tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/university-degree-19533/articlesUniversity degree – The Conversation2020-07-20T19:49:26Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1427142020-07-20T19:49:26Z2020-07-20T19:49:26ZYes, women outnumber men at university. But they still earn less after they leave<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348302/original/file-20200720-37-jx0t47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&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/university-students-cooperation-their-assignment-library-513707488">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In his best-selling book, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2612.The_Tipping_Point">The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference</a>, Canadian journalist <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/105251-the-tipping-point-is-that-magic-moment-when-an-idea">Malcolm Gladwell describes</a> a tipping point as “that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behaviour crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire”.</p>
<p>For women and their education, that point happened sometime in the 1970s. Perhaps it was triggered by Gough Whitlam’s nation modernisation, including making <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/gough-whitlams-free-university-education-reforms-led-to-legacy-of-no-upfront-fees-20141021-119bws.html">university free</a>. </p>
<p>Whatever the tipping point, female enrolments went from one in three at the beginning of the 1970s to <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/time_series_data_1949_-_2000.pdf">reaching parity just over a decade later</a>. In 1987, for the first time, women made up the majority of enrolments — now, they <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/selected-higher-education-statistics-2018-student-data">make up 55.5%</a>. This figure has been <a href="https://www.iie.org/Research-and-Insights/Publications/Women-on-the-Move-The-Gender-Dimensions-of-Academic-Mobility#:%7E:text=Women%20now%20make%20up%20the,number%20women%20in%2057%20countries.&text=When%20it%20comes%20to%20earning,44%20percent.">emulated across western democracies</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/there-are-fewer-males-at-university-so-should-they-be-an-equity-group-46319">There are fewer males at university, so should they be an equity group?</a>
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<p>But besides these gains being made in higher education, a fundamental unfairness remains: while women value education more highly, and see it as a strategy for economic security, men still outperform women after they graduate in terms of both salary and seniority.</p>
<h2>Why women outnumber men at university</h2>
<p>Much has been written about the feminisation of higher education; the issue of whether <a href="https://theconversation.com/there-are-fewer-males-at-university-so-should-they-be-an-equity-group-46319">men should be considered an equity group</a> has been raised many times over the years too. </p>
<p>While women in non-traditional disciplines such as STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/53025">are officially still an equity group in Australia</a>, men are not, despite their under-representation in every discipline (with the exception of <a href="https://www.sciencegenderequity.org.au/gender-equity-in-stem/">STEM</a>).</p>
<p>For every 100 women enrolled in university in Australia, there are just 72 men. And once there, <a href="https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiM2MwMWQ2ZDMtNGViNy00Mjc5LThkOTgtNzJhMmM5ZDQwYWUxIiwidCI6ImRkMGNmZDE1LTQ1NTgtNGIxMi04YmFkLWVhMjY5ODRmYzQxNyJ9">men are more likely to drop out</a>. Government data shows while 65.5% of female students who enrolled in 2013 <a href="https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiM2MwMWQ2ZDMtNGViNy00Mjc5LThkOTgtNzJhMmM5ZDQwYWUxIiwidCI6ImRkMGNmZDE1LTQ1NTgtNGIxMi04YmFkLWVhMjY5ODRmYzQxNyJ9">completed their degree within six years</a>, the figure was only 60.3% for men.</p>
<p>Of course, the drivers behind the dramatic expansion of women’s attendance in higher education are a complex interplay of social, cultural and economic factors.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/isaac-newton-invented-calculus-in-self-isolation-during-the-great-plague-he-didnt-have-kids-to-look-after-137076">Isaac Newton invented calculus in self-isolation during the Great Plague. He didn't have kids to look after</a>
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<p>A potted history of the past five decades would point to the rise in feminism and its attendant changes in attitudes about women’s role in the home. It would include the contraceptive pill, which reduced the number of children women had while increasing the age at which they had them. </p>
<p>It would also address advances in technology which, to a degree, freed women from the drudgery of manual housework. </p>
<p>And it would include structural changes in the economy in the 1980s which saw a rapid decline in the number and types of unskilled jobs available to women. Secretaries and stenographers became occupations of a bygone era while nursing and teaching were professionalised requiring degrees as entry-level qualifications.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/06/03/2002861117">recent study</a> found the combination of reading proficiency at 15 years old and social attitudes towards women attending universities could predict gendered enrolment patterns five years later. Looking at 447,000 students across OECD countries the researchers found, unsurprisingly, more girls than boys enrolled in universities in nations</p>
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<p>in which citizens had less discriminatory attitudes towards girls’ university education and in which girls performed well in reading.</p>
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<h2>And yet, women remain worse off</h2>
<p>The feminisation of higher education is an important issue, given the well-documented personal and social benefits that come from a degree: higher salaries, better health outcomes, stronger levels of community engagement and lower levels of criminal behaviours, to name a few.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348287/original/file-20200720-33-wmwp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348287/original/file-20200720-33-wmwp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348287/original/file-20200720-33-wmwp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348287/original/file-20200720-33-wmwp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348287/original/file-20200720-33-wmwp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348287/original/file-20200720-33-wmwp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348287/original/file-20200720-33-wmwp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348287/original/file-20200720-33-wmwp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&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">Male dominated careers, like construction, are still valued more highly than those occupied by women.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-business-man-construction-site-engineer-626410364">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>And yet, a <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/risks-and-rewards-when-is-vocational-education-a-good-alternative-to-higher-education/">2019 Grattan Institute report</a> found female university graduates are expected to earn 27% less than men – A$750,000 – over their career. The gender pay gap is down slightly from 30% a decade earlier.</p>
<p>So herein lies the dilemma: a <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/topics/the-gender-pay-gap">stubborn gender pay gap</a> and men <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/topics/about-workplace-gender-equality">moving up the career ladder</a> more steeply than women, even in female-dominated sectors such as health care and education.</p>
<p>Why is it <a href="https://www.humanrightscareers.com/issues/causes-gender-inequality/">women fail to capitalise</a> on their higher-level educational attainment relative to men? </p>
<p>The reasons are complex but solvable. One includes self-selecting segregation (half of all female commencements each year are in feminised, lower-paid sectors such as teaching nursing, childcare and humanities) while men outnumber women in two fields only — <a href="https://melbourne-cshe.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/2894718/Gender-Enrolment-Trends-F-Larkins-Sep-2018.pdf">engineering and IT</a>.</p>
<p>Then there’s the issue of built-in bias as to how certain careers are valued (childcare pays poorly but construction well); social expectations around child rearing; recruitment practices and self-perpetuating corporate cultures to name a new.</p>
<p>As COVID-19 has laid bare, there is strong undercurrent in <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-has-laid-bare-how-much-we-value-womens-work-and-how-little-we-pay-for-it-136042">our society of devaluing “women’s” work</a> even though that work is essential to the successful running of an economy. It’s a bitter pill to swallow.</p>
<p>And there’s the fact more women leave full-time work to bring up children. While the number of women staying in the workforce has increased in recent years thanks to a universal paid-parental leave scheme, <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4125.0%7ESep%202018%7EMain%20Features%7EEconomic%20Security%7E4">at the age of 35</a> 80% of men are engaged in the workforce full-time compared to only 40% of women</p>
<p>It is not until their 50s that 50% of women are back in the workforce full time. And this is too late for most to accrue independent wealth to see them through their retirement years should their marriage go bust.</p>
<p>What that also means is there is a significant percentage <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-26/age-discrimination-searching-for-work-in-your-50s/10520134">of older women who are part-time, unemployed, or underemployed</a>.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the government’s proposed changes to tuition fee subsidies (with STEM courses costing less than most in the humanities) have attracted <a href="https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/university-fee-changes-could-see-young-women-saddled-with-more-debt-for-decades-to-come/">media attention</a> in part because they look set to benefit men while negatively impacting women.</p>
<p>Whether this an intentional form of policy bias to improve higher education participation among men is unlikely. However, it brings us back to the question of whether men should be considered an equity group.</p>
<p>The answer for the time being at least is a robust no. Firstly, men are not being squeezed out of university places just because there are more women — they are making choices based on the opportunities available to them. </p>
<p>And men have, by and large, access to more well-paying career paths that don’t require a university degree. Trades, for example, <a href="https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/au/pdf/2018/is-tertiary-education-worth-it.pdf">continue to be male dominated</a> and maybe because of the gendered way in which our society values work, can be well-rewarded, unlike similar occupations for women. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-you-have-a-low-atar-you-could-earn-more-doing-a-vet-course-than-a-uni-degree-if-youre-a-man-121624">If you have a low ATAR, you could earn more doing a VET course than a uni degree – if you're a man</a>
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<p>Women also have to contend with the gender pay gap, interrupted careers and fewer opportunities to enter leadership positions. Because they make the “choice” in a partnership to be the primary carer, women almost never make it up again financially when they go back into the workforce.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142714/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Hare is involved with the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation with the University of Canberra.</span></em></p>Women make up around 55% of enrolments at university. But men are not at a disadvantage. They outperform women after they graduate in terms of both salary and seniority.Julie Hare, Honorary Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1416892020-07-02T20:09:22Z2020-07-02T20:09:22ZDefunding arts degrees is the latest battle in a 40-year culture war<p>The government’s recently proposed <a href="https://theconversation.com/fee-cuts-for-nursing-and-teaching-but-big-hikes-for-law-and-humanities-in-package-expanding-university-places-141064">restructure of university fees</a> would see students pay 113% more for many humanities subjects.</p>
<p>The package is not a case of “humanities vs STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths)”, as some initially saw it. Some arts degrees, like English and languages, would see higher Commonwealth contributions.</p>
<p>But a disproportionate portion of the de-funding burden would still fall on the humanities if the package is approved by the Senate – to the extent many arts degrees would become <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jun/19/key-crossbencher-says-university-fee-changes-are-grossly-unfair">almost full-fee paying courses</a>.</p>
<p>So, <a href="http://www.president.unsw.edu.au/speeches/unsw-response-to-proposed-changes-to-higher-education-policy-and-funding">those who care about the humanities</a> have found themselves fighting yet another round of a decades-old culture war.</p>
<p>Since the 1980s, the humanities have been particularly vulnerable to funding cuts. This was driven by the hostility of conservative governments and critics who saw the humanities as generally antagonistic to their political interests.</p>
<p>Developments in this period set the parameters for much of the political discourse around the humanities since. And they made it possible for governments at various times to seek to defund or make funding for the humanities increasingly precarious.</p>
<h2>From civilisation to diversity, and back again</h2>
<p>Traditionally, the humanities were conservative in tone. There was an emphasis on the <a href="https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/original/00000792_0.pdf">achievements of “civilisation”</a>, a principally Western, masculine canon of literature, art, music and history. </p>
<p>At the opening of the Menzies Building for the humanities at Monash University in 1963, Sir Robert Menzies said: </p>
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<p>[…] civilisation is in the heart and mind of people and the task of the humanist, the task of the people who teach and learn in a school of humanities is not to forget that history, for example, is no useless study, since a man who is ignorant of it will have no sense of proportion, no benefit of experience in dealing with new problems as they arise.</p>
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<p>From about the mid-1960s, the humanities’ political centre of gravity <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/449049?journalCode=ci">began to shift gradually leftwards</a>. Scholarship and teaching became more diverse, critical and feminist. </p>
<p>Eventually, a clear antagonism emerged between this new version of the humanities and the values of both older cultural conservatives and those pushing for deregulation and privatisation – “economic rationalists”, as they were then called – who had captured much of the public service in the 1980s.</p>
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<span class="caption">The Menzies building at Monash University was opened by Robert Menzies in 1963 who saw the study of civilisation as vital to the humanities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/melbourne-australia-august-5-2018-menzies-1162588057">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>At the same time, research policy circles became <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08109029708632070">increasingly instrumentalist</a> – believing research must be practically “useful”. This generated a growing demand for taxpayer-funded research to demonstrate its contribution to the “national interest”.</p>
<p>Initially this <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0162243906291865">development concerned</a> the relationship between basic science and more practical, applied science and had little to do with the humanities. </p>
<p>But the changes in overall research philosophies came to impinge on the humanities, especially in the new <a href="https://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A1033">emphasis on “relevance” in teaching and research</a> imposed on universities through the “Dawkins Reforms” of the late 1980s. </p>
<p>These reforms saw the large-scale restructuring of higher education through the introduction of more corporate forms of management, merging of universities and the more technical Colleges of Advanced Education, creation of the Australian Research Council (ARC), and reintroduction of student fees through the HECS system.</p>
<h2>Populism versus the humanities</h2>
<p>In March 1987, the new instrumentalism and growing conservative alienation from the humanities came together in their crudest, most populist form.</p>
<p>The Liberal-National opposition’s Waste Watch Committee, a group run by the NSW Senator Michael Baume, launched <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/media/pressrel/HNC092015012148/upload_binary/HNC092015012148.pdf">an attack</a> on 60 Australian Research Grants Scheme (ARGS) grants it declared to be “waste”.</p>
<p>The committee borrowed the tactics of US Democratic Senator for Wisconsin, William Proxmire, who since 1975 had issued a monthly “<a href="http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1742">Golden Fleece Award</a>” to instances of supposed waste of public funds. The committee pioneered, in Australia, the strategy of holding up research grants to public ridicule on the basis of titles that sounded funny or indulgent to non-experts.</p>
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<span class="caption">‘Cash for absolute clap trap’</span>
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<p>The grants the committee opposed were mostly in the humanities, with a few in the social sciences. Its leading example was a project on “Motherhood in Ancient Rome”. It was no accident that a project on women’s history was singled out.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/136295340">judgements of the projects’ unworthiness were superficial</a>, and an enthusiastic tabloid media – especially <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/136295340">radio personality John Laws</a> – played a key role in whipping up populist indignation and ridicule. </p>
<p>Unused to such attacks, academics and university administrators offered a <a href="http://smharchives.smedia.com.au/Olive/APA/smharchive/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=SMH%2F1987%2F07%2F30&id=Ar01500&sk=512EC65E">lacklustre response</a> that underestimated the capacity of such populism to damage the humanities’ public standing and funding base.</p>
<p>In the <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/12614237">May 1987 “mini-budget”</a> the Hawke government bowed to public pressure and cut A$1 million from the ARGS budget for 1987–88.</p>
<p>The Waste Watch Committee’s intervention set the template for subsequent populist attacks on the humanities – now a <a href="https://theconversation.com/telegraph-story-on-research-funding-does-nothing-to-advance-australian-journalism-64479">regular sport</a> of the tabloid press.</p>
<p>The effects on funding of such public disparagement were evident again in 2004–5, when then education minister Brendan Nelson <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09502386.2014.1000607">vetoed at least nine</a> grants recommended by the ARC. Various researchers, and <a href="https://www.themonthly.com.au/monthly-essays-gideon-haigh-nelson-touch-research-funding-new-censorship-214#mtr">Herald-Sun columnist Andrew Bolt</a> himself, surmised this move was in response to Bolt’s criticism. </p>
<p>Bolt had written of the grants:</p>
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<p>In cultural studies, seven of the eight grants were also for peek-in-your-pants researchers fixated on gender or race, and Marxists got all the grants you might expect of priests who worship state power.</p>
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<p>In October 2018 it was revealed former education minister Simon Birmingham had <a href="https://theconversation.com/simon-birminghams-intervention-in-research-funding-is-not-unprecedented-but-dangerous-105737">quietly vetoed</a> a further eleven major research grants for mostly humanities projects totalling almost A$4.2 million.</p>
<p>This time there was no direct line to draw between a particular episode of populist criticism and the cuts, but there need not be.</p>
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<p>By 2018, the caricature of the humanities as “<a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/editorials/oh-the-political-humanities/news-story/a6d6f6257cc56790d540284b69d2ef3a">disfigured by cultural left theory hostile to mainstream Australia</a>” (as an editorial in the The Australian called it) was commonplace in sections of press and in the regular interventions of the <a href="https://ipa.org.au/publications-ipa/research-papers/rise-identity-politics">Institute of Public Affairs</a>.</p>
<p>It is not difficult to see several decades of populist condemnation of the humanities playing a similar role in the recent announcement of arts teaching cuts.</p>
<h2>The good news for the humanities?</h2>
<p>If this story contains any good news, it is that humanities scholars are now much better prepared than they once were to make the public case for the social and economic value of their disciplines.</p>
<p>In 1987, the response to the Waste Watch Committee was tepid. In 2018, the response to the grant veto revelations was full-blooded and successful in forcing a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/28/education-minister-restores-funding-to-rejected-grants-and-unveils-new-interest-test">reinstatement of a portion of the funds withheld</a> and a <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/education-minister-dan-tehan-pledges-nationalinterest-test-for-grants/news-story/8625f2e48e428dd92c885bcbbaee6427">ministerial commitment to future transparency</a>.</p>
<p>It is time again to make the case for the humanities, and for proper public funding of higher education generally.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141689/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joel Barnes is a Research Associate on a project on the history of humanities institutions funded by the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Developments in the 80s set the parameters for much of the political discourse around the humanities since.Joel Barnes, Research Associate, Australian Centre for Public History, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1411212020-06-21T20:08:17Z2020-06-21T20:08:17ZIf the government listened to business leaders, they would encourage humanities education, not pull funds from it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343016/original/file-20200620-43187-1ge6rf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&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/book-stacktextbook-on-desk-library-room-1748048714">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The federal government’s announcement they will <a href="https://theconversation.com/fee-cuts-for-nursing-and-teaching-but-big-hikes-for-law-and-humanities-in-package-expanding-university-places-141064">more than double</a> the cost of humanities and communications degrees for university students has taken the sector by surprise – not least because it goes against increasing evidence that these programs are the key to our nation’s future success.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/fee-cuts-for-nursing-and-teaching-but-big-hikes-for-law-and-humanities-in-package-expanding-university-places-141064">Fee cuts for nursing and teaching but big hikes for law and humanities in package expanding university places</a>
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<p>If the government wants to support university courses that lead to jobs, they’d do well to listen to their business leaders who have been quite clear, in recent years, about the sorts of graduates they’re looking for.</p>
<h2>Business leaders call for humanities</h2>
<p>Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia, Jennifer Westacott, <a href="https://www.bca.com.au/the-true-value-of-humanities">said in a 2016 speech</a> all 21st century successful leaders would need “some form of humanities perspective and education”. </p>
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<p>I argue this because I believe our economic and technological success has not been matched with a constant orientation towards a better human condition.</p>
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<p>She said the humanities produce people who can “ask the right questions, think for themselves, explain what they think, and turn those ideas into actions”.</p>
<p>She went further to say the key skills required by industry and business were nested in the humanities: “critical thinking, synthesis, judgement and an understanding of ethical constructs”.</p>
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<p>Another valued industry body, Deloitte Access Economics, <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/pages/economics/articles/value-humanities.html">reported</a> in 2018 that humanities and communications graduates delivered 30 technical skills hugely sought-after by employers.</p>
<p>Their analysis was based on graduate outcomes and employer satisfaction surveys, coupled with wide-ranging consultations with global business, public sector agencies and researchers. </p>
<p>They found 72% of employers “demanded” communication skills when hiring, but only 27% of potential hires actually had those skills.</p>
<p>They also found transferable skills, such as as teamwork, communication, problem-solving, innovation and emotional judgement, “have become widely acknowledged as important in driving business success”.</p>
<p>The report concluded</p>
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<p>[…] humanities education and research has a fundamental role to play in understanding how our society and economy can adapt to these changes, in creating future value, and in helping individuals gain rewarding employment.</p>
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<p>If our purpose is to incentivise programs that lead to jobs, which will equip the nation for the future, and will elicit innovative and creative responses to complex problems, then we must encourage broad study in the humanities and social sciences.</p>
<h2>Our society calls for humanities</h2>
<p>Most of us working in these fields can explain with great conviction the richness our disciplines bring to students, and ultimately to the societies they live in. </p>
<p>They bring an understanding of the world, of past mistakes and future threats, of current failings we can try to solve, and of medical, social and environmental challenges that confront us.</p>
<p>Our ability to understand the impact of the current global pandemic or migration, the environmental crisis, social cohesion, poverty and its many side-effects, domestic violence, the effects of social media and politics are daily concerns in the humanities.</p>
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<p>And increasingly, we are aware the scale of these problems and the failure of our current institutions to deal with them – the often-discussed “crisis of trust” – cannot be solved by science, mathematics, engineering and technology alone.</p>
<p>It is the contribution of the humanities and social sciences to the STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) disciplines that may ultimately lead us to some real and applied solutions to the crises we face.</p>
<p>It’s therefore curious the education minister Dan Tehan is <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/uni-fees-to-be-slashed-for-in-demand-courses-but-cost-of-arts-degrees-set-to-soar">encouraging humanities students</a> to add a “job-ready” edge to their studies by doing (soon-to-be much cheaper) courses in technology, science and maths. </p>
<p>And at the same time, he is actively discouraging students of technology, science and maths from being able to take some humanities courses as part of their degree because of the prohibitive higher cost.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/humanities-graduates-earn-more-than-those-who-study-science-and-maths-141112">Humanities graduates earn more than those who study science and maths</a>
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<p>“So if you want to study history, also think about studying teaching. If you want to study philosophy, also think about studying a language. If you want to study law, also think about studying IT”, <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/tehan/minister-education-dan-tehan-national-press-club-address">Tehan said</a> in his National Press Club address.</p>
<p>Interdisciplinary knowledge, and combining humanities and social science with the STEM disciplines, is a strong concept. We already do it in many of our communications and arts degrees. </p>
<p>But to suggest this should only be one-way traffic is highly problematic.</p>
<p>Microsoft president Brad Smith and head of Microsoft’s AI division Harry Shum <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-president-says-tech-needs-liberal-arts-majors-2018-1?r=AU&IR=T">recently wrote</a> that lessons from liberal arts would be “critical to unleashing the full potential of AI”.</p>
<p>They wrote</p>
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<p>[…] skilling-up for an AI-powered world involves more than science, technology, engineering, and math. As computers behave more like humans, the social sciences and humanities will become even more important. Languages, art, history, economics, ethics, philosophy, psychology and human development courses can teach critical, philosophical and ethics-based skills that will be instrumental in the development and management of AI solutions.</p>
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<p><a href="http://catalog.mit.edu/interdisciplinary/undergraduate-programs/degrees/humanities-engineering/">Leading universities</a> around the world are increasingly combining core study in engineering and IT with humanities study. They acknowledge the communication, interpersonal and adaptable skills gives a much longer “shelf life” to the technical skills learned while at university.</p>
<h2>And let’s not forget world leaders with Arts degrees</h2>
<p>The Academy of Social Sciences <a href="https://socialsciences.org.au/news/devaluing-humanities-and-social-science-education-will-leave-Australia-worse-off/">reports</a> two out of three CEOs of Australia’s ASX200 listed companies have a degree in the social sciences. There are similar proportions of government senior executives, and federal parliamentarians holding social science degrees.</p>
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<p>And of course, the roll call of important world leaders of the 20th and 21st century with a humanities or social science degree – Barack Obama, Martin Luther King, Youtube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and Indira Gandhi among them – tells us our messages now must be around the importance of the humanities, not the reverse.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/university-students-arent-cogs-in-a-market-they-need-more-than-a-narrow-focus-on-skills-140058">University students aren't cogs in a market. They need more than a narrow focus on 'skills'</a>
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<p>So I return to the start. There is increasing confirmation, in Australia and across the world, that humanities, social sciences and communication are key to a viable future.</p>
<p>On what evidence, then, has the federal government proposed these changes? We have to trust this is not an attempt to muzzle critical thought and new ideas in our universities – but rather, a misguided attempt that needs a little more work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141121/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Forde 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>The government has more than doubled the cost of humanities degrees to encourage ‘job-ready’ graduates. But on what evidence?Susan Forde, Director, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1118702019-02-27T11:56:44Z2019-02-27T11:56:44ZThe gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students at ‘top’ universities has increased – here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260679/original/file-20190225-26174-1uff3x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pexels</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Having a student body that is representative of wider society has been high on many universities’ agendas for quite some time. Yet recent <a href="https://www.tes.com/news/disadvantage-gap-top-universities-widens">UCAS data</a> shows the gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students, particularly those studying at “top” Russell Group universities, has recently widened.</p>
<p>The picture is mixed across higher education as a whole. The number of Scottish students from deprived areas <a href="https://www.ucas.com/file/197261/download?token=yGrM_eUZ">increased in 2018</a>, as did the number of <a href="https://www.ucas.com/file/197261/download?token=yGrM_eUZ">black students</a>. </p>
<p>Yet the widening of the gap at elite institutions is concerning – particularly given the dominance of Russell Group universities in key areas of public life such as <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/research-paper/parliamentary-privilege-the-mps-2017-education-background/">politics</a> and the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35641061">legal system</a>. </p>
<p>It would be unreasonable to suggest this gap in educational attainment is the sole responsibility of universities. After all, educational inequality takes root <a href="https://blogs.savethechildren.org.uk/2018/09/mind-the-gap-getting-our-children-ready-for-school/">before children even begin primary school</a>. And universities are making efforts to address the gap. Most university websites provide details of widening participation schemes and bursaries. But how effective are these schemes? And are there factors that they are failing to take into account?</p>
<h2>The problem with aspirations</h2>
<p>A cursory glance at schemes designed to widen participation in education at university level reveals an oft-repeated phrase: “<a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/outreach/activities/">raising aspirations</a>”. This seems intuitive enough - if young people lack confidence and opportunities, it follows that they will be less ambitious than their more advantaged peers. </p>
<p>Yet researchers have questioned the usefulness of <a href="https://theconversation.com/low-aspirations-dont-explain-why-white-working-class-children-fall-behind-43933">raising aspirations</a> in expanding access to higher education. A <a href="https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/influence-parents-places-and-poverty-educational-attitudes-and-aspirations">2011 report</a> published by the Joseph Rowntree foundation found that “it is not correct to characterise deprived neighbourhoods as places where aspirations are always low”. The fact is that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds have plenty of aspirations for the future but lack the resources to achieve them. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260681/original/file-20190225-26156-1lcv6os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260681/original/file-20190225-26156-1lcv6os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260681/original/file-20190225-26156-1lcv6os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260681/original/file-20190225-26156-1lcv6os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260681/original/file-20190225-26156-1lcv6os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260681/original/file-20190225-26156-1lcv6os.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260681/original/file-20190225-26156-1lcv6os.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">Rich, white students still fare best at university.</span>
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<p>Although well meaning, a narrow focus on aspiration risks framing disadvantaged students as somehow lacking and blaming difficult circumstances on <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01411926.2010.481358">their own aspirational deficits</a>. There is also the risk of assuming that academic paths are <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1468-2273.2007.00355.x">always the right ones</a>, and that vocational or manual jobs are less aspirational. Most fundamentally, a focus on aspiration can prevent a reckoning with systemic <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01411926.2010.481358">social and economic inequalities</a> that limit young people’s options and which cannot be easily overcome by individuals.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-universities-lower-entry-grades-for-disadvantaged-students-97142">Should universities lower entry grades for disadvantaged students?</a>
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<h2>Systemic barriers</h2>
<p>Students involved in Widening Participation schemes are a diverse group – including adult learners, minority ethnic groups, care leavers, and students with disabilities. This shows how obstacles to university can vary. </p>
<p>However, key themes pop up again and again. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-43857750">Money</a> is among the most obvious. The scrapping of maintenance grants in favour of repayable loans in 2016 means that poor students now face a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/aug/06/restore-grant-system-for-poor-students-urges-russell-group-chief">higher debt burden</a> than their more privileged counterparts, who are more likely to receive financial assistance from family members. </p>
<p>Then there are geographic factors: disadvantaged students in London are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/feb/01/disadvantaged-pupils-achieve-lower-grades-in-north-than-in-london">more likely</a> to attend university than their northern counterparts. Disadvantaged students also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/feb/01/disadvantaged-pupils-achieve-lower-grades-in-north-than-in-london">receive less guidance and support</a> in school regarding higher education and careers. None of these factors relate to aspiration, but all can profoundly impact the opportunities available to disadvantaged students. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260682/original/file-20190225-26168-1bk6chp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/260682/original/file-20190225-26168-1bk6chp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260682/original/file-20190225-26168-1bk6chp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260682/original/file-20190225-26168-1bk6chp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260682/original/file-20190225-26168-1bk6chp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260682/original/file-20190225-26168-1bk6chp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/260682/original/file-20190225-26168-1bk6chp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=572&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">Students from disadvantaged backgrounds report struggling to afford textbooks and food on campus.</span>
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<p>There are also cultural barriers. Universities with a predominantly middle-class student intake can exclude students who do not fit that category, consciously or otherwise. When I worked with students in Leeds participating in the now-defunct <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11839774">Aimhigher scheme</a>, a common question was whether they would be mocked for their <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/oxford-cambridge-david-lammy-diversity-north-class-race-not-welcome-a8011101.html">accents</a>. </p>
<p>Working-class students describe being labelled as a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/11/bame-working-class-imposter-university-freshers-tips">box-ticking exercise</a>” by middle-class peers and being made to feel ashamed for the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/mortarboard/2014/mar/25/working-class-students-russell-group-universities-unwelcome">way they dress</a>. These feelings of <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/working-class-northern-woman-university-london-kings-social-classes-trapped-a8193636.html">not fitting in</a> can be harder to pin down than concrete barriers such as debt or a lack of career guidance, but may also contribute to the <a href="https://fullfact.org/education/are-more-working-class-students-dropping-out-university/">higher drop-out rate</a> among students from disadvantaged backgrounds. </p>
<h2>Institutional change</h2>
<p>Focusing on individual aspiration rather than systemic barriers to higher education can lead to the burden of change being <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/10671048/Working-class-children-must-learn-to-be-middle-class-to-get-on-in-life-government-advisor-says.html">placed onto disadvantaged students</a> rather than institutions themselves. But for widening participation to be effective, universities must consider how their own institutional cultures can <a href="https://chucl.com/">change to accommodate</a> a more diverse student body. </p>
<p>In academic terms this might mean expanding the curriculum to include <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/06/swansea-university-announces-decolonised-english-course">previously neglected perspectives</a>. Practically it might mean offering accommodation to some students without asking for a <a href="http://www.thestandalonepledge.org.uk/menu/accommodation">guarantor</a>. Or institutions might offer a <a href="http://www.lmh.ox.ac.uk/prospective-students/foundation-year/lmh-foundation-year-students/what-foundation-year">free foundation year</a> for students from disadvantaged backgrounds who do not have the required grades but show academic potential. </p>
<p>Where institutions will not change willingly, pressure must be brought. This was highlighted in the recent threat of <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/university-student-library-bans-pay-halls-rent-academic-sanctions-accommodation-liverpool-a8731451.html">legal action</a> against universities imposing <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/ucl-likely-have-breached-consumer-law-academic-sanctions-threat-against-rent-strikers">academic sanctions</a> upon students who fall into rent arrears – a policy which would further disadvantage poor students.</p>
<p>Ultimately though, when it comes to widening participation there is no magic bullet. And many universities are genuinely committed to expanding access. But while campus visits and “aspiration-raising” activities are no doubt useful, universities should be aware that the primary barriers to higher education do not always lie with disadvantaged students. Instead deep-rooted economic and social inequalities can play a major role. And these are barriers that can only be addressed through social and institutional change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111870/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francesca Roe 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>Educational inequality in the UK takes root before children even begin primary school.Francesca Roe, Research and Evaluation Officer, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/949102018-04-18T09:30:02Z2018-04-18T09:30:02ZLowering the HELP repayment threshold is an easy target, but not the one we should aim for<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215319/original/file-20180418-163995-dq004h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Twenty five percent of student loans are unlikely to be paid.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most recent estimates show the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debt owing is <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/billsdgs/5869097/upload_binary/5869097.pdf;fileType=application/pdf">nearly A$52 billion</a> in 2017-18. It’s forecast to increase to A$75 billion by 2020-21 and up to 25% of those loans are unlikely to be paid. </p>
<p>Legislation to lower the initial HELP repayment threshold from A$55,000 to A$45,000 (with a rate of 1%) is likely to pass the senate after <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r6051">passing</a> the lower house on March 27th. This legislation includes linking indexing to inflation instead of average weekly earnings, which will slightly increase the rate of debt accumulated (20 year average for inflation is around 2.6%, compared to 1.8% for average weekly earnings).</p>
<p>Increasing repayments on HELP debt by lowering the initial threshold is an easy target. Why? Because people who owe money don’t pay much attention to their HELP balances, let alone the parameters that determine repayment and accumulation. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215320/original/file-20180418-163978-1bq06p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215320/original/file-20180418-163978-1bq06p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215320/original/file-20180418-163978-1bq06p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215320/original/file-20180418-163978-1bq06p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215320/original/file-20180418-163978-1bq06p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215320/original/file-20180418-163978-1bq06p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215320/original/file-20180418-163978-1bq06p3.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">Softer tactics could help students into increasingly making repayments voluntarily.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since the ATO stopped posting statements in 2013, people owing HELP debt are left to their own devices and to check their balances on the ATO site. General financial advice points to giving HELP debts low levels of attention and paying down <a href="https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/life-events-and-you/under-25s/studying/paying-off-your-uni-debt">high-interest loans </a>first. </p>
<p>Proposed changes, like replacing the annual average weekly earnings indexation with the <a href="http://www.budget.gov.au/2014-15/content/bp2/html/bp2_expense-09.htm">10-year government bond rate</a>, abolishing the <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/816-mapping-higher-education-20142.pdf">deceased-estate write-off for estates exceeding A$100,000</a>, and <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/875-Mapping-Australian-Higher-Education-2016.pdf">lowering the initial threshold to A$42,000</a> have drawn <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/investments/how-paying-off-hecshelp-has-become-even-less-attractive-20170321-gv2t3z.html">media attention</a> over the years, but have not been met with outrage by those potentially most affected. </p>
<p>But there are softer tactics that could nudge debtors into increasingly making repayments voluntarily.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-strange-accounting-behind-the-proposed-hecs-changes-77239">The strange accounting behind the proposed HECS changes</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Students need a financial toolkit</h2>
<p>First, equip students with a financial toolkit. It would involve legislating education providers to deliver financial literacy programs that include information about the HELP scheme and their obligation. </p>
<p>Such a program should include making students aware of the parameters, repayment projections under various scenarios, and potential changes to the scheme as proposed by political parties or commentators. If the provider (university or vocational educator) offers HELP then surely they have a moral obligation to provide this service. </p>
<p>Offering financial literacy programs through tertiary education providers also fills a gap in the <a href="http://www.financialliteracy.gov.au/media/546585/report-403_national-financial-literacy-strategy-2014-17.pdf">National Financial Literacy Strategy</a>. ASIC’s <a href="https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/">MoneySmart</a> would be an ideal curriculum consultant. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215321/original/file-20180418-163971-1k6qkp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215321/original/file-20180418-163971-1k6qkp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215321/original/file-20180418-163971-1k6qkp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215321/original/file-20180418-163971-1k6qkp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215321/original/file-20180418-163971-1k6qkp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215321/original/file-20180418-163971-1k6qkp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215321/original/file-20180418-163971-1k6qkp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Educating students about loan repayments might be as easy as offering financial literacy programs throughout university.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Such programs are already implemented in the US. Due to the large scale of privatised student debt issues, 53% of universities offer <a href="https://soar.wichita.edu/bitstream/handle/10057/11632/t15014_Holthaus.pdf?sequence=1">financial education program</a> to students. </p>
<p><a href="https://soar.wichita.edu/bitstream/handle/10057/11632/t15014_Holthaus.pdf?sequence=1">Studies</a> on the efficacy of these programs demonstrate increased financial knowledge, reductions in financial at-risk behaviours (like delinquencies, excessive credit and over-spending), and increases in responsible behaviours (including improving regular savings and planning). </p>
<p>While the settings in the US differ to Australia (commercial interest rates, not extinguished by death), <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/news/commissioned-studies/Privatisation-of-HECS-Debt#.WtWIctNuZBw">privatisation</a> has been previously explored. </p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="qeWze" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/qeWze/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<p>Australian debtors don’t “default” like US debtors because most student loans are like a commercial loan in the US. In Australia, graduates only do not pay if they don’t reach the repayment threshold, or die.</p>
<h2>Bring back discounts</h2>
<p>Second, bring back discounts on <a href="http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/news/pages/changes-to-hecs-help-discounts-and-voluntary-repayment-bonus">voluntary payments</a> over A$500, abolished by the Liberal government in 2017 . Previously, discounts were 15% up until 2005, then 10% until 2014, then 5%. What, then, incentivises people to pay lump sums? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-does-australia-run-one-of-the-most-generous-student-loan-schemes-in-the-world-52696">FactCheck: does Australia run one of the most generous student loan schemes in the world?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Communication is everything</h2>
<p>Third, the ATO needs to communicate with HELP debtors on a regular basis to overcome laziness and put HELP debts as first priority in personal financial decisions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215322/original/file-20180418-163966-1moho3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215322/original/file-20180418-163966-1moho3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215322/original/file-20180418-163966-1moho3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215322/original/file-20180418-163966-1moho3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215322/original/file-20180418-163966-1moho3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215322/original/file-20180418-163966-1moho3k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215322/original/file-20180418-163966-1moho3k.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">A simple text message might help students remember their student loan repayments.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/assets/PDF/widening-participation/What-works-project-report.pdf">Text messaging is effective in influencing behaviour</a>. Text messages prior to indexation have encouraged balance checks and lump sum payments (particularly at tax rebate time) and may be effective in increasing voluntary repayments. These strategies work by subtly reframing the way messages are conveyed, and regular presentation of messages, to positively impact behaviour.</p>
<p>A positive aspect of the legislation under consideration is that lowering the initial repayment threshold means HELP debt repayments will appear on payslips. Because of this, early on in a debtor’s working life they will be able to increase their awareness of HELP debt owing. </p>
<p>The threshold reduction needs to be compatible with the original intention of the income contingent loan scheme to provide equitable access. Lowering the initial repayment threshold will put <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/women-will-lose-if-budget-lowers-hecs-repayment-threshold/news-story/47bb6149a9bfd5e77c2c6e2212e13060">increased financial pressure on relatively low paid workers</a>, many of whom are women. Under the new changes, a person earning A$46,000 will repay nearly A$9 a week. While this doesn’t sound like much, a single mother may strongly disagree. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-child-support-doesnt-lead-to-welfare-dependency-for-single-mums-73902">Higher child support doesn't lead to welfare dependency for single mums</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The government should consider pursuing other, more gentle and effective behavioural tactics to reduce the national HECS debt in the lead-up to the budget, rather than one that has the potential to hurt low paid workers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94910/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tracey West 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>With HELP debt likely to increase to A$75 billion in 2020, research from the US shows offering students financial literacy courses may be a gentler way to combat student debt.Tracey West, Lecturer in Behavioural Finance, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/901662018-01-17T18:44:14Z2018-01-17T18:44:14ZSurveys are not the best way to measure the performance of Australian universities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202231/original/file-20180117-53302-7x64gn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C170%2C991%2C453&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The surveyors start out with almost 100,000 graduate contacts, of whom less than 10% provide their supervisor's details and of those supervisors, less than half participate in the survey. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Depending on who’s doing the reading, the <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/about-this-site/employer-satisfaction">2017 Employer Satisfaction Survey</a> shows the overwhelming majority of employers <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/Media-and-Events/media-releases/Grads-well-prepared-for-jobs--employer-satisfaction-remains-high--survey#.Wl1NX66Wa70">think graduates are well-prepared for jobs</a>. Or it might show universities <a href="https://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/improving-the-employment-potential-of-graduates/">need to do more to address the needs of graduates and employers</a>. Or even that universities are <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/university-degrees-are-failing-to-deliver-for-business/news-story/554c200326874314f8b14ff161296503">not delivering to businesses</a>.</p>
<p>Concerns about whether universities are doing enough to make graduates job-ready are not new. As higher education policy expert Andrew Norton observed <a href="http://andrewnorton.net.au/2018/01/08/over-qualification-hard-to-measure-harder-to-avoid/">recently</a>, this issue was alive in the early <a href="http://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A29728">70s</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, you can go back in time even further. In the 1950s, the Report of the Committee on Australian Universities <a href="http://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A53782">called</a> upon both universities and government to do more to work with industry to identify future labour demand and offer courses accordingly. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/five-myths-about-australian-university-graduate-outcomes-87074">Five myths about Australian university graduate outcomes</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The release of the latest <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/docs/default-source/gos-reports/2017/2017_gos_national_report_final_accessiblea45d8791b1e86477b58fff00006709da.pdf?sfvrsn=ceb5e33c_4&_cldee=c29waGllLmhlaXplckB0aGVjb252ZXJzYXRpb24uZWR1LmF1&recipientid=contact-09dc957fbd87e7118120e0071b66a691-0930c8235d7d4a10bd63a0fdd8972b65&esid=f8ef3ba5-1cf7-e711-8134-e0071b68f7c1">Graduate Ouctomes Survey</a> had a similar effect in focussing attention on higher education performance. </p>
<p>A focus on graduate employability is not surprising. What is surprising is we are using mostly the same ways of measuring university performance we have for decades, when more accurate means exist. </p>
<h2>Why the way we use the surveys is flawed</h2>
<p>Like all surveys, the <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/about-this-site/employer-satisfaction">Employer Satisfaction Survey</a> has to account for and overcome a number of elements that can affect the validity of the results. For example, 4,348 survey responses sounds like a lot, but this represents only 9.3% of all possible employer contacts. </p>
<p>Also, the way employers are contacted is a problem. It’s the graduate who’s contacted and invited to provide their supervisor’s details to the survey team. So the surveyors start out with almost 100,000 graduate contacts, of whom less than 10% provide their supervisor’s details and of those supervisors, less than half participate in the survey. </p>
<p>Another issue is the survey relies largely on subjective measurements of perception. For example, data <a href="http://andrewnorton.net.au/2018/01/08/over-qualification-hard-to-measure-harder-to-avoid/">shows</a> the supervisors of graduates are more likely than the graduates themselves to think the graduate’s qualification is important. Two perceptions of the same qualification in the same context - which one, if either, is right? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202236/original/file-20180117-53328-12peyri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202236/original/file-20180117-53328-12peyri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202236/original/file-20180117-53328-12peyri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202236/original/file-20180117-53328-12peyri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202236/original/file-20180117-53328-12peyri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202236/original/file-20180117-53328-12peyri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202236/original/file-20180117-53328-12peyri.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">Employers and graduates had different ideas of how important the graduate’s qualification was.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/docs/default-source/gos-reports/2017/2017_gos_national_report_final_accessiblea45d8791b1e86477b58fff00006709da.pdf?sfvrsn=ceb5e33c_4&_cldee=c29waGllLmhlaXplckB0aGVjb252ZXJzYXRpb24uZWR1LmF1&recipientid=contact-09dc957fbd87e7118120e0071b66a691-0930c8235d7d4a10bd63a0fdd8972b65&esid=f8ef3ba5-1cf7-e711-8134-e0071b68f7c1">Graduate Outcomes Survey</a> also relies on graduates being willing to complete the survey. The latest survey had a response rate of 45%, which is very good for surveys. But the survey is sent out only four months after graduation. It does not, then, necessarily reflect the short - let alone medium or long-term - employment prospects for the individual. </p>
<p>This is not to say the methodologies underpinning these surveys are not robust, or the <a href="http://www.srcentre.com.au/">Social Research Centre</a>, who deliver the surveys, are not experts in their field. It is and they are. When a survey is the best option for gathering data, then these types of survey should be run. But we shouldn’t be using findings such as these to measure university performance, when there are better options available. </p>
<h2>The missing link</h2>
<p>For decades now, there has been an administrative link between a graduate’s education and taxation records. If domestic students have ever wondered why they are issued with a<a href="http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/helppayingmyfees/pages/track_debt"> Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number</a> (CHESSN), and why they need to provide their Tax File Number (TFN) to the university, this is the reason. </p>
<p>The CHESSN tracks their educational history, even when they change courses or institutions. Consequently it keeps track of their
<a href="http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/helppayingmyfees/hecs-help/pages/hecs-help-welcome">HECS-HELP</a> debt. By linking the CHESSN to the TFN, a record of the debt can be provided to the Australian Taxation Office, for future collection. </p>
<p>This administrative link could also be used to provide accurate and detailed longitudinal analyses of which jobs all graduates end up in, not just those motivated to respond to a survey. As time passes - or by going back further into the records - detailed pictures can be provided about how graduates perform over time, which organisations recruit and retain the most graduates, which courses show evidence of greater graduate mobility, actual lifetime earnings (as opposed to predicted), and so on. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202237/original/file-20180117-53289-1ke8jld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202237/original/file-20180117-53289-1ke8jld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202237/original/file-20180117-53289-1ke8jld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202237/original/file-20180117-53289-1ke8jld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202237/original/file-20180117-53289-1ke8jld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202237/original/file-20180117-53289-1ke8jld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202237/original/file-20180117-53289-1ke8jld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students already have to provide their TFN to their place of study and work so that debt can be tracked.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Graduate outcomes would also be better contextualised against non-graduate outcomes, as well as national and international labour market trends. One-off, or purpose-specific analyses could be more easily provided to address specific government or community concerns as and when they arise. </p>
<p>If the government were to make key findings of these analyses publicly-available on a regular basis, students, politicians and policymakers would be able to make much more informed decisions regarding future study requirements. The current surveys would still be important, as they can provide additional information government records cannot. But when it comes to measuring university performance, hard data is the key.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-problem-isnt-unskilled-graduates-its-a-lack-of-full-time-job-opportunities-90104">The problem isn't unskilled graduates, it's a lack of full-time job opportunities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Linking government records in this way is a sensitive issue. There would need to be a significant investment in the right infrastructure and systems to ensure the data was protected and analysed appropriately. Given the centrality of graduate employability to government higher education policy, now might be the time for this investment.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The final paragraph of this article has been amended since publication to reflect that there is some existing legislation that could facilitate this data collection.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90166/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Pitman 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>An administrative link between a graduate’s education and taxation records already exists, and it could be used to give us more accurate and detailed longitudinal analyses of graduate outcomes.Tim Pitman, Senior Researcher Fellow, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/829732017-08-29T20:09:26Z2017-08-29T20:09:26ZThe UK is rethinking university degrees and Australia should too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183707/original/file-20170829-1549-1aow501.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Our higher education system was devised 30 years ago, so perhaps it's time for change.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Archie Campbell/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are growing calls for a debate about the role of post-school in society, both in Australia and overseas. </p>
<p>After 30 years of constant expansion, some complain that universities have become too vocational in nature – too focused on jobs, not enough on the art of inquiry. </p>
<p>At the same time, the vocational education sector is reeling from 15 years of funding cuts and the aftershocks of failed free-market experiments. Numbers in trade apprenticeships and traineeships are plummeting. <a href="https://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/publications/all-publications/linking-qualifications-and-the-labour-market-through-capabilities-and-vocational-streams">Less than 30%</a> of vocational students in Australia work in the areas in which they studied. </p>
<p>The same is true of higher education. <a href="http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/GCA_GradStats_2015_FINAL.pdf">An annual survey</a> of university graduates from 2014 shows that 54% of all bachelor’s degree holders said their qualification was a formal requirement for their job. But the proportion ranged from one in four humanities graduates to 96% of medical graduates. The more regulated the profession, the more degree and career path are likely to be correlated.</p>
<p>The British higher education system is rolling out an alternative education route. Degree apprenticeships <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-rolls-out-flagship-degree-apprenticeships">were launched in the UK in 2015</a>. These are designed to bridge the gap between technical skills, employment and higher education. </p>
<p>They’re part of a larger scheme intended to reinvigorate apprenticeships more broadly. A 0.5% levy on corporations with salary bills of £3 million (A$4.8 million) or more funds the system.</p>
<p>Supporters say the initiative is good for employers and good for students, especially for disadvantaged students. They not only struggle to get into higher education (despite an uncapped system) but are also much more likely to drop out of it. </p>
<p>Degree apprenticeships work a lot like traditional trade apprenticeships: students work in a related job with their education strapped on around their employment. </p>
<p>Traditional degrees are steeped in theory and deliver practical experience through internships, practicums or other work-based experiences. In contrast, degree apprenticeships deliver a skill and a qualification simultaneously. Students work four days a week and study for one. </p>
<p>Crucially, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-levy-how-it-will-work/apprenticeship-levy-how-it-will-work">the apprenticeship levy</a> covers tuition fees, so students don’t graduate with a debt. If adopted here, this could enable Australia to avoid the distress over rising debts seen in the UK, where it is expected <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2017/07/05/almost-eight-ten-graduates-will-never-pay-back-full-student1/">80% of students will never fully repay</a> their loans. </p>
<p>In the last UK election, Labour leader <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/may/21/labour-abolish-university-tuition-fees-jeremy-corbyn-eu-uk-europe">Jeremy Corbyn</a> rode a rising tide of anger among younger voters over student debt with his promise of a return to free higher education. </p>
<p>Even Andrew Adonis, Tony Blair’s former adviser and architect of the current loans scheme, has switched camps. He described the income-contingent loans scheme that resulted in a tripling of fees in 2012 as a Frankenstein’s monster and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/jul/07/tuition-fees-should-be-scrapped-says-architect-of-fees-andrew-adonis">“a Ponzi scheme”</a>.</p>
<p>While Australia doesn’t have the same immediate crisis, several factors suggest higher education could be heading slowly towards a tipping point. Government plans to increase university fees and introduce more rigorous parameters for the Higher Education Loans Program (formerly HECS) have sparked furious debate.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, graduates face a declining employment market. Just <a href="http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/GCA_GradStats_2015_FINAL.pdf">69% of graduates</a> in 2014 held a full-time job four months after graduation, compared to 81% a decade earlier. </p>
<p>Part-time work, casualisation and under-employment are widespread. Graduate salaries have been more or less static for years. Increasingly, students, particularly the most advantaged, turn to postgraduate education to boost their chances in an overcrowded jobs market, raising questions over credentialism. </p>
<p>Having larger numbers of people with a higher degree produces public benefits, including better health, better parenting, higher rates of volunteering and lower rates of incarceration. But all of this comes at a cost to the taxpayer and does little to correct an imbalance in skills entering the jobs market. Too many lawyers does not balance out a shortage in IT experts or agricultural scientists.</p>
<p>The question is whether new pathways need to be created to help young people straddle the gap between education and work. </p>
<p>Work is under way on this issue in Australia. The University of Tasmania, for example, is adding associate degrees, which are shorter, cheaper and more vocationally focused on local industries than full bachelor degrees. </p>
<p>Perhaps other institutions, particularly those in regional and outer-metropolitan areas, should consider the possibilities offered by the UK-style degree apprenticeship model. These are the universities, after all, that educate by far <a href="http://www.run.edu.au/cb_pages/pocket_statistics.php">the greatest proportion of disadvantaged students</a>.</p>
<p>Ironically, degree apprenticeships are a modern, more work-intensive version of the associate degrees that colleges of advanced education offered before the higher education system was unified under the Hawke government in 1989. </p>
<p>Perhaps part of the emerging discussion should include a return to a tripartite public education and training system, which includes TAFE, teaching-only polytechnics and research-intensive universities.</p>
<p>The post-secondary education sector may have a limited appetite for more structural reform. However, as a society, we do need to tackle the question of whether a higher education system devised 30 years ago, onto which uncapped student places have been glued, is still fit for purpose. Times have changed and education systems must surely move with them.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was prepared with the help of Julie Hare, Associate Director, KPMG Australia.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article has been updated since publication to clarify the link between the apprenticeships levy and which corporations are affected.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82973/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Parker is a partner in KPMG Australia, which consults to the education sector amongst others. </span></em></p>Degree apprenticeships are being rolled out in the UK. They bridge the gap between technical skills, employment and higher education. Is there scope for something similar in Australia?Stephen Parker, Honorary Professorial Fellow, Melbourne CSHE, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/744202017-03-29T01:45:01Z2017-03-29T01:45:01ZDoes it pay to get a double major in college?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162999/original/image-20170328-3824-171jic.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Whether you have two majors or one, graduation is a celebration.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/education-graduation-people-concept-silhouettes-many-451321816">Syda Productions/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Students are bombarded with an array of competing opportunities during college, all with the promise that each will lead to a better job or higher earnings upon entering the “real world.”</p>
<p>One such option is the double major, in which a student earns two bachelor degrees at once, sometimes in entirely different disciplines. But will doing so lead to a higher-paying job? Is it worth the “lost” time that could have been spent in other activities such as internships or student government?</p>
<p>In college, I earned several degrees, which led to a broader education that I believe enriched the quality and creativity of my thinking and improved my career prospects. As an economist-in-training, however, I wanted hard data to back up my anecdotal experience. </p>
<p>To do this, I crunched some numbers from the Census Bureau on over two million full-time workers and analyzed them to see if there’s a connection between earning multiple degrees and financial gain in the years following graduation.</p>
<h2>Double-majoring on the decline?</h2>
<p>While double majors have been a <a href="http://www.humanitiescommission.org/_pdf/hss_report.pdf">popular way to balance</a> a deep study of the humanities with traditional degrees in the sciences, basic tabulations suggest that the percent of workers with a double major has been roughly constant, or even decreasing, over the past six years depending on how one restricts the sample.</p>
<p>For example, looking at all individuals between ages 20 and 29, only 12.5 percent of the population had a double major in 2015, which is down from 14.2 percent in 2009, according to my calculations from the <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/about/how-the-acs-works.html">American Community Survey (ACS) Census</a> data. At the same time, the percent of workers within the same age range with any kind of college degree grew from roughly 23 to 36 percent. </p>
<p>On the one hand, double-majoring can help students avoid becoming overly specialized, <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ999086">exposing them to new ways of thinking</a> and communicating with others outside their primary area. On the other, it creates a trade-off with other educational opportunities.</p>
<p>In 2013, the National Commission on Higher Education Attainment went so far as to <a href="http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Documents/An-Open-Letter-to-College-and-University-Leaders.pdf">urge universities</a> to “narrow student choice” to promote degree completion – perhaps by restricting or even banning the completion of double majors.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.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">While the number of college graduates in the workforce is growing, the number of double majors is shrinking.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-young-caucasian-teenager-doing-homework-524995729?src=eCrn33aa2-p3H6vDR8X9yg-1-83">Francesco Corticchia/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What existing research says</h2>
<p>Previous research on whether a double major pays off has shown mixed results. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09645290802469931?journalCode=cede20">A 2011 paper</a> found that a double major, on average, yields a 3.2 percent earnings premium over a peer with only one degree. The paper noted that the premium ranged from nothing at liberal arts colleges to almost 4 percent at “research and comprehensive” universities. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-benefit-cost-analysis/article/div-classtitlethe-private-and-social-benefits-of-double-majorsdiv/CD1696DBF93DEFE3C2D3A759D6F0895B">more recent study</a>, published in 2016, concluded that liberal arts students who tacked on a second degree in either business or a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) field earned somewhat more than their single-major peers. But the authors noted that there was no premium when compared with a single STEM or business degree. </p>
<p>Both of these papers, however, are based on relatively small cross-sections of individuals, which makes them less representative and limits their statistical power. In addition, they focus on single years – 2003 and 2010, respectively – which means the results may be affected by any transient economic conditions that occurred that year. </p>
<h2>What my research showed</h2>
<p>In my own analysis, I examined data on over two million full-time workers aged 20 to 65 over a six-year period (2009-2015) using Census Bureau data. The bureau provides the largest source of publicly available information on individuals and households, helping to ensure that the analysis is both representative and detailed. The data set included information on each individual’s earnings, occupation, undergraduate degrees and a wide range of other demographic data. </p>
<p>My results showed that liberal arts students who take on a second degree in a STEM field earned, on average, 9.5 percent more than their liberal arts peers with only one major, after controlling for individual demographic factors, such as age, years of schooling, marital status, gender, family size and race. Students who combined a liberal arts degree with a business major earned 7.9 percent more.</p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/vwsHO/2/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="500"></iframe>
<p>You might be thinking that this isn’t really a surprise. Of course STEM majors will earn more than their liberal arts counterparts. While my analysis already controls for the fact that STEM and business majors generally earn more than their counterparts, I wanted to dig a little deeper. So I restricted the sample to compare STEM-liberal arts double majors with those with a single STEM degree. Although the premium shrinks, engineers and scientists who take on an extra liberal arts degree earned 3.6 percent more, on average.</p>
<p>I also wanted to see if the premium exists when comparing people in similar occupations. For example, consider two journalism school grads, one with a single degree, the other with a second in engineering. Naturally the one who becomes a <a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/journalist-salary-SRCH_KO0,10.htm">working journalist</a>, which generally pays poorly, will earn less than his classmate who decided journalism wasn’t for her and got a job at <a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Google-Salaries-E9079.htm">Google</a>.</p>
<p>So, controlling for occupation, I found that the returns to double-majoring in liberal arts and STEM were 5.2 percent, and 3.4 percent with a business degree. In other words, even when we look within narrow occupational categories, those who double-majored across fields tended to earn more than those with a single degree.</p>
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<h2>So should I double major?</h2>
<p>So for those of you about to head to college, should you go for a double major? Or should you advise it to your kids? </p>
<p>As with anything, it depends. I tried to make my analysis as robust as possible, but it’s still not entirely clear whether the connection between the double degrees and higher earnings is causal. However, my results do suggest it’s more than mere correlation.</p>
<p>Furthermore, an association with higher earnings doesn’t mean the double major is right for everyone, particularly since the premium varies based on an individual’s own career path and preferences. Every college student needs to weigh the pros and cons of every potential opportunity, from picking up a second degree to joining student government. </p>
<p>My research suggests, however, that students who are eager to expose themselves to more frames of thinking and disciplinary knowledge may well be investing in the very foundation that prepares them for a successful and innovative career.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74420/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christos A. Makridis 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>Double-majoring is thought to broaden your horizons and give you more career options. A new look at seven years of U.S. census data tells us that there may be a financial benefit as well.Christos A. Makridis, Ph.D. Candidate in Labor and Public Economics, Stanford UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/674482016-11-15T01:03:34Z2016-11-15T01:03:34ZWhy virtual reality won’t replace cadavers in medical school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143836/original/image-20161031-15728-1rq7osx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Would you want to be operated on by a surgeon whose only anatomy training was using virtual reality?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/dl2_lim.mhtml?src=odhtnCemMkedXzkgpbz5OA-1-2&id=475480765&size=medium_jpg">from Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Virtual reality has been described as a game changer for medical education. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/10/20/the-virtual-reality-app-that-could-do-away-with-medical-cadavers/">Some even predict</a> it will see an end to using cadavers to teach anatomy.</p>
<p>It’s a big call but it doesn’t reflect the actual reality of medicine and medical training for a number of reasons.</p>
<p>Remember, we have overestimated the role of new technologies in the past. It seems hard to believe now, but in the 1990s we thought Microsoft’s PowerPoint was cutting edge.</p>
<p>The fact is no technology or tool can compensate for bad instruction.</p>
<p>It is why virtual reality, by itself, is not a game changer for teaching medicine, but it can be a very useful tool if we understand how to use it effectively.</p>
<h2>Virtual reality in the classroom</h2>
<p>We already use digital technologies extensively in anatomy courses.
We use <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ase.1429/full">multimedia</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4704884/">games</a>, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ase.1475/full">3D printing</a> and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ase.1481/full">medical imaging</a> to engage and teach students in ways research tells us are most effective.</p>
<p>Virtual reality is just the latest tool. Because it has so many uses beyond anatomy and has a “wow” factor that engages students, companies like Facebook and Microsoft are investing heavily in it.</p>
<p>Microsoft has partnered with universities and developers in the US to create virtual reality-like applications <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKpKlh1-en0">to teach anatomy</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGiVVObY0Ew">to simulate medical examinations</a> with its headset HoloLens.</p>
<p>A recent independent application is an immersive 3D anatomy atlas <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWi5Wy30Kh4">Organon 3D,</a> developed in Australia for Facebook’s headset Oculus Rift.</p>
<p>Then there are augmented reality applications, which bring virtual reality elements into the real world, like the one from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qpgMLzBi30">3D4 Medical</a>, which is still in development.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3qpgMLzBi30?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">An example of an augmented reality application from 3D4 Medical, which is still in development.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While they are unlikely to entirely take over anatomy teaching, they can make an exciting and very useful addition.</p>
<h2>Many tools to choose from</h2>
<p>What is widely accepted is that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20205265">using multiple tools</a> to teach anatomy produces the best outcome for students. Virtual reality applications can help prepare students before they enter a cadaver laboratory and supplement traditional teaching. This is because they not only show the parts of the body but also clearly indicate spatial relationships.</p>
<p>Students can access virtual reality applications anytime, anywhere, which is particularly useful for distance learners who have limited access to cadavers. It is also useful for senior medical students placed in regional and rural hospitals. It gives them an opportunity to review anatomical structures when they need it most but have little access to on campus university resources.</p>
<p>Virtual reality can also be used to teach students about rare pathologies that are not often seen in body donors.</p>
<p>Beyond all of these advantages, virtual reality is likely to improve the student experience - and this is not a small thing.</p>
<p>Virtual reality holds great promise, but like all new technologies, only time and robust research will tell us exactly where virtual reality best fits in medical programs. As it stands, there are very good reasons why cadavers will remain an important part of medical education.</p>
<h2>Why cadavers matter</h2>
<p>Anatomically we are all unique; even identical twins are not anatomically identical. There are so many anatomical variations that encyclopaedias are devoted to them <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=U_0dDAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false">in print</a> and <a href="http://www.anatomyatlases.org/AnatomicVariants/AnatomyHP.shtml">online</a>.</p>
<p>These variations do not appear in many virtual reality applications, so it’s in the cadaver laboratory that students explore these differences and it is here they begin to understand which are clinically relevant.</p>
<p>Students also learn how structures feel and look in reality. In a real body there are no artificial colours distinguishing veins from arteries but students can feel the difference through touch by rolling them between their fingers. </p>
<p>Surgeons use this same sense of touch to distinguish tumour edges from healthy tissues and to feel structures that must be preserved during surgery.</p>
<p>It’s also an extraordinary and often profound experience when students hold a human brain in their hands for the first time.</p>
<p>These experiences in cadaver labs help students develop respect for patients. Cadavers are often their first experience with death. Cadavers are, in a way, their first patient.</p>
<p>Cadavers take medical education beyond pure anatomy, generating compassion for the body donor, respect for the gift they made to medical education and they teach students humanity. These are especially important for future doctors.</p>
<p>Teaching anatomy with cadavers works. After 500 years of medical teaching, teaching with cadavers remains the benchmark against which we measure the success of new teaching methods.</p>
<p>Cadavers are used in medical schools <a href="http://www.anatclinar.com.ar/images/stories/vol6_num2_jul14/Debate.pdf">around the world</a>, even in countries where body donation may be inappropriate for cultural or religious reasons.</p>
<p>Virtual reality, like other technologies that can enhance medical education, may one day become common. But I wouldn’t want to be the first patient of a doctor whose only experience with anatomy was with virtual reality.</p>
<h2>Virtual reality in medicine</h2>
<p>While I am not aware of surgeons who trained exclusively using virtual reality, some use virtual reality to personalise surgery.</p>
<p>Surgeons have combined medical imaging with flight simulator technology to create 3D images of a real patient’s brain. They have then conducted virtual “fly throughs” to visualise tumours and nearby structures from all angles, like a “practice run” before <a href="http://kfiam640.iheart.com/articles/local-news-465708/brain-surgery-is-being-done-at-14860122/">removing the brain tumour</a>.</p>
<p>Technologies similar to virtual reality are improving <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTOoBwfqBe0">telemedicine</a> to allow specialist surgeons to assist in surgery performed many kilometres away. New research suggests virtual reality may even help <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb36O-Yotac">paraplegics regain some sensation and movement</a>. </p>
<p>Clearly, in both medical education and the practice of medicine virtual reality will have a place. We are only just beginning to fully understand its potential. The real test of its value will only become clear over time after researchers evaluate where it is most useful and where its limitations lie.</p>
<p>Like all new technologies, the real test for virtual reality is how it can improve medical education and patient care.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67448/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Moscova 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>Medical students are using virtual reality to help them learn anatomy. But is it the game changing technology some people say it is?Michelle Moscova, Senior Lecturer in Anatomy, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/639482016-08-22T19:15:08Z2016-08-22T19:15:08ZUniversities can’t decolonise the curriculum without defining it first<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134125/original/image-20160815-27181-wi36ne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Academics are trying to rid South Africa’s universities of the procedures, values, norms, practices, thinking, beliefs and choices that mark anything non-European and not white as inferior.</p>
<p>Decolonising the curriculum forms part of this work. But what does this actually mean? The definition of “decolonising the curriculum” remains a grey area. There’s also no clarity about whose responsibility it is to undertake this process. It’s crucial to develop shared understandings and ideas of the meaning of both curriculum and decolonisation. </p>
<p>American theorist William <a href="http://www.khuisf.ac.ir/DorsaPax/userfiles/file/motaleat/0805848274.pdf">Pinar</a> defines curriculum theory as the interdisciplinary study of educational experience. Educational experience implies more than just the topics covered in a course. It encompasses the attitudes, values, dispositions and world views that get learned, un-learned, re-learned, re-formed, deconstructed and reconstructed while studying towards a degree.</p>
<p>And what is decolonisation? When it comes to university curricula, this seems to involve replacing works from Europe or the global North with local theorists and African authors. This is meant to prevent African universities from becoming mere extensions of former colonisers.</p>
<p>But decolonising the curriculum is far more nuanced than replacing theorists and authors. If “curriculum” encompasses a broader educational experience, universities first need to define how they approach the development and dissemination of curricula. Only then can they move forward with the process of decolonisation.</p>
<h2>Approaches to curriculum theory</h2>
<p>So what approach to curriculum theory and practice do South Africa’s universities subscribe to? There is no single answer. But this question is particularly crucial in any post-conflict society. There are <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=JbvmF4b1wWYC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=four+ways+of+approaching+curriculum+theory+and+practice&source=bl&ots=o2Rt7hRHzh&sig=VASC4PNSl2J6xij_3oRtMx8ASRY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiO76SQyLvOAhXLD8AKHcQ0BbgQ6AEIUjAJ#v=onepage&q=four%20ways%20of%20approaching%20curriculum%20theory%20and%20practice&f=false">four ways</a> of approaching curriculum theory and practice. These are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>curriculum as product: certain skills to master and facts to know;</p></li>
<li><p>curriculum as process: the interaction of teachers, students, and knowledge;</p></li>
<li><p>curriculum as context: contextually shaped; and,</p></li>
<li><p>curriculum as praxis: practice should not focus exclusively on individuals alone or the group alone. It must explore how both create understandings and practices.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I’d like to focus particularly on curriculum as context and as praxis. These approaches seem to align well with my definition of “decolonising the curriculum”. A contextual approach opens the door for universities to critique how curriculum – and therefore education – reproduces unequal social relations after graduation. </p>
<p>Praxis creates conditions to democratise learning spaces. It makes room for both individual and group identities within the teaching and learning context. This creates shared and negotiated understandings and practices while knowledge is being generated and disseminated.</p>
<p>Universities that wish to decolonise their curricula could benefit from understanding these approaches. This might also help people to stop conflating transformation – another imperative at universities and in South Africa more broadly – with decolonisation.</p>
<h2>Transformation is not decolonisation</h2>
<p>Many people in South Africa use the terms transformation and decolonisation interchangeably. In curriculum debates after apartheid, transformation has come to mean replacing texts by scholars and writers who are white or European with work done by those who are neither.</p>
<p>These debates invoke strong emotions and responses. An overwhelming impression has emerged: that decolonisation equals an attack on white academics by black academics. This perception, in my view, requires unsettling. </p>
<p>Decolonisation is not a project over which one racial group can claim sole custodianship. I argue that South Africans, as a people, must agree that colonialism and apartheid robbed the country of ideas, skills, creativity, originality, talent and knowledge. All of these attributes got lost through legislated discrimination of black people, most of whom could have enriched the country even further. </p>
<p>But some people who have benefited directly from the ills of colonialism and apartheid still struggle to accept this fact. They have developed a false need to defend a system that maimed, dehumanised, oppressed and stripped generation after generation of the South African majority. These groups, I’d argue, should be the first to be genuinely repentant about this history. They need to openly acknowledge what’s become a common lie at universities: that if something is white or European, it’s superior to anything black or African.</p>
<p>To put it in plain terms: white South African academics are as vital in driving genuine curriculum decolonisation as their black peers.</p>
<h2>Black and white academics are in this together</h2>
<p>This will involve conscious, deliberate, non-hypocritical and diligent interest by both black and white academics in indigenous knowledge systems, cultures, peoples and languages. Theories must be generated that are informed by life as it is lived, experienced and understood by local inhabitants. Universities need to introduce well theorised scholarship emerging from, and underpinned by, the African local experience. This must happen across disciplines.</p>
<p>All of this work will encourage the growth of truly African universities.</p>
<p>Charles Eliot, a former Harvard University President, once <a href="http://www.educationpost.com.hk/resources/education/150922-education-towards-global-prominence">described</a> the characteristics of an American university: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>A university must grow from seed. It cannot be transplanted from England or Germany in full leaf and bearing. When the American university appears, it will not be a copy of foreign institutions, but the slow and natural growth of American social and political habits.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>My definition of a decolonised curriculum foregrounds African identities and world views. But this doesn’t exempt it from critique. Universities need to keep encouraging critique and problematisation of what is considered to be knowledge and the processes involved in generating it. And a decolonised curriculum needs to exist in dialogue and contestation with the Greek, Arab and European worlds. It cannot be seen to be everything about all things.</p>
<p>I’d suggest that this definition will initiate genuine, sincere and progressive decolonisation of South Africa’s higher education curriculum.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63948/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emmanuel Mgqwashu receives funding from National Research Foundation (NRF). </span></em></p>Decolonising the curriculum is far more nuanced than replacing theorists and authors. Universities first need to define how they approach the development and dissemination of curricula.Emmanuel Mgqwashu, Professor of English Language Teaching and Literacy Development, Rhodes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/634802016-08-16T03:11:52Z2016-08-16T03:11:52ZMaking college matter<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134182/original/image-20160815-13035-1uhsl4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Getting oriented at Elon University </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elon University </span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the next several weeks <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2015/2015073.pdf">18.4 million students</a> will be headed to colleges and universities in the United States. They, their families and taxpayers are making a monumental investment in the futures of these students, believing, correctly, that an undergraduate education is <a href="https://www.aacu.org/leap/public-opinion-research/2015-survey-falling-short">foundational to success</a> in a global and knowledge-based economy.</p>
<p>Many students arrive in college without a clear sense of purpose or direction. That is to be expected. A significant part of the undergraduate experience, after all, involves grappling with big questions about professional, personal and civic identity. Who am I? What do I want to do with my life? How can I contribute to my community and the world? The best students pursue these questions with vigor.</p>
<p>But many others come to college with too little appreciation for the vast opportunities before them, gloss over foundational curricular requirements as merely hurdles to be cleared, show far too little drive in developing a plan to make the most of their educations and focus too heavily on the party scene.</p>
<p>Analyzing data from a study of more than two dozen institutions, sociologists <a href="http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo19088566.html">Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa</a> conclude that many students “enter college with attitudes, norms, values, and behaviors that are often at odds with academic commitment.” And many universities reinforce these beliefs by building <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/caranewlon/2014/07/31/the-college-amenities-arms-race/#36c1dbad1f3c">lavish amenities</a> and <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/254524/summary">marketing themselves</a> as something akin to a resort with a curriculum.</p>
<p>An undergraduate education is simply too precious an opportunity to squander or to approach halfheartedly. And while college should ultimately prepare graduates to make a living, it can be – it must be – far more than that.</p>
<p>The good news is that there are simple yet powerful things students can do to ensure that they have a transformative undergraduate experience, no matter where they go to college. </p>
<p>In our book <a href="http://theundergraduateexperience.org/">“The Undergraduate Experience,”</a> drawing on decades of work and scholarship in higher education and also interviews with leaders and students from many institutions, we identified what matters most for students. </p>
<p>Two factors are most important.</p>
<h2>Take responsibility for learning</h2>
<p>Too often students (and others) think learning is a simple process of taking knowledge from the professor during class and then returning it, unharmed, on the test. </p>
<p>When sociologist <a href="http://www.sunypress.edu/p-4801-college-life-through-the-eyes-o.aspx">Mary Grigsby</a> interviewed scores of undergraduates at a large midwestern university, many students echoed the words of one who told her: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I hate classes with a lot of reading that is tested on. Any class where a teacher is just gonna give us notes and a worksheet or something like that is better. Something that I can study and just learn from in five [minutes] I’ll usually do pretty good in.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Real learning – that is, learning that makes a significant and lasting change in what a person knows or can do – emerges from what the student, not the professor, does. Of course, professors are critical actors in the process, but students are the ones doing the learning. </p>
<p>To take responsibility for their own learning, students need to move past what psychologist <a href="http://conferencereport.blogspot.com/2007/10/three-types-of-knowledge.html?zx=3292d95af6bcd3e7">David Perkins</a> has called possessive and performative understandings of knowledge, where learning is about acquiring new facts or demonstrating expertise in classroom settings. </p>
<p>Instead, meaningful learning emerges from a proactive conception of knowledge, where the student’s goal is to experiment with new and unexpected ways of using what he or she is learning in different settings. This requires students to see themselves as the central actors in the drama of learning.</p>
<p>Whether students choose to take the stage or sit in the balcony matters immensely.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134141/original/image-20160815-14904-12pk61y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134141/original/image-20160815-14904-12pk61y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134141/original/image-20160815-14904-12pk61y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134141/original/image-20160815-14904-12pk61y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134141/original/image-20160815-14904-12pk61y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134141/original/image-20160815-14904-12pk61y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134141/original/image-20160815-14904-12pk61y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bard College students abroad in Berlin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seminar_Bard_College_Berlin,_2013.jpg">Irina Stelea</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When students jump into learning, challenging themselves to stretch and grow, college is most powerful. </p>
<p>Reflections from an <a href="http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=806863">Ohio University engineering student</a> show what this looks like:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“[My goal for my senior] year was to try to do things that maybe I’m not good at already so that I can learn to do these things. I will have to do this once I have a job so avoiding projects that are uncomfortable for me now won’t help me NOT avoid them when I’m a part of the work force.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Develop meaningful relationships</h2>
<p>The relationships students form in college also have a profound influence on their experiences, shaping not only who they spend time with but how they will spend their time. </p>
<p>When <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674049024">scholars</a> asked graduates at Hamilton College to think back on their undergraduate years, these alumni pointed to specific individuals (often professors, coaches or classmates) who shaped their paths. </p>
<p>Students typically think first about relationships with peers. These are essential, of course. Finding friends and cohort groups can be reassuring, but <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/196940/summary">scholars</a> have found that students who interact frequently with peers who are different in significant ways (racially, ethnically, religiously, socioeconomically and so on) show more intellectual and social growth in college than those who don’t. </p>
<p>Again, as with learning, students need to move beyond the familiar to find meaning.</p>
<p>And peer relationships are not only about fun. Decades of research have demonstrated that students who study together learn more and more deeply. As the mathematician <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/2686410?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">Uri Treisman</a> reported in a classic study of undergraduate calculus courses that has been <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13803611.2014.895388">replicated in other disciplines</a>, students from many different backgrounds are more academically successful when they</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“work with their peers to create for themselves a community based on shared intellectual interests and common professional aims.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Relationships with faculty also are highly significant. </p>
<p>A large 2014 survey by <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/168848/life-college-matters-life-college.aspx">Gallup and Purdue University</a> revealed that college graduates who believed they had a professor who (1) cared about them as individuals, (2) made them excited about learning and (3) encouraged them to pursue their dreams reported being far happier and more successful than their peers years after graduation.</p>
<p>A recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s <a href="http://levinescholars.uncc.edu/">Levine Scholars Program</a>, a prestigious scholarship for academically talented students interested in civic engagement, told us how the mentoring of <a href="http://levinescholars.uncc.edu/dr-diane-zablotsky">sociologist Diane Zablotsky</a> transformed her view of herself:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I arrived at UNC-C shy and uncertain. But Dr. Zablotsky taught me how to go and get what I wanted. She made me do all the work, but coached along the way and helped me develop great confidence in myself.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What matters for all students</h2>
<p>Critically, what we’re describing here doesn’t apply only to privileged, 18-22-year-olds at elite institutions.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134145/original/image-20160815-13035-sf4b6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134145/original/image-20160815-13035-sf4b6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134145/original/image-20160815-13035-sf4b6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134145/original/image-20160815-13035-sf4b6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134145/original/image-20160815-13035-sf4b6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134145/original/image-20160815-13035-sf4b6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134145/original/image-20160815-13035-sf4b6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Just one of the many internships on offer….</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Internship_Program#/media/File:White_House_internship_logo.png">White House</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In fact, <a href="https://www.aacu.org/assessinghips/report">Ashley Finley and Tia Brown McNair</a>, scholars at the Association of American Colleges and Universities, have shown that high-impact educational experiences like internships, undergraduate research, capstone courses and study abroad have particularly positive outcomes for students who traditionally have been underserved in American higher education.</p>
<p>A study at the University of California, Davis reinforces this finding by demonstrating that <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/371687#back">engaging in mentored undergraduate research</a> beyond the typical requirements for biology courses is particularly significant in preparing African-American undergraduates to successfully pursue graduate study and careers in the sciences. </p>
<p>Results from the <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/11/20/nsse-2014-finds-size-selectivity-make-little-difference-student-engagement">National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)</a> also show that institutional prestige and financial resources do <em>not</em> determine the quality of student opportunities:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Institutions with lower selectivity profiles can and often do offer experiences with faculty that are at least comparable to those at more selective institutions.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>As the NSSE director notes: “Doing those things may not cost any more than not doing them.” </p>
<p>Powerful education, in other words, is available to all students at all institutions, if they intentionally choose experiences that are challenging and relationship-rich.</p>
<h2>Acting on what matters most</h2>
<p>Douglas Spencer, a 2016 Elon University graduate and now young alumnus trustee, captured what’s at stake in recent remarks to fellow students. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134175/original/image-20160815-13025-gj29pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134175/original/image-20160815-13025-gj29pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134175/original/image-20160815-13025-gj29pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134175/original/image-20160815-13025-gj29pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134175/original/image-20160815-13025-gj29pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134175/original/image-20160815-13025-gj29pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134175/original/image-20160815-13025-gj29pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Doug Spencer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elon University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Doug described coming to campus without a strong sense of who he was as a black man or of what he might do with his life. Then, challenged by friends and professors to think more deeply about his own identity, “I unlocked some sort of hidden energy I did not know I possessed.” He began to read not just for class, but (even more) in his free time. Inspired by this reading and his other studies, and echoing <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/408/408-h/408-h.htm#chap05">W.E.B. Du Bois</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It became clear to me that the only way I would find real success was if I learned to thrive in times of uncertainty.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Colleges and universities play an outsized role in shaping the lives of individual students like Doug. </p>
<p>Indeed, we, as educators, cannot recall a time when it mattered more for higher education to cultivate students capable of acting entrepreneurially, ethically, cooperatively and creatively to address complex problems in local, national and global contexts.</p>
<p>That starts with students beginning the academic year ready to act on what matters most for their own learning.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63480/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leo M. Lambert is President of Elon University. He is a member of the board of directors of the American Council on Education and the National Association of Independent College and Universities. He is also chair of the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities and a member of the Division 1 Presidential Forum of the NCAA. These are all non-profit organizations.
Leo M. Lambert has received current and past foundational and Federal funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trusts, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation and the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education. None of these grants has any bearing on my writing for The Conversation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Felten 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>Two simple yet powerful things students can do to ensure that they have a transformative undergraduate experience, no matter where they go to college.Leo M. Lambert, President, Elon UniversityPeter Felten, Assistant Provost for Teaching and Learning and Executive Director, Center for Engaged Learning, Elon UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/455842015-08-23T19:45:56Z2015-08-23T19:45:56ZFive things to think about when choosing a university course<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92022/original/image-20150817-5083-1gbq5tv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Prospective uni students often talk about "wasting their ATAR". Don't worry about that, it's not a thing. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>How do you choose the right university, or the right degree? The whole process can seem daunting. What should you focus on? How do you weigh up the different elements involved? So much seems to be at stake.</p>
<p>Students and their families often focus overwhelmingly on only some of the crucial aspects of choosing the right university, often missing other equally important, but less obvious, issues. So here I offer a few suggestions and tips about how best to think about choosing a university and a degree. Of course, each person’s situation is unique, but I hope I can provide some general guidance.</p>
<h2>1. Keep things in perspective</h2>
<p>Your life won’t be ruined if you don’t get into the university or degree of your absolute first choice. In fact, I think sometimes it’s positively healthy that you don’t. It forces you to think about what is really important to you, at least in terms of your education.</p>
<p>But even better, in Australia, we are fortunate to have an extraordinary range of high-quality universities in just about every part of the country. Many are in the top 1% of universities worldwide. That is truly amazing when you factor in that Australia accounts for only around 0.3% of the world’s population.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92025/original/image-20150817-5103-zl0wuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92025/original/image-20150817-5103-zl0wuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92025/original/image-20150817-5103-zl0wuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92025/original/image-20150817-5103-zl0wuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92025/original/image-20150817-5103-zl0wuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92025/original/image-20150817-5103-zl0wuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92025/original/image-20150817-5103-zl0wuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92025/original/image-20150817-5103-zl0wuy.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Go to university open days.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So before you even get started, you will have a fantastic array of high-quality universities and degrees to choose from. Each will have strengths and weaknesses and distinctive things on offer. So dream big. Explore different options. Don’t limit yourself to what your mates are talking about, or your Uncle Fred’s views about arts degrees. </p>
<p>Get out to as many open days and visit as many of the university websites as you can. When you visit, talk to the student volunteers as a matter of priority. In my experience, they can give you a real sense of the degree or course you’re interested in, as well as the general vibe of the campus.</p>
<p>Costs are obviously another important thing to consider. Tuition fees vary between different degrees, especially between some of the professional courses and more generalist ones. But there aren’t huge variations in tuition between Australian universities generally. </p>
<p>Living costs can vary, though, between different cities and towns. Living out of home for university can be a tremendous experience – whether in student accommodation on campus, or in shared housing. It’s a great way to make new friends and connect with fellow students from around the world. But that will depend on your financial circumstances. </p>
<p>Universities are investing more then ever in student scholarships and support. Ask early (and often) about the financial support on offer and pay close attention to their scholarship webpages, which are frequently updated. Don’t be shy. Universities want to attract the best students possible and we don’t want financial hurdles to get in their way.</p>
<h2>2. Treat entry scores with extreme caution.</h2>
<p>In Australia, we put a ridiculous amount of pressure on high school students for their final-year ranked results, which are used to define what counts as entry to the most “prestigious” degrees. As a dean, there was almost nothing more depressing than hearing students being told by their parents or friends not to “waste their ATAR”. That is bad advice.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92023/original/image-20150817-5124-1ywmad8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92023/original/image-20150817-5124-1ywmad8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92023/original/image-20150817-5124-1ywmad8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92023/original/image-20150817-5124-1ywmad8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92023/original/image-20150817-5124-1ywmad8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92023/original/image-20150817-5124-1ywmad8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92023/original/image-20150817-5124-1ywmad8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92023/original/image-20150817-5124-1ywmad8.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Don’t make the mistake of just trying to match your course to your ATAR.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Of course, it’s a great achievement to have done well in your high school exams. You should feel very proud about that. But, as the economists would say, entry scores are a signal about the demand for a course, not its inherent quality. The entry requirement is a function of the number of places available and the number of students who want (or we expect to want) to do the degree. </p>
<p>That doesn’t mean degrees with lower entry scores are therefore necessarily less prestigious, or somehow less rigorous. For example, although arts and science degrees often have lower entry scores than professional degrees, in many cases, arts and science faculties are ranked just as highly in the various global university league tables, and sometimes even higher (although league tables are <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-do-world-university-rankings-actually-mean-32355">another thing to treat with caution</a>).</p>
<p>If you have your heart set on a double degree, for example, with a very high entry score you didn’t (or won’t) achieve, think about enrolling in a more generalist degree and then see if you can transfer in (especially if you were really close to the cut-off). </p>
<p>Even better, sometimes enrolling in a generalist degree gives you more options than a double degree offers. You can then top off your undergraduate degree with a master’s in the professional area of your choice. In fact, that is an increasing global trend: go broad at undergraduate, and then specialise at master’s.</p>
<h2>3. Focus on the big picture</h2>
<p>Focus on the overall university reputation and not just the particular faculty or school. So much of your university experience will take place outside your particular faculty, as much as within it.</p>
<p>So find out what the overall student experience is like. Do they have active student clubs and societies? Are there opportunities for international exchange, internships and work placements? Are there good support services for students, including libraries, sports facilities and health services?</p>
<p>Often the best sources of advice about these kinds of things are the various student guides available online (and the student volunteers I mentioned above), although you should always check with the university if you have any concerns or questions.</p>
<h2>4. Remember job-specific skills aren’t everything</h2>
<p>Try to remember that a university is not a job-training centre. Despite the overwhelming pressure today to think about your degree in terms of future employment, don’t let that overwhelm your decision-making (or that of your parents!). It is perfectly understandable that you will want to draw a tight connection between your degree and future employment. But there are two reasons why you should keep an open mind.</p>
<p>First of all, the world of work is changing rapidly. Many of the jobs that will be available when you graduate haven’t even been invented yet. Young people today are likely to go through five to seven major career changes over their lifetime. And this means a narrow, vocationally focused degree will not necessarily set you up best for the future. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92028/original/image-20150817-5127-1d4g4bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92028/original/image-20150817-5127-1d4g4bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92028/original/image-20150817-5127-1d4g4bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92028/original/image-20150817-5127-1d4g4bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92028/original/image-20150817-5127-1d4g4bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92028/original/image-20150817-5127-1d4g4bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92028/original/image-20150817-5127-1d4g4bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92028/original/image-20150817-5127-1d4g4bw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=483&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 jobs of the future haven’t been invented yet, so don’t skill too specifically.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>Of course, if you have your heart set on accountancy or chemical engineering and have the marks to do it – then go for it. But even engineering and business schools now realise how important it is for their students to learn a broad range of skills and to have their intellectual horizons expanded.</p>
<p>Even more importantly, the business leaders we work with at the University of Sydney have made clear that they are looking for well-rounded graduates – the kind of people who can keep learning, deal with change and contingency, understand context and communicate effectively.</p>
<p>So despite the ribbing at family barbecues about studying art history or quantum physics, you might just be doing the most practical thing you can to help set up your future career.</p>
<h2>5. Think about the value beyond dollars</h2>
<p>Finally, and probably most importantly, university is ultimately about an education for life, not just the next few years. So take the opportunity to push yourself – intellectually and socially.</p>
<p>Whether you are coming to university straight out of high school, or after working or raising a family, it’s best conceived as an exciting period for personal growth and intellectual expansion. It will help your career, I am sure – all the statistics make that clear – but the value is ultimately not something best captured in economic terms.</p>
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<p><em>This piece is appearing as part of a series on Choosing a University. <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/choosing-a-university">Read more pieces in the series here</a>. This topic will also be discussed on #TalkAboutIt on ABC News 24, iview and abc.net.au</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45584/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Duncan Ivison receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is also on the editorial board of the Conversation.</span></em></p>How do you choose the right university, or the right degree? The whole process can seem daunting. What should you focus on? How do you weigh up the different elements involved?Duncan Ivison, Professor of Political Philosophy, Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research), University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.