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Category: Students

Student Stereotypes in Four Graphs

We all know about stereotypes when it comes to students: computer science students resemble characters from The Big Bang Theory, arts students are inordinately fond of hackie-sack, etc. But is there any truth to this? Well, there is some, as it turns out. About a year ago we asked our CanEd Student Research Panel a series of questions about their attitudes toward academic challenges. The answers we got were interesting because of the way they broke down by field of study.

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May 4, 2012 3 Comments

A Duty Ignored

One of the reasons universities have had such success in attracting students over the years is the promise they hold for better employment. Over 80% of students say that “getting a better job” is a main reason for going to university. It’s not the only reason they go, of course; most have some kind of intellectual interest in the subjects they study. But the promise of good job outcomes is pretty central to the appeal of a university. So why

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May 1, 2012 14 Comments

On Being on Strike

What does it mean to be a student on strike? Recently, Concordia University announced that its board had settled on Ryerson provost Alan Shepard as its choice for president. Shepard, who’s had a very successful tenure at Ryerson, was unanimously recommended by a search committee that included student leaders. The prospective new president had hoped to engage in a public discussion with the university community prior to the formal selection taking place; unfortunately, the event was derailed by a handful

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April 30, 2012 No Comments

Good Governance and Student Unions

Some interesting news from New Zealand recently, where a bill on Voluntary Student Unionism recently became law. Basically, what this means is that student unions there won’t be able to collect automatic membership dues, the way ours do – rather, they’ll need to raise their money directly through voluntary contributions from students. This isn’t unprecedented – Australia’s Liberal government did the same thing in 2005, and the results weren’t pretty. Why hasn’t such an idea come to Canada? I’ve been

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April 23, 2012 3 Comments

What Students Pay For (II)

As we saw yesterday, the various new digital learning providers face a challenge of competing with traditional providers which have advantages in terms of providing students with i) fuller student experiences, ii) better-known brands and iii) widely-accepted credentials. So what are they doing to try to win this competition? We can more or less dispense with student experience. Most new providers essentially punt on this; there’s virtually no effort among most to try to provide value in this area. That

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April 19, 2012 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.

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