickness rate in Blackpool is 17% higher than the <a href="https://www.blackpooljsna.org.uk/People-and-Places/Wider-determinants-of-health/Employment.aspx#:%7E:text=This%20is%20lower%20proportionally%20than,the%20North%20West%20(4.6%25)">national average</a>. </p>
<h2>Local initiatives</h2>
<p>But now Blackpool has secured £5 million from the National Institute of Health and Care Research. As part of this, the town has launched a new community research team. Local residents are employed and trained to co-design and deliver interventions to tackle some of the entrenched inequalities the town faces. </p>
<p>This has resulted in a Blackpool version of the <a href="https://www.scie.org.uk/strengthening-families/hertfordshire-family-safeguarding">family safeguarding model</a>, “Blackpool Families Rock” which will come into practice in April 2024. Blackpool has the highest number of children in care in England. At a rate of 218 per 10,000 children in the local authority’s care, this represents more than <a href="https://www.blackpooljsna.org.uk/Developing-Well/Children-and-young-peoples-wellbeing/Looked-After-Children-Children-in-Need.aspx#:%7E:text=Blackpool%20has%20rate%20of%20218,%2Don%2DTrent%20and%20Middlesbrough">three times the national average</a> of 70 per 10,000. </p>
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<img alt="A bird's eye view of inner Blackpool." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565751/original/file-20231214-19-qqug5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565751/original/file-20231214-19-qqug5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565751/original/file-20231214-19-qqug5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565751/original/file-20231214-19-qqug5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565751/original/file-20231214-19-qqug5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565751/original/file-20231214-19-qqug5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565751/original/file-20231214-19-qqug5e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Coastal towns in England boast Victorian architectural heritage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/blackpool-england-united-kingdom-september-28-1872971965">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Blackpool also has the <a href="https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/lancashire-insight/health-and-care/health/lifestyle/drugs/#:%7E:text=Blackpool%20has%20the%20worst%20rate,the%20England%20average%20of%2081.2">highest rate of deaths from drugs misuse</a> in England. So through a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supported-housing-improvement-programme-prospectus/supported-housing-improvement-programme-prospectus">supported housing</a> scheme, implemented in 2021, the town is now seeking to reduce the risk of homelessness for those recovering from substance misuse. </p>
<p>And to address high levels of young people leaving the town and unemployment, a Blackpool youth hub called The Platform was established in 2022. It supports young people aged 16-24 in developing skills and <a href="https://www.blackpool.gov.uk/Residents/Advice-and-support/Job-support/The-Platform.aspx">improving their chances of employment.</a></p>
<p>In his <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005216/cmo-annual_report-2021-health-in-coastal-communities-accessible.pdf">2021 report</a>, as England’s Chief Medical Officer, Christopher Whitty highlighted that many coastal communities across the UK face similar challenges, with worse health and economic outcomes than their inland neighbours. However, it does not need to be this way. </p>
<p>Places like Blackpool have huge potential. They boast beautiful 19th-century architecture and parks. They combine access to outstanding natural environments with an enthusiastic and engaged local population. The challenge is to stop thinking about them in terms of decline and rather as live-and-work destinations of the 21st century.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218469/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heather Brown receives funding from the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration for the North West Coast (NIHR200182). Heather has also previously received funding from UKRI and NIHR. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amelia Simpson is seconded to Blackpool Council. She receives funding from NIHR Health Determinants Research Collaboration. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Reuben Larbi is seconded to Blackpool Council. He receives funding from NIHR Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC). </span></em></p>Research shows that coastal communities such as Blackpool have worse health and economic outcomes than their inland neighbours in the UK.Heather Brown, Professor of Health Inequalities, Lancaster UniversityAmelia Simpson, Research Associate in NIHR Health Determinant Research Collaboration, Lancaster UniversityReuben Larbi, Research Fellow in Health Determinants of Research Collaboration, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2012762023-03-16T12:31:11Z2023-03-16T12:31:11ZEvery teacher grades differently, which isn’t fair<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515223/original/file-20230314-26-p8e1ao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C8179%2C5457&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">For many teachers, grading is an individualized effort – not one consistent with other teachers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/school-teacher-grading-some-tests-in-a-classroom-royalty-free-image/1451107412">andresr/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Students and parents have begun suing school districts over grading policies and practices they say are unfair. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://und.edu/directory/laura.link">scholar of education</a> who studies grading practices, I’ve seen how important grades are to schools, students and their families.</p>
<p>Grades are the primary basis for making important decisions about students. They determine whether students are promoted from one grade level to the next. They also determine honor roll status and enrollment in advanced or remedial classes, and they factor into special education services and college or university admissions. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2023/03/02/sat-act-test-optional-policies-covid-become-permanent/11385454002/">More than 1,800 colleges and universities</a> now allow applicants to choose whether they want to take the ACT or SAT. That means grades are more important in admissions decisions and <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/what-you-need-to-know-about-college-tuition-costs">scholarship awards</a> – and students and their parents know it.</p>
<p>In early 2022, a local political figure and his wife <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/education/bs-md-patterson-lawsuit-schools-20220127-20220127-bhu5jikoqjfvjoez4i7v4pyaii-story.html">sued Baltimore Public Schools</a>, claiming the city’s entire education system was not serving the public. They said <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/education/bs-md-augusta-fells-problems-20210408-npgkgnofl5g7vfpmwvx3tqk3wy-story.html">unfair grading practices</a> limited students’ academic access.</p>
<p>Later that year, a parent in Kentucky sued the local school district, alleging <a href="https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/education/article264905424.html">unfair grading practices</a> had tainted remote learning classes that had been established during the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>Those cases are still pending, but even <a href="https://my.aasa.org/AASA/Resources/SAMag/2021/May21/Link-Kauffman.aspx">as far back as 2007</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8278150">parents sued a West Virginia school district</a> because their daughter got a lower grade than expected on a biology project she turned in late. The lawsuit argued that the bad grade was unfair and hurt the student’s grade-point average, valedictorian status, scholarship potential and chances of getting into a good college. </p>
<p>These lawsuits show how important grades are to students and their parents.</p>
<h2>Teachers spend lots of time grading</h2>
<p>Teachers know how important grades are, too. In fact, teachers spend <a href="https://www.ascd.org/books/what-we-know-about-grading?variant=118062">over one-third of their professional work time</a> assessing and evaluating student learning. </p>
<p>But most university teacher-education programs focus on curriculum and instruction, with less attention given to assessment. My research has found that these programs do not talk about <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1168160">how to actually grade</a> student work.</p>
<p>In keeping with a <a href="https://uknowledge.uky.edu/edp_facpub/53/">long-held tradition in education</a>, teachers also have, and like, the autonomy to set their own practices. That results in <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1168160">inconsistency, inequity and even unreliability</a> in teachers’ grading practices.</p>
<p>For example, teachers decide if grades will be based on tests, quizzes, homework, participation, behavior, effort, extra credit or other evidence. When surveying over 15,000 teachers, administrators, support educators, parents and students, I found <a href="https://gradingrx.com">teachers use a wide range of evidence</a> in grades. While they primarily use tests, quizzes, projects, and homework to assign grades, teachers at all grade levels also include nonacademic evidence, like behavior and effort, in their grading equations. </p>
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<p>Teachers also decide whether students will get a second chance to take tests if they fail on the first attempt, or be allowed to turn in work late, sometimes reducing their maximum possible grade. </p>
<p>Once teachers decide what to include in their grades, they decide how much weight to assign to each grade category. One teacher may weigh homework as 20% of the final course grade, while another teacher in the same grade level may choose a different weight or not grade homework at all.</p>
<p>In my work, I have talked to teachers who curve grades, especially at the end of a course when they discover lots of students did poorly. To curve, these teachers adjust grades by adding points to all students’ scores to bring the highest score up to 100%. Other teachers in the same school told me they do not grade on a curve. Instead, they add extra credit points to students’ final course grades if they attend a school event, such as a play. Some teachers told me they also add grade points if a student was never tardy to class or never missed an assignment deadline. </p>
<h2>Traditional grading is confusing and inaccurate</h2>
<p>Schools do often have a common grade system all teachers must use, such as a scale from zero to 100. But my research has found that it’s <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1168160">very rare</a> that all teachers in a district, or even a school or a grade level, use the same grading policies and procedures.</p>
<p>The variation among teachers’ grading policies and practices causes confusion for students and their parents. High school students, for instance, typically have seven different teachers each semester. That means they have to keep up with seven different grading policies and procedures – and cope with the obvious differences. </p>
<p>My research indicates that the effort to keep up with multiple teachers’ different grading expectations <a href="https://www.nassp.org/publication/principal-leadership/volume-21-2020-2021/principal-leadership-october-2020/viewpoint-october-2020/">causes students chronic stress and anxiety</a>, especially for those students with poor organizational, time-management and self-regulation skills. This is also the case for students competing for high grade-point averages and class rank. Still, students rarely question teachers’ grading or the grading differences between teachers. </p>
<p>It might seem unfair, for example, that one algebra teacher allows for extra credit to boost final course grades and another does not. But students have accepted these differences because this is <a href="https://uknowledge.uky.edu/edp_facpub/53/">how it’s always been</a>. And parents often pass these grading differences off as what they experienced in school themselves. </p>
<h2>Three ways to improve grading</h2>
<p>Grading consistency and effectiveness could be improved if universities’ teacher-training programs included <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2022.2107338">specific training on grading practices</a> in their educator preparation programs, but not any training will do. Evidence-based research on grading conducted over the past century identifies <a href="https://www.ascd.org/books/what-we-know-about-grading?variant=118062">ways grades can be effective, fair and accurate</a>.</p>
<p>First, grades are accurate and meaningful when they are based on reliable and valid evidence from classroom assessments. This information allows teachers to provide students and parents with feedback on learning progress, and to guide teachers’ own efforts to improve their teaching. For instance, an assessment strategy called <a href="https://www.aasa.org/resources/resource/feedback-for-teachers-what-evidence-do-teachers-find-most-useful">Mastery Learning</a> has been shown to improve student achievement and deliver reliable evidence upon which teachers can base grades.</p>
<p>Second, grading works best when students, parents, teachers, administrators and others in the school are <a href="https://gradingrx.com/">clear on the purpose of grades</a>. These groups have different beliefs and expectations, but clarity in grades can be achieved when they agree on grading intentions to then anchor policies and practices.</p>
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<p>Third, grade reports that include three to five categories of performance more meaningfully <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2022.2107338">communicate students’ actual academic proficiency</a>. Reducing a grade to a single letter or number that incorporates many aspects of learning, including behavior and effort, does not inform anyone as clearly about what a student has achieved, needs or is ready for.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201276/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Link consults with school districts through GradingRx. </span></em></p>A scholar of grading explains how teachers can do a better job of reporting what grades represent, and what they are for.Laura Link, Assistant Professor of Teaching and Leadership, University of North DakotaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1899212022-09-13T12:33:06Z2022-09-13T12:33:06Z5 challenges of doing college in the metaverse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483585/original/file-20220908-20-lxhmps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C69%2C4641%2C3487&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A student wears virtual reality goggles and headphones as part of a digital learning experience.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/connor-powelson-graduate-assistant-and-phd-candidate-news-photo/1240927332">Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>More and more colleges are becoming “<a href="https://theconversation.com/six-benefits-that-the-metaverse-offers-to-colleges-and-universities-188950">metaversities</a>,” taking their physical campuses into a virtual online world, often called the “metaverse.” One initiative has <a href="https://www.victoryxr.com/our-partners/meta/">10 U.S. universities and colleges</a> working with Meta, the parent company of Facebook, and virtual reality company VictoryXR to create 3D online replicas – sometimes called “<a href="https://steve-grubbs.medium.com/the-advantages-of-a-digital-twin-virtual-reality-campus-563b77c951cc">digital twins</a>” – of their campuses that are updated live as people and items move through the real-world spaces.</p>
<p>Some classes are <a href="https://theconversation.com/six-benefits-that-the-metaverse-offers-to-colleges-and-universities-188950">already happening in the metaverse</a>. And VictoryXR says that by 2023, it plans to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2022/09/03/metaversity-is-in-session-as-meta-and-iowas-victoryxr-open-10-virtual-campuses/?sh=606238016f25">build and operate 100 digital twin campuses</a>, which allow for a group setting with live instructors and real-time class interactions. </p>
<p>One metaversity builder, New Mexico State University, says it wants to offer degrees in which students can take all their classes in virtual reality, <a href="https://www.protocol.com/enterprise/metaverse-in-education-morehouse-meta">beginning in 2027</a>.</p>
<p>There are many <a href="https://theconversation.com/six-benefits-that-the-metaverse-offers-to-colleges-and-universities-188950">benefits to taking college classes in the metaverse</a>, such as 3D visual learning, more realistic interactivity and easier access for faraway students. But there are also potential problems. My recent <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=g-jALEoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">research</a> has focused on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/MITP.2022.3178509">ethical, social and practical</a> aspects of the metaverse and risks such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2022.102542">privacy violations and security breaches</a>. I see five challenges:</p>
<h2>1. Significant costs and time</h2>
<p>The metaverse <a href="https://theconversation.com/six-benefits-that-the-metaverse-offers-to-colleges-and-universities-188950">provides a low-cost learning alternative in some settings</a>. For instance, building a cadaver laboratory costs <a href="https://skarredghost.com/2021/08/04/victoryxr-fisk-vr-cadaver-lab/">several million dollars and requires a lot of space</a> and maintenance. A virtual cadaver lab has made scientific <a href="https://www.fisk.edu/featured/fisk-university-htc-vive-t-mobile-and-victoryxr-launch-5g-powered-vr-human-cadaver-lab/">learning affordable at Fisk University</a>.</p>
<p>However, licenses for virtual reality content, construction of digital twin campuses, virtual reality headsets and other investment expenses do <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mcgivney/files/introductionlearningmetaverse-april2022-meridiantreehouse.pdf">add costs for universities</a>.</p>
<p>A metaverse course license can cost universities <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/08/03/college-metaverse-here-higher-ed-ready">at least $20,000, and could go as high as $100,000 for a digital twin campus</a>. VictoryXR also charges a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2022/09/03/metaversity-is-in-session-as-meta-and-iowas-victoryxr-open-10-virtual-campuses/?sh=3dbfa7cf6f25">yearly subscription fee of $200</a> per student to access its metaverse.</p>
<p>Additional costs are incurred for virtual reality headsets. While Meta is providing a <a href="https://www.insightintodiversity.com/metaversities-offer-new-possibilities-for-education-but-some-experts-urge-campuses-to-be-mindful-of-potential-risks/">limited number of its virtual reality headsets – the Meta Quest 2 – for free</a> for metaversities launched by Meta and VictoryXR, that’s only a few of what may be needed. The low-end 128GB version of the Meta Quest 2 <a href="https://store.facebook.com/quest/products/quest-2/">headset costs $399.99</a>. Managing and maintaining a large number of headsets, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/08/24/the-accessibility-and-affordability-of-the-metaverse-in-education-right-now/?sh=1ea2ba5d7f8f">including keeping them fully charged</a>, involves additional operational costs and time. </p>
<p>Colleges also need to spend significant time and resources to <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/08/03/college-metaverse-here-higher-ed-ready">provide training to faculty to deliver metaverse courses</a>. Even more time will be required to deliver metaverse courses, many of which will need <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mcgivney/files/introductionlearningmetaverse-april2022-meridiantreehouse.pdf">all-new digital materials</a>.</p>
<p>Most educators don’t have the <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mcgivney/files/introductionlearningmetaverse-april2022-meridiantreehouse.pdf">capability to create their own metaverse teaching materials</a>, which can involve merging videos, still images and audio with text and interactivity elements into an <a href="https://roundtablelearning.com/how-to-create-original-vr-content-everything-you-need-to-know/">immersive online experience</a>.</p>
<h2>2. Data privacy, security and safety concerns</h2>
<p>Business models of companies developing metaverse technologies <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mcgivney/files/introductionlearningmetaverse-april2022-meridiantreehouse.pdf">rely on collecting users’ detailed personal data</a>. For instance, people who want to use Meta’s Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headsets must have Facebook accounts.</p>
<p>The headsets can collect highly personal and sensitive data <a href="https://store.facebook.com/legal/quest/privacy-policy/">such as location, students’ physical features and movements, and voice recordings</a>. Meta has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/01/13/privacy-vr-metaverse/">not promised to keep that data private or to limit access</a> that advertisers might have to it.</p>
<p>Meta is also working on a high-end virtual reality headset called <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/28/project-cambria-is-a-high-end-vr-headset-designed-for-facebooks-metaverse/">Project Cambria</a>, with more advanced capabilities. Sensors in the device will allow a virtual avatar to maintain eye contact and make facial expressions that mirror the user’s eye movements and face. That data information <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/01/13/privacy-vr-metaverse/">can help advertisers measure users’ attention</a> and target them with personalized advertising.</p>
<p>Professors and students may not freely participate in class discussions if they know that all their moves, their speech and even their facial expressions are <a href="https://www.diverseeducation.com/institutions/article/15293003/what-could-the-metaverse-mean-for-higher-education">being watched by the university as well as a big technology company</a>.</p>
<p>The virtual environment and its equipment can also collect a wide range of user data, such as <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/metaverse-huge-opportunity-education-big-tech-must-not-ruin-it-opinion-1693962">physical movement, heart rate</a>, <a href="https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2022/03/29/cybersecurity-privacy-and-constitutional-concerns-risks-to-know-before-entering-the-metaverse/?slreturn=20220714213359">pupil size, eye openness</a> and even signals of emotions. </p>
<p>Cyberattacks in the metaverse could even cause physical harm. Metaverse interfaces <a href="https://securityintelligence.com/articles/metaverse-security-challenges/">provide input directly into users’ senses</a>, so they effectively trick the user’s brain into believing the user is in a different environment. <a href="https://it-online.co.za/2022/02/08/meta-safety-meta-security-metaverse/">People who attack virtual reality systems</a> can influence the activities of immersed users, even inducing them to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/TDSC.2019.2907942">physically move into dangerous locations</a>, such as to the top of a staircase.</p>
<p>The metaverse can also <a href="https://www.emergingedtech.com/2022/04/where-is-edtech-heading-rise-of-metaverse-quick-guide/">expose students to inappropriate content</a>. For instance, Roblox has launched <a href="https://education.roblox.com/">Roblox Education</a> to bring 3D, interactive, virtual environments into physical and online classrooms. Roblox says it has <a href="https://www.connectsafely.org/roblox">strong protections to keep everyone safe</a>, but no protections are perfect, and its metaverse involves user-generated content and a chat feature, which could be <a href="https://www.familyzone.com/anz/families/blog/roblox-parents-review">infiltrated by predators</a> or people <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/roblox-virtual-strip-clubs-condo-games-sex-1197237/">posting pornography</a> or other <a href="https://www.bark.us/blog/is-roblox-safe-for-kids/">illegal material</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A Stanford University class took students on an exploration of world-merging virtual and physical elements.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Lack of rural access to advanced infrastructure</h2>
<p>Many metaverse applications such as <a href="https://www.vodafone.com.au/red-wire/what-5g-networks-mean-for-the-future-of-vr-ar-technology">3D videos are bandwidth-intensive</a>. They require high-speed data networks to handle all of the <a href="https://www.fisk.edu/featured/fisk-university-htc-vive-t-mobile-and-victoryxr-launch-5g-powered-vr-human-cadaver-lab/">information flowing between sensors and users</a> across the virtual and physical space. </p>
<p>Many users, especially in rural areas, <a href="https://www.vodafone.com.au/red-wire/what-5g-networks-mean-for-the-future-of-vr-ar-technology">lack the infrastructure to support the streaming of high-quality metaverse content</a>. For instance, 97% of the population living in urban areas in the U.S. has <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/covid-digital-divide-learning-education/">access to a high-speed connection, compared to 65% in rural areas and 60%</a> in tribal lands.</p>
<h2>4. Adapting challenges to a new environment</h2>
<p>Building and launching a metaversity requires drastic changes in a school’s approach to <a href="https://www.incitevr.com/about/company">teaching</a> and learning.
For instance, metaverse <a href="https://www.uoc.edu/portal/en/news/actualitat/2022/143-education-metavers.html">students aren’t just recipients of content</a> but active participants in virtual reality games and other activities.</p>
<p>The combination of advanced technologies such as <a href="https://www.incitevr.com/about/company">immersive game-based learning and virtual reality with artificial intelligence</a> can create personalized learning experiences that are not in real time but still experienced through the metaverse. Automatic systems that tailor the content and pace of learning to the ability and interest of the student can make learning in the metaverse <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mcgivney/files/introductionlearningmetaverse-april2022-meridiantreehouse.pdf">less structured</a>, with fewer set rules.</p>
<p>Those differences require significant <a href="https://www.uoc.edu/portal/en/news/actualitat/2022/143-education-metavers.html">modifications in assessment and monitoring processes</a>, such as quizzes and tests. Traditional measures such as <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mcgivney/files/introductionlearningmetaverse-april2022-meridiantreehouse.pdf">multiple choice questions are inappropriate to assess</a> individualized and unstructured learning experiences offered by the metaverse.</p>
<h2>5. Amplifying biases</h2>
<p>Gender, racial and ideological biases are common in textbooks of <a href="https://verdemagazine.com/checking-the-source-scrutinizing-the-biases-in-our-curriculum">history, science</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15290824.2018.1532570">other subjects</a>, which influence how students understand certain events and topics. In some cases, those biases prevent the achievement of justice and other goals, such as <a href="https://files.adulteducation.at/voev_content/340-gender_books.pdf">gender equality</a>.</p>
<p>Biases’ effects can be even more powerful in rich media environments. <a href="https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/jsser/issue/19098/202639">Films</a> are <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/08/03/college-metaverse-here-higher-ed-ready">more powerful</a> at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00377996.2011.616239">molding students’</a> views than textbooks. <a href="https://aber.apacsci.com/index.php/met/article/view/1804/2138">Metaverse content</a> has the potential to be <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/08/03/college-metaverse-here-higher-ed-ready">even more influential</a>. </p>
<p>To maximize the benefits of the metaverse for teaching and learning, universities – and their students – will have to wrestle with protecting users’ privacy, training teachers and the level of national investment in broadband networks.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189921/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nir Kshetri does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There are benefits to taking college classes in the metaverse, but there are also potential problems.Nir Kshetri, Professor of Management, University of North Carolina – GreensboroLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1560772021-03-11T14:11:26Z2021-03-11T14:11:26ZRewild your kids: why playing outside should be a post-pandemic priority<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389032/original/file-20210311-19-jau3x2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/children-play-hut-out-twigs-wooden-654282853">EvgeniiAnd/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>This generation of children will face a range of challenges, including the impacts of climate change, increasing globalisation, and the consequences of rapid technological change. They will need to become habitually physically active in order to grow into healthy, resilient adults who can survive and thrive in a changing world.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong><em>The Global Matrix initiative on physical activity</em></strong></p>
<p>As nurseries and schools begin to reopen across the UK, there is much concern about the impact of this very difficult year on children. One aspect of normal childhood which many have missed out on in the last 12 months is the simple fun of playing outside. England’s Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield believes we should <a href="https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/2021/02/17/building-back-better-reaching-englands-left-behind-children/">prioritise youngsters’ wellbeing</a> as part of our recovery from COVID-19. </p>
<p>Our latest <a href="https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-020-00987-8">research</a> suggests that during lockdown most children spent less time outdoors, became less physically active and spent more time in front of screens. As a result, this may now be the <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-schools-reopen-will-this-be-the-least-fit-generation-of-schoolchildren-ever-145492">least fit generation of children in history</a>. In England, children have even been <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/55812556">scolded by police</a> for playing outdoors. And school and nursery closures have inevitably reduced opportunities to play with friends.</p>
<p>Our behaviours are formed and reinforced by habit. Some children may have lost the habit of playing outside over the past year, replacing it with sedentary screen time, while others might not have had the opportunity to develop the habit at all.</p>
<p>A large body of research <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/position-statement-on-active-outdoor-play-en.pdf">evidence</a> shows that active outdoor play has benefits for child health, wellbeing, development and educational attainment. Play is so important to childhood that it is enshrined as a human right in <a href="https://ipaworld.org/childs-right-to-play/article-31/summary-gc17/">article 31 of the UN Rights of Child</a>.</p>
<p>It seems odd that such an important and normal aspect of childhood as playing outside is under threat, but the problem was there pre-lockdown. Such restrictions may have simply speeded up a process of declining participation in active outdoor play that was already underway before the pandemic.</p>
<p>Running, cycling, swimming, hiking, climbing, exploring and playing games not only provide opportunities for physical activity, they also stimulate imagination and creativity, help us to develop problem-solving skills and encourage interaction with others and the environment. Free play outdoors – which isn’t organised or supervised closely by parents – is especially good for activity levels, wellbeing, social and emotional development and resilience.</p>
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<h2>Restoring the habit</h2>
<p>Our research on the lifestyles of children in Scotland is published as a “state of the nation” <a href="https://activehealthykidsscotland.co.uk">report card</a> every two to three years. In our last report – a snapshot of life pre-lockdown – we found that only around <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/jpah/15/s2/article-pS251.xml">a third</a> of Scottish primary school children played outside regularly; two-thirds did not have the habit at all.</p>
<p>This finding was very similar to our 2018 <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/jpah/15/s2/article-pS251.xml">research findings</a> from the 20 countries that reported participation in active outdoor play with the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance <a href="https://www.activehealthykids.org/3-0/">Global Matrix initiative</a>. If active outdoor play was quite rare pre-lockdown, it might now be in danger of extinction in some places.</p>
<p>The reasons playing outside was in decline even pre-lockdown are complex and varied but include fear of children hurting themselves or getting dirty, stranger-danger, sunburn, insect stings, bad weather and darkness. These safety concerns are conveniently countered with lots of “safe” things for children to do indoors, mostly in front of screens.</p>
<p>But in the same <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/jpah/15/s2/article-pS251.xml">study</a> we found good evidence that the vast majority of Scottish children have access to decent outdoor space to play that is close to where they live and generally perceived as safe. Research from across the developed world has shown that the outdoor environment is relatively safe, while the indoor environment is <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/portfolio_page/the-2015-position-statement-on-active-outdoor-play/">much less safe</a> than many parents think. Besides the online dangers of prolonged screen time, children are sitting around more and moving less. They may be snacking more. And often air quality indoors is worse than outdoors.</p>
<p>Again, this was similar to findings from other western countries, such as Canada. While the outdoor environment could no doubt be better, the reasons so few children regularly played outdoors pre-lockdown are partly to do with the social environment (meaning norms and habits) rather than the physical environment. If we are to save play from extinction, we need to address the social environment and restore the habit of playing outside.</p>
<p>In a further 29 countries that took part in our 2018 research there was no monitoring of participation in active outdoor play, so the situation may be critical and deteriorating in those countries without anyone noticing. Like extinctions of species – which happen partly because we were not aware of them – important behaviours and habits could also become extinct because we simply don’t see the trends. As part of the COVID-19 recovery plan, active outdoor play should not just be encouraged and prioritised. Participation needs to be monitored, too. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Young girl running on grass with a ribbon flowing out behind her against a bright blue sky." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389031/original/file-20210311-18-b7usd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C5846%2C3516&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389031/original/file-20210311-18-b7usd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389031/original/file-20210311-18-b7usd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389031/original/file-20210311-18-b7usd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389031/original/file-20210311-18-b7usd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389031/original/file-20210311-18-b7usd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389031/original/file-20210311-18-b7usd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children need fresh air and the chance to run free and move their bodies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-small-black-cool-girl-wave-1499271536">Sergey Novikov/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Time which children would have spent playing outside in the past has increasingly been replaced by screen time. This <a href="https://www.inspiringscotland.org.uk/publication/scotlands-coalition-outdoor-play-learning-position-statement/">balance needs to be redressed</a>. Cooped up glued to a computer should be tempered with blasts of fresh air and running free without being supervised too closely.</p>
<p>Resurrecting active outdoor play means getting more children outdoors more often and this calls for the rewilding of childhood. That means family outings to explore nature; making park visits routine; encouraging children to play imaginatively outside, like building dens – any kind of creative outdoor play that fosters curiosity, exploration, co-operation, imagination and self-expression.</p>
<p>Repeated it becomes a habit that children enjoy and look forward to, especially if they can meet and play with other kids. Lockdown has been vital to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, but the loss of outdoor play should not become one of the unintended consequences. If in doubt, <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/2021/02/08/get-outside-and-play/">send them out</a>!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156077/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John J Reilly has received funding from the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office, World Health Organisation, Inspiring Scotland, The Robertson Trust, and the Scottish Universities Insight Institute.. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark S Tremblay works for the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute. He has received funding related to the research and promotion of outdoor play from The Lawson Foundation and The Waltons Trust. He is the Chair of Outdoor Play Canada, Chair of PLaTO-Net (Play, Learn, and Teach Outdoors Network), and President of the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance. </span></em></p>If we want to avoid playing outside becoming a thing of the past, we need to restore the habit in our children after lockdown.John J Reilly, Professor of Physical Activity and Public Health Science, University of Strathclyde Mark S Tremblay, Professor of Pediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1252922019-10-17T11:41:53Z2019-10-17T11:41:53ZBosses face more discrimination if they are women – from employees of any gender<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297149/original/file-20191015-98666-12tt3zk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women in upper management are discriminated against by all employees, not just men.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/black-female-boss-leading-corporate-multiracial-1022439985?src=KO60Zmdcb4FJ9Me8kbpfng-1-19">fizkes/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Imagine that your boss Ethan calls you into his office. He expresses disappointment in your recent performance and lack of commitment. How would you react? Accept the feedback and put in more effort? Would you pout in your office and start looking for a new job?</p>
<p>Now, would your reaction be different if your boss was not named Ethan but Emily?</p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WJe3b0UAAAAJ&hl=en#">professor of economics</a>, and <a href="http://ftp.iza.org/dp12611.pdf">my research</a> investigates this very question. We hired 2,700 workers online to transcribe receipts, randomly assigning a male or female name to a manager and randomly assigning which workers would receive performance feedback.</p>
<p>Results show that both women and men react more negatively to criticism if it comes from a woman. Our subjects reported that criticism by a woman led to a larger reduction in job satisfaction than criticism by a man. Employees were also doubly disinterested in working for the firm in the future if they had been criticized by a female boss.</p>
<p>This has important implications for the success of women in leadership. If using feedback is more likely to backfire for women in positions of power, they may adopt <a href="http://people.tamu.edu/%7Edserra/ChakrabortySerraLeadershipFeb2019.pdf">less effective management strategies or become altogether less interested</a> in holding leadership positions.</p>
<h2>Women in the workplace</h2>
<p>Women make up <a href="https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-sp-500-companies/">45% of employees</a> of S&P 500 firms. Yet, they only make up 37% of managers at the midlevel, 26% at the senior level and 5% of CEOs.</p>
<p>This is true despite women having overtaken men in <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-06/u-s-women-outpacing-men-in-higher-education-demographic-trends">educational attainment</a>. They have also begun <a href="https://hbr.org/2012/03/a-study-in-leadership-women-do">scoring higher on leadership competency tests</a> in recent years.</p>
<p>Existing studies <a href="https://doi.org/10.2202/1538-0637.1416">do not find clear evidence of gender discrimination</a> against job applicants for upper management. Due to methodological constraints, such research typically focuses on hiring for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2012.01746.x">entry-level positions</a>.</p>
<p>Discrimination in promotion is much harder to study, as work interactions are harder for researchers to observe.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297151/original/file-20191015-98657-17d4m7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297151/original/file-20191015-98657-17d4m7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297151/original/file-20191015-98657-17d4m7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297151/original/file-20191015-98657-17d4m7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297151/original/file-20191015-98657-17d4m7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297151/original/file-20191015-98657-17d4m7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297151/original/file-20191015-98657-17d4m7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women make up nearly half of the workforce, but managers are disproportionately men.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/female-boss-leading-meeting-architects-sitting-181045067?src=KO60Zmdcb4FJ9Me8kbpfng-1-85">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why discrimination?</h2>
<p>Women in upper management are not simply being ignored. Workers hired for the transcription in our study actually spent slightly more time reading and thinking about feedback from female managers.</p>
<p>Neither can <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/20439056.pdf">implicit biases</a> explain why employees are less likely to take criticism well from women. While we found that workers in this study were on average more likely to subconsciously associate men with career and women with family, this tendency does not predict whether they discriminate against female bosses.</p>
<p>Discrimination is also not a lack of exposure to female supervisors. Workers stating that their previous female supervisor was highly effective were just as likely to discriminate.</p>
<p>Instead, what seems to drive the results are gendered expectations of management styles. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00326.x">Other studies</a> have shown that workers are three times more likely to associate giving praise with female managers and twice more likely to associate giving criticism with male managers. People react negatively if something <a href="https://doi.org/10.1006/jesp.1996.1323">violates their expectations</a>.</p>
<p>Case in point: critical female bosses.</p>
<p>It remains unclear to what extent results from this study generalize to more traditional work settings. Yet, the “gig economy” and other remote work arrangements are a <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/employment-and-growth/independent-work-choice-necessity-and-the-gig-economy">rapidly expanding</a> part of the economy.</p>
<p>Some have argued that <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/goldin/files/the_cost_of_workplace_flexibility_for_high-powered_professionals.pdf">these jobs offer more flexibility</a> and thus particularly benefit women. However, findings from this study highlight additional concerns about discrimination in the gig economy due to lack of regulatory oversight and equal opportunity protections in these jobs.</p>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>Recently, some firms started trying to stem discrimination against women in management positions.</p>
<p>Several have employed “<a href="https://www.coachteam.no/Documents/ExecutiveCoaching360Fed.pdf">feedback coaches</a>,” teaching workers to focus on the content of feedback rather than the identity of the person providing it. There is also evidence that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2901">informing people of their biases may affect their behavior</a>.</p>
<p>Other research suggests that <a href="https://economics.sas.upenn.edu/system/files/working-papers/18-016%20PIER%20Paper%20Submission.pdf">highlighting specific credentials of women in leadership</a> – such as <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/p/sza/wpaper/wpapers282.html">positive evaluations or reference letters</a> – may be an effective remedy.</p>
<p>To end on a hopeful note: Discrimination against female bosses in my study is lower among younger workers and disappears for those in their 20s. Though younger employees may discriminate more as they age, it could be that this is a generational shift.</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125292/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Abel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Women in the workplace face discrimination at every level, including in upper management.Martin Abel, Assistant Professor of Economics, MiddleburyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1052132018-10-30T18:57:40Z2018-10-30T18:57:40ZNo state has all the answers in school education<p><em>This week we’re exploring the state of nine different policy areas across Australia’s states, as detailed in Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/?post_type=report&p=6974&preview=true">State Orange Book 2018</a>. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-the-states-2018-61464">here</a></em>.</p>
<hr>
<p>School education in Australia is generally good, but it should be better. </p>
<p>The federal government provides about one-third of total funding for school education, but it’s state and territory governments that run schools. State government policy is therefore a key lever for lifting student outcomes. </p>
<p>The Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/state-orange-book-2018/">State Orange Book 2018</a> shows how state and territory governments are performing on the issues that matter to Australians, and what they should do to improve.</p>
<h2>Where we are</h2>
<p>No set of metrics can cover everything that matters in schooling. For this report, we chose four metrics that provide a high-level snapshot and highlight some important differences among states:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>student progress (learning growth) in primary school, taking account of differences in school advantage</p></li>
<li><p>the proportion of students achieving at high levels in Year 9 NAPLAN reading and numeracy</p></li>
<li><p>the proportion of students at or below the national minimum standard in Year 9 NAPLAN reading and numeracy</p></li>
<li><p>government funding to state government schools as a proportion of their funding target.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Student progress and achievement are two sides of the same coin. Progress is the best way to understand how much schools contribute to learning. Achievement in Year 9 reflects what students can do as they get closer to leaving school.</p>
<p>The picture that emerges from these metrics is nuanced. </p>
<p>Queensland was the star performer in primary school progress, but its Year 9 achievement was some way below the highest-performing states. </p>
<p>New South Wales and Western Australia were good at supporting high-achieving students in secondary school. They also reduced the proportion of Year 9 students who were at or below minimum standards. But the rate at which their students learn in primary school was middle-of-the-pack.</p>
<p>The ACT performed well in Year 9 NAPLAN, largely due to its relatively advantaged population. But on a like-for-like basis, ACT students made two to three months less progress than the national average in primary school. Our recent <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/measuring-student-progress/">Measuring Student Progress</a> report showed the same is true in secondary school.</p>
<p>In 2017, Victoria spent the least on its government schools. Does this mean Victoria is more efficient than other states? That’s a hard argument to make when it didn’t out-perform in the other three metrics. </p>
<p>South Australia needs to lift its game; it performed below average on the outcome and equity metrics, whether or not socioeconomic advantage was taken into account.</p>
<p>Tasmania and the Northern Territory both performed better than expected in primary school, once their socioeconomic disadvantage was taken into account. But they still have the highest proportion of students at or below the Year 9 national minimum standard, perpetuating intergenerational disadvantage.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-sorting-classrooms-by-ability-improve-marks-it-depends-on-the-mix-94172">Will sorting classrooms by ability improve marks? It depends on the mix</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Where we should be</h2>
<p>School education in Australia needs to improve in three distinct ways.</p>
<p>First, we need to improve the teaching of core academic skills. Content still matters, even in the era of Google. Mastering content helps underpin more advanced abilities such as the ability to appraise and apply knowledge. </p>
<p>Second, we must go beyond traditional academic skills and content. </p>
<p>Skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, resilience and initiative are important in preparing young Australians for their lives after school. We need to figure out how best to measure and teach these skills. </p>
<p>Third, we need to reduce the gaps between the educational haves and have-nots.</p>
<p>Looking beneath the headline metrics, the students making the slowest progress in every state are those in the most disadvantaged schools. And, as we showed in our 2016 report <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/widening-gaps/">Widening Gaps</a>, the students who miss out most are bright children in disadvantaged schools. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-improve-naplan-scores-teach-children-philosophy-64536">Want to improve NAPLAN scores? Teach children philosophy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How to get there</h2>
<p>There are pockets of great teaching practice across Australia, but also pockets where teaching needs to be more effective. We should build on what is working best, as well as learning lessons from overseas.</p>
<p>To lift teaching effectiveness, state governments need to create <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/towards-an-adaptive-education-system-in-australia/">adaptive education systems</a> that enable continuous improvement by design, not by chance. This means getting much better at <em>selecting</em> and <em>spreading</em> what works best.</p>
<p>The goal is not for all teachers to teach the same material in the same way, but for all teachers to use practices that have been shown to work, and to adapt them to meet the needs of their students.</p>
<p>To work this way, teachers need better data on the learning progress of each of their students, as well as their achievement. State governments can help by making it easier for teachers to identify high-quality classroom assessment tools and resources.</p>
<p>State governments should also create explicit jobs for top teachers, to use their subject expertise to spread effective practice within and across schools. Simply reading about what works is not enough to improve teaching; teachers need to see good practice in action, try new ways of working, and get specific feedback. </p>
<p>Most states have tried coaching programs, but they often chop and change, and coaches are not always subject experts. We need a much more systematic approach.</p>
<p>At the same time as investing in supporting front-line teachers, states should work on strengthening the evidence base about what works well in the classroom. This includes randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental approaches that confirm whether a promising teaching approach really delivers the goods. It also includes better information about what practices are being used in classrooms today.</p>
<p>State education departments need to develop new ways to work – neither centrally controlled nor fully devolved – if they’re to become truly adaptive. Adaptive improvement is happening in schools all over Australia. But too often it is disconnected and led by individuals who may move on, rather than being part of the normal way of working. </p>
<p>At the moment, no state or territory has all the answers. Each should learn from the others and do better, in pursuit of a national imperative: providing the best education for all children.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-poor-kids-continue-to-do-poorly-in-the-education-game-23500">Why poor kids continue to do poorly in the education game</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105213/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and Grattan uses the income to pursue its activitiesnisation. The State Orange Book 2018, from which this article draws, was supported by a grant from the Susan McKinnon Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Sonnemann is a Board Member on the Song Room.</span></em></p>School education in Australia is generally good, but it should be better.Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteJulie Sonnemann, Research Fellow, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1031142018-09-12T13:20:23Z2018-09-12T13:20:23ZAnthill 29: Inheritance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235990/original/file-20180912-133901-1qnyrtv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C31%2C1000%2C881&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gennadiy Solovyev/Shutterstock.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What do we pass onto the next generation when we’re gone? In this episode of The Anthill podcast we bring you three stories from academics who study aspects of inheritance – from inherited wealth, to the natural inheritance we leave our children, and the genetic inheritance held within our DNA. </p>
<p>The way countries tax inherited wealth varies widely across the world. In the UK, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax">inheritance tax</a> is 40% on everything above a £375,000 threshold (for properties the threshold rises to £1m), yet it doesn’t exist in Australia and Canada and works differently in France and Scandinavia. In this episode, Janette Rutterford, professor of financial management at Open University, tracks the history of inheritance tax in the UK – and the loopholes people use to get around paying it. And we ask Danny Dorling, Halford Mackinder professor of geography at the University of Oxford whether inheritance tax is fit for purpose – and what could replace it. </p>
<hr>
<p><strong><em>Click <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/podcasts/the-anthill">here</a> to listen to more episodes of The Anthill, on themes including <a href="https://theconversation.com/anthill-26-twins-98271">Twins</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/anthill-25-intuition-96677">Intuition</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/anthill-27-confidence-100183">Confidence</a>. And browse <a href="https://theconversation.com/podcasts">other podcasts</a> from The Conversation here.</em></strong> </p>
<hr>
<p>In the second segment, we focus on natural inheritance. Mass extinctions of species mean that the wildlife our ancestors grew up with is vanishing and it may mean future generations are left with a smaller and emptier view of nature. Scientists believe our perception of nature and wilderness is shrinking, with each new generation inheriting a smaller picture of what a healthy ecosystem looks like. We ask biologists Lizzie Jones from Royal Holloway University and Chris Sandom from the University of Sussex to help explain the concept of this “shifting baseline syndrome”. And Newcastle University’s Niki Rust talks through one of the options for dealing with it – <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/rewilding-7773">rewilding</a>, and what happened to lions she observed who had been reintroduced into reserves in Africa. </p>
<p>Sandom and Jones have also written an accompanying article for The Conversation, showcasing <a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-environmental-doom-and-gloom-young-people-draw-alternative-visions-of-natures-future-102004">drawings by young people</a> of alternative visions for nature’s future – and graphic imaginings by the artist Daniel Locke on what Britain would have looked like hundreds of thousands of years ago.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235767/original/file-20180911-144458-1hbdyi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235767/original/file-20180911-144458-1hbdyi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235767/original/file-20180911-144458-1hbdyi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235767/original/file-20180911-144458-1hbdyi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235767/original/file-20180911-144458-1hbdyi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235767/original/file-20180911-144458-1hbdyi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235767/original/file-20180911-144458-1hbdyi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235767/original/file-20180911-144458-1hbdyi9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Britain 125,000 years ago: giant deer, straight-tusked elephants and rhinos.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.daniellocke.com/">Daniel Locke</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the final segment of this episode we delve into the debate on genes and intelligence – and whether children’s success at school depends on their DNA. Kaili Rimfeld, a postdoctoral researcher at King’s College London, explains her new study – <a href="https://theconversation.com/genes-shown-to-influence-how-well-children-do-throughout-their-time-at-school-102520">which you can read about on The Conversation</a> – which showed that genes influence how well children do throughout their time at school. She explains how twins studies have helped scientists to understand the “heritability” of intelligence, as well as <a href="https://theconversation.com/your-genes-can-help-predict-how-well-youll-do-in-school-heres-how-we-cracked-it-62848">new tools</a>, which are helping give more personalised predictions for educational achievement. </p>
<p>But some social scientists, including as Daphne Martschenko, a PhD researcher in education at the University of Cambridge, are concerned about the ethical implications of this line of research. She recounts the controversial history of research linking genes and intelligence – which she’s just written <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/74b8m/">a new paper</a> about – and why she’s concerned about how such research might trickle down into the classroom in future. </p>
<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-anthill/id1114423002?mt=2"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233721/original/file-20180827-75984-1gfuvlr.png" alt="Listen on Apple Podcasts" width="268" height="68"></a> <a href="https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVjb252ZXJzYXRpb24uY29tL3VrL3BvZGNhc3RzL3RoZS1hbnRoaWxsLnJzcw%3D%3D"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233720/original/file-20180827-75978-3mdxcf.png" alt="" width="268" height="68"></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-conversation/the-anthill"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233716/original/file-20180827-75981-pdp50i.png" alt="Stitcher" width="300" height="88"></a> <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/Technology-Podcasts/The-Anthill-p877873/"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233723/original/file-20180827-75984-f0y2gb.png" alt="Listen on TuneIn" width="318" height="125"></a></p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Anthill theme music is by Alex Grey for Melody Loops.
Music in the inheritance tax segment <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/The_Big_Loop_-_FML_original_podcast_score/Lee_Rosevere_-_The_Big_Loop_-_FML_original_podcast_score_-_10_A_List_of_Ways_to_Die">A list of ways to die</a> by Lee Rosevere and <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_A_Aalto/Fest/Bazaar">Bazaar</a> by A.A.Alto, both from the Free Music Archive. Bird sounds in the shifting baseline segment is <a href="https://freesound.org/people/reinsamba/">Nightingales</a> by reinsamba and music is <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/">Nature Kid</a> by Podington Bear via Free Music Archive. Music in the genes and intelligence segment is <a href="https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1200102">Hidden Agenda</a> by Kevin MacLeod via Incompetech and <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/The_Scope/Kai_Engel_-_The_Scope_-_02_Cutrains_are_Always_Drawn">Curtains Are Always Drawn</a> by Kai Engel. Archive audio on the Human Genome Project from the <a href="https://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?Live=2405&bhcp=1">US Department of Health & Human Services</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>Thank you to City, University of London’s Department of Journalism for letting us use their studios to record The Anthill. And to Anouk Millet who helped with editing and production for this episode.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103114/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
From wealth, to the natural world, to genes and intelligence, a podcast exploring the theme of inheritance.Will de Freitas, Environment + Energy Editor, UK editionAnnabel Bligh, Business & Economy Editor and Podcast Producer, The Conversation UKGemma Ware, Head of AudioJack Marley, Environment + Energy Editor, UK editionLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/941722018-04-09T04:07:05Z2018-04-09T04:07:05ZWill sorting classrooms by ability improve marks? It depends on the mix<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213323/original/file-20180405-189813-nz5w2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's important to carefully select an appropriate pupil mix, especially to support weaker students.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Parents and teachers are interested in ensuring children perform their best in school. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/03/lets-go-back-to-grouping-students-by-ability/274362/">Some</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2013/06/07/why-grouping-students-by-ability-makes-sense/">believe</a> putting smart students together can improve educational outcomes. But <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780444537072000037">evidence</a> about <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780444534293000041">the impact of classmate or schoolmate quality</a> (as measured by, say, test scores) on individual performance in an educational setting is only just beginning to accumulate.</p>
<p>Establishing the presence and size of peer effects in education is important. Targeted educational interventions for one group of students may spill over to their classmates. Deliberately sorting students may raise the average attainment of pupils in ways other interventions may not.</p>
<h2>Who are your friends?</h2>
<p>The principal aim of <a href="http://goo.gl/cYbcbm">our study</a> was to estimate the impact the quality a student’s class and schoolmates has on academic performance. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213324/original/file-20180405-189795-pq9cma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213324/original/file-20180405-189795-pq9cma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213324/original/file-20180405-189795-pq9cma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213324/original/file-20180405-189795-pq9cma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213324/original/file-20180405-189795-pq9cma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213324/original/file-20180405-189795-pq9cma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213324/original/file-20180405-189795-pq9cma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s important to carefully select an appropriate pupil mix, especially to support weaker students.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as simply taking the outcomes of a student with good peers and comparing those to the outcomes of a student with bad peers, because students tend to choose their peers. The difference in outcomes may be due to differences in other factors that affect peer quality and the academic outcomes simultaneously, such as parental investment in education. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-some-migrant-school-students-do-better-than-their-local-peers-theyre-not-just-smarter-93741">Why some migrant school students do better than their local peers (they're not 'just smarter')</a>
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<p>Also, any particular student is a peer of other students. Thus, this student <a href="https://academic.oup.com/restud/article-abstract/60/3/531/1570385">can influence the outcomes of their peers just as much as their peers affect their outcomes</a>. </p>
<p>A final complication is that students belonging to the same school are exposed to the same factors or shocks that could drive their outcomes. So, any seemingly correlated peer effect may simply be due to exposure to the same environment.</p>
<p>Ideally, one would take a random sample of students, assign half to classrooms with good peers and the other half with bad peers, then take the difference in average outcomes. Obviously, there are sound ethical objections to such an experiment. Instead, we have to rely on a more complicated strategy to estimate the impact of peer quality. In our case, we use changes in one’s peer quality that we believe are not due to self-selection, reflection, or correlated factors to see how these changes translate to individual academic performance.</p>
<p>Using data on English children, our study shows peer quality has a small effect on an individual’s test scores at age 18. But a large proportion of low-ability students has a detrimental impact on the performance of average children. In addition, academically weaker students are influenced most by their peers. All together, putting a weak student in a class with other weak students would be detrimental for all of them.</p>
<p>The variation in peer effects is a particularly interesting result. To demonstrate this, we ranked students by ability. Weaker students are on the left and better students on the right, as measured by their test scores taken at around age 14. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212950/original/file-20180403-189821-1df6vb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212950/original/file-20180403-189821-1df6vb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212950/original/file-20180403-189821-1df6vb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212950/original/file-20180403-189821-1df6vb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212950/original/file-20180403-189821-1df6vb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212950/original/file-20180403-189821-1df6vb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212950/original/file-20180403-189821-1df6vb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Estimated effects of average peer ability at age 14 on test scores taken at age 17–18 by deciles of own ability. The grey area represents 95% confidence intervals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>A one-standard-deviation increase in peer quality (as measured by average test scores earlier in life) improves one’s performance in exams taken at around age 17–18 by over 50 points in the bottom quintile. This effect diminishes as we take better and better students. As we move from left to right, the impact estimate, represented by the red line, declines.</p>
<p>Two studies present findings similar to ours. In both cases, the researchers examine how changes in peer quality affect school performance as students transition from primary to secondary school in the UK. </p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/obes.12095">One of the studies</a> demonstrated that average peer ability has no significant impact on individual performance. </p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2011.02463.x">The other</a> showed less variation in peer effects than what we uncovered. But their outcome is based on performance in tests at age 14, while we used a broader spectrum of academic outcomes. This includes test scores at age 16 and 17–18, and the likelihood of pursuing tertiary education.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-australian-students-academic-potential-still-outweighs-social-circumstances-82441">For Australian students, academic potential still outweighs social circumstances</a>
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<h2>Sorting students more effectively can help weaker students</h2>
<p>Student achievement in school is determined by a <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/145575">variety</a> of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1468-0297.00097">factors</a>. These include parental socioeconomic background, individual ability, non-cognitive skills, and peer composition. </p>
<p>It’s important to carefully select an appropriate pupil mix, especially to support weaker students. But such an adjustment is unlikely to compensate for deficiencies in other areas, such as early-childhood investments at home and teacher quality at school.</p>
<p>Can we do better than randomly sorting students into classes? Yes. When placed with better-performing classmates, weaker students are likely to gain from the improved learning environment, and smarter students are unlikely to be negatively affected.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94172/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>A coauthor of the research paper, Prof Ian Walker of Lancaster University, received support from the Economic and Social Research Council grant "The Long-Term Legacy of School Choice" and the Nuffield Trust grant "Secondary School Choice and Academic Achievement." Alfredo Paloyo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Silvia Mendolia does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Weaker students – when placed together with better classmates – can gain from the improved learning environment, and smarter students are unlikely to be negatively affected.Alfredo R. Paloyo, Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of WollongongSilvia Mendolia, Senior lecturer in Economics, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/832082017-09-01T01:04:27Z2017-09-01T01:04:27ZThe more years spent in a classroom the lower your risk of heart disease<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183895/original/file-20170830-8679-c8hn3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An extra 3.6 years in a classroom can reduce your heart disease risk by a third. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/358/bmj.j3542">new study out today</a> has found increasing education by 3.6 years – similar to the length of a university undergraduate degree – could reduce the risk of heart disease by a third. A decrease of this magnitude is <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199511163332001">similar to short-term use of a cholesterol-lowering</a> medication.</p>
<p>Coronary heart disease refers to the build up of plaque in the blood vessels supplying the heart. Over time, this build up may lead to the blockage of one or more blood vessels, depriving the heart of oxygen, and producing a heart attack. Coronary heart disease is the most common cause of death in <a href="https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/images/uploads/publications/HeartStats_2014_web.pdf">Australia</a> and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61591-9">worldwide</a>.</p>
<p>While education has previously been associated with better health outcomes, there has been limited evidence that education actually causes these health effects, rather than just being linked by association. The suggestion has been that actual benefits may derive from variables associated with both education and risk of heart disease, such as socioeconomic status.</p>
<h2>How can we establish cause and effect?</h2>
<p>To demonstrate that exposure to A causes outcome B, scientists traditionally rely on randomised controlled trials. In randomised controlled trials, subjects are randomly placed into a group receiving exposure A, or a group that does not (typically some sort of placebo or sham treatment). </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-australians-die-cause-1-heart-diseases-and-stroke-57423">How Australians Die: cause #1 – heart diseases and stroke</a>
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<p>This randomisation process ensures the groups are equal on average across all variables at the beginning of the trial, except for the exposure variable. When the groups are compared at the end of the trial, any difference between the groups can therefore be attributed to the effect of the exposure.</p>
<p>But due to the obvious ethical dilemmas posed by restricting education for a group of people, a randomised trial is not feasible in this situation.</p>
<p>The closest reflection of such an experiment was the staggered introduction of an additional year of schooling in Sweden, between 1949 and 1962. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1105839109">Comparing health outcomes by region</a>, the extra year of school decreased all causes of early death after the age of 40.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183899/original/file-20170830-5016-1xvxlvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183899/original/file-20170830-5016-1xvxlvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183899/original/file-20170830-5016-1xvxlvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183899/original/file-20170830-5016-1xvxlvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183899/original/file-20170830-5016-1xvxlvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183899/original/file-20170830-5016-1xvxlvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183899/original/file-20170830-5016-1xvxlvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183899/original/file-20170830-5016-1xvxlvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The link between health and education has often thought to be related to other things, such as socioeconomic status.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>But in this new study, scientists turned to nature, and the genes we randomly inherit from our parents. They used a technique called Mendelian randomisation, which utilises the random transmission of genes from parents to offspring, to mimic a randomised controlled trial.</p>
<p>More than 160 genetic variants have been shown to be associated with years of education in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature17671">dozens of studies</a> involving more than 500,000 men and women. We don’t know exactly how these genes predict how many years of education someone will have, but we know that people with these genes on average will go on to more education.</p>
<p>The researchers used genes to randomly classify participants into high or low education groups. Participants in the genetically high and low education groups should have been equal across all other variables because of this randomisation. Thus, any difference between the groups in terms of risk of coronary heart disease should be due to the effect of education.</p>
<p>Individuals who had randomly received more genetic variants associated with longer education from their parents were also less likely to suffer from heart disease. This observation suggested that increased number of years in education causally decreased risk of heart disease.</p>
<h2>How does education make us healthier?</h2>
<p>The reduced heart disease risk brought about through increased years of education seemed to be mediated by better lifestyle choices – less smoking, healthier diet choices and lower cholesterol levels.</p>
<p>One of the limitations of such a study is that genes linked to educational attainment were associated with other traits such as self-discipline, which would have an effect on other things such as smoking and diet. So a difference in risk of heart disease between the groups might be due to the effect of one of these other variables rather than an effect of education. </p>
<p>If education decreased the risk of heart disease, then the effect of this should be similar across all the different genes used in the study. If, however, another variable besides education were responsible for the association, then the apparent effect of education on heart disease should vary across the different genes used in the study. </p>
<p>As the authors found a relatively consistent effect of education on risk of heart disease across all genes in the study, it appeared their results were robust and their assumptions valid. Importantly, the authors’ conclusions were also supported by the results from previous observational epidemiological studies and quasi-experiments like the Swedish study.</p>
<p>This study alone may not carry sufficient weight to prompt calls for extending the number of years at school mandated by governments. But it does add more robust evidence that more years in the classroom could lead to reduced risk of heart disease, and subsequently longer life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Evans does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new study has established a cause and effect relationship between years of education and heart disease.David Evans, Professor of Statistical Genetics, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.