The World of Higher Education Podcast Listen now →

The World of Higher Education Podcast Listen now →

Category: PSE Outcomes

Better Feedback

Universities (and to a lesser extent colleges) are sometimes accused of being change-resistant.  Various stakeholders have lots of valuable feedback to give, so the critique goes, but institutions Just. Don’t Listen.   This critique has some merit but misses the mark in some major ways.  Institutions solicit and receive feedback all the time.  I just don’t think the questions being asked are always very good ones, and the people whose opinions are being solicited are not always the right ones. Here’s an

Read More »
May 31, 2018 4 Comments

In Tech, We are All Maritimers

I got a bit of blowback for Friday’s blog criticizing that U of T/Brock piece on the alleged Brain Drain.  Nobody tried to argue that my critique of the methodology was wrong, but some argued that a) data on migration is always terrible and I was making the perfect the enemy of the good and b) I was ignoring the core truth that a lot of Canadian tech talent does head south and this makes things difficult for Canadian tech firms, and

Read More »
May 7, 2018 1 Comment

Bad Data on Brain Drain

Periodically, in Canada, someone comes up with a statistic about higher education.  Doesn’t matter if it makes the least bit of sense – as long as it serves somebody’s political narrative.  This statistic can go ON and ON unchallenged for years unless someone steps on it quickly (and I should know: I came up with a doozy about a decade ago). Yesterday, one such statistic popped up and it’s so juicy you just know it’s going to used constantly even though

Read More »
May 4, 2018 No Comments

(Another) New Report on Skills

Late last week the Business Higher Education Roundtable published the results of a survey of its members (big Canadian businesses) on the issue of skills.  The results were…intriguing. Let’s start with the classic question: are there skills shortages?  Here’s what respondents said. Figure 1: To What Degree are Skill Shortages an Issue for your Sector/Company? Yes, there are skills shortages, but a) not many think they are that significant, and big business thinks they’re better insulated than other companies in

Read More »
April 10, 2018 1 Comment

Destinations of Doctoral Graduates

Canada usually alternates between good news and bad news when it comes to higher education data.  Good news: we’re getting marginally better data on profs, for only $1 million per year.  Bad news: we have literally no data on students beyond registration data anymore (social/economic background, anyone?), and no one seems to care. But away from Statscan, we are starting to see a new culture around data which I think is quite heartening: institutions choosing to be more transparent about

Read More »
February 12, 2018 1 Comment

One Thought to Start Your Day

One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

Subscribe

Search Posts

Search Publications

Social Media

Linkedin Youtube Spotify

Recent Posts

More thoughts on...