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‘An academic career is not a heptathlon’

The secret to establishing a career in academia is focus and deliberate choices, whether the path is into research, teaching or impact. Here, Robert MacIntosh explains why persistence and planning are more important than ever

Robert MacIntosh

University of the West of Scotland

What does the UK’s spin-out ecosystem need to thrive nationwide?

Despite their abundance of research and expertise, UK academic institutions lack mechanisms to encourage and incentivise movement between academia and industry, particularly within the spin-out community, writes Richard Hague

Richard Hague

University of Nottingham

Different languages in speech bubbles on a laptop

International students don’t need ‘fixing’

To internationalise education, and not just enrolments, educators need to move feedback on academic language from correction to collaboration. Here Nashid Nigar offers a framework for rethinking inclusion through literacy diversity

Nashid Nigar

University of Melbourne

The economics of belonging: a new way of thinking about student success

Rising costs of living and tuition mean that US university students may prioritise career and economic factors rather than self-actualisation as a reason to remain at a university

Richard Tomczak

Stony Brook University

It’s time to break the extraction mindset of higher education

A logic of scarcity and competition leads academia to see hoarding economic, human and social resources as the only way to survive – as a university or a higher education employee, writes Lucas Lixinski

Lucas Lixinski

UNSW Sydney

‘Departmental orthodoxies silence dissent and chill scholarly enquiry’

Universities have not handled ongoing challenges around free speech, protest, academic freedom and safety well, writes John Hyman. Here he offers short- and long-term actions to promote secure, pluralistic campuses

John Hyman

UCL

From peanut butter to effective policy impact

In a sector that often seems tasked with being everything to everyone, each university needs a policy strategy that focuses institutional expertise where it will make the most difference, writes Alistair Sackley

Alistair Sackley

University of Southampton

Coco the Therapy dog in the Templeman Library on University of Kentcampus

Ask students what mental health support they need

A student-led advisory board can help universities understand what services students will use and how they prefer to engage with support

Ryan Wong

University of Kent

An academic disclosing their disability to their manager

Stop treating disability support as an afterthought

Find out what prevents university staff from disclosing invisible disabilities – and steps their institutions can take to change that

Christina Dzineku, James Murray

Independent academic, University of Buckingham

Students in a classroom smiling to camera

AI over-personalisation can hinder learning

In the rush towards ever-greater personalisation, we must not lose sight of what makes learning meaningful, writes Kathy Charles. Here, she shares her insights on fostering ‘productive struggle’ to deepen learning

Kathy Charles

Nottingham Trent University

Is a ‘co-opetition’ model the way to safeguard higher education for future generations?

Shared support functions don’t mean the end of competition among institutions, writes Mark Thompson. Instead, collective thinking could focus effort on universities’ strengths and potentially rescue the sector from ‘an unsustainable race to the bottom’

Mark Thompson

The University of Exeter

What matters to students’ sense of belonging?

Using an intersectional and decolonial lens and fostering the formation of a discipline-specific identity are some of the ways to make belonging the cornerstone, rather than merely an outcome, of higher education EDI initiatives

Salma Al Arefi

University of Leeds

Assessment or measurement?

Authentic assessments and measurements serve distinct purposes in understanding student success in higher education. Here’s why equating the two can undermine the depth and quality of student learning

Heather Strine-Patterson

Virginia Tech

Universities must evolve from degree-granting hubs to social anchors

Higher education institutions can be incubators for ethical leadership, lifelong learning ecosystems and community partnerships, writes Rahim Somani

Rahim Somani

University of Northern British Columbia

Online should not mean offline for business lecturers

When online courses are delivered more or less to a prescribed script, this leaves little space for an educator’s personalised contribution and autonomy, writes Anita Wheeldon. Here, she makes the case against ‘teacherless pedagogy’

Anita Wheeldon

The University of Southern Queensland

The wintering of universities

The fallow moments of retreat are necessary to bring about spring. For universities, we must use this winter to think about what it is we do, writes Katie Normington

Katie Normington

De Montfort University

A phone screen with several different GenAI apps displayed

DeepSeek and shallow moats: what does it mean for higher education?

DeepSeek’s arrival may have spooked the markets, but what does it mean for the research and development of LLMs? Higher education should avoid putting all its eggs in one GenAI basket, writes Ben Swift

Ben Swift

Australian National University

Voice, agency and style: what goes missing when AI chats back

We need to teach that imperfect but authentic writing is more valuable than sentences that are polished on the surface, argue three US academics. Here, they share surprise findings from STEM and beyond

Qian Du, Daniel M. Gross, Patrick Hong

University of California, Irvine

Should universities meet all industry demands?

With higher education institutions adapting their programmes to prepare students for future jobs, they risk producing corporatised graduates to a detriment of innovation or even business’ best interests, writes Stéphane Bouchonnet

Stéphane Bouchonnet

École Polytechnique

White privilege doesn’t exist for working-class men in higher education

Consider social class a protected characteristic and remove financial barriers to make HE accessible to white, working-class men, writes Mark Butterick

Mark Butterick

University of Leeds

‘Generative AI is making our students more creative than ever’

The real opportunity of AI isn’t automation, it’s the potential to democratise innovation, writes Ramona Pistol. And teaching practices need to catch up to this reality

Ramona Pistol

University of Hertfordshire

Female students sitting along in lecture hall

Empty classrooms and disconnected students in the age of AI

Universities face an urgent need to accelerate change in how they teach – and think about teaching – to reconnect students’ digital lifestyles with the way they learn, write Nic Fair and Larisa Yarovaya

Nicholas Fair , Larisa Yarovaya

University of Southampton

The case for rewarding hard work in higher education

Taking a cue from copyright’s ‘sweat of the brow’, Ian Solway and Shan Wang argue that recognition of effort and resilience should not be lost in a rush to maximise learning efficiency

Shan Wang, Ian Solway

University of Southampton

How to humanise engineering education and why we must

Despite years of effort across the education sector, engineering sciences are still not gender equitable. Incorporating more social sciences into engineering education could help address the imbalance

Rich McIlroy

University of Southampton

Imagine an age-inclusive university sector

Age inclusion should be part of universities’ mission, as well as their day-to-day operations. To not support staff and students at all stages of their academic life is an opportunity missed

Paul Harpur, Brooke Szücs, Nancy A. Pachana

The University of Queensland

‘Students need to take responsibility for class participation’

Questions to encourage undergraduates to contribute to class content or in discussion help them develop skills for academia and the workplace. Mariano Carrera shares his experience from teaching in Thailand

Mariano Carrera

King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok

What Frankenstein’s monster can teach researchers about the dark side of ‘impact’

What can a 19th-century novelist tell academics about research ethics? Taking time to see the impact of research on ourselves is a good place to start measuring the social good of scholarly endeavours, writes Jennifer Allsopp

Jennifer Allsopp

University of Birmingham

‘Uncertainty is part of co-production’

Flexibility and an open mindset can help health researchers work with healthcare professionals and patients to create better adapted services. Here, Gary Hickey shares ways to navigate through the process

Gary Hickey

University of Southampton

Medical professional talking to a female patient

Yes, empathy can be taught – here’s how

Find out how evidence-based methods can be used to provide empathy training, bringing huge potential benefits for healthcare outcomes and busting the myth that it can’t be taught

Jeremy Howick

University of Leicester

‘Researchers have a responsibility to publish’

Without publication, advancements in knowledge will be stifled or even halted altogether, writes Walid Saad. Here he explains the many benefits to publishing for established scholars and students alike

Walid Saad

Virginia Tech

A placard at a climate change protest reads "if you change nothing, nothing changes"

On climate change, are universities part of the problem or part of the solution?

As the effects of climate change become increasingly more extreme, fossil fuel interests are preventing transformative change. Where do universities stand?

Jennie C. Stephens

Maynooth University , Northeastern University

‘Creativity is a practice, not an astonishing stroke of good luck’

Screenwriter and playwright Stephen Sewell shares practical insights into fostering students’ mental flexibility and resilience from research into unlocking creativity

Stephen Sewell

Australian National University

‘What artists do is say the quiet bits out loud’

As teachers, we know our students will face the harsh demands of creativity and problem-solving in their daily professional lives – and we need to help them tap into deeper places that lead to novel solutions to intractable problems

Stephen Sewell

Australian National University

Causeway of Williston Lake in British Columbia

Truth is necessary for reconciliation

Good intentions and generalisations can harm reconciliation in the classroom and academy, writes Daniel Sims

Daniel Sims

University of Northern British Columbia

Productive disagreement is our best hope of tackling the climate crisis

As complex communities with a social purpose, universities are ideal places to foster and model difficult discussions around prioritising investment and effort towards net zero goals, writes Nigel Ball

Nigel Ball

University of the Arts London

Male and female figures scale a very different set of stairs to the top

We need to dismantle the promotion patriarchy in academia from the inside

Women in academia are promoted at far lower rates than their male peers and are under-represented in senior positions. To fix this, universities will need to embrace systemic change

Rachael Jefferson

Charles Sturt University

Woman in VR headset against image of wind farm

It’s time to turn the tide on our clean energy ambitions

Universities have a pivotal role to play in inspiring the next generation to find sustainable energy solutions, from uniting researchers with business to translating innovation into practice to growing the future workforce, writes Deborah Greaves

Deborah Greaves

University of Plymouth

Woman with laptop and numbers, transformation concept

Reimagining the role of higher education in a world of intersecting revolutions

To remain relevant, universities must shift from reactive funding requests to proactive transformation, writes Rahim Somani

Rahim Somani

University of Northern British Columbia

Female artist in her studio smiling to camera

Neurodiversity-affirming education is key to supporting students into the creative industries

More needs to be done to support neurodivergent people seeking careers in the creative industries. Here are some strategies

Hannah Breslin

University of the Arts London

African American student studying online

Creating flexible learning pathways for business students

Digital transformation isn’t about technology – it’s about people, writes Steve Hill. Learning experiences must fit into students’ lives rather than forcing them to fit their lives around institutions

Steve Hill

Walbrook Institute London

Income should not determine outcomes for young musicians

If we accept the view that music education is only for the rich, it makes us complicit in stifling the life choices of talented artists, writes Jennie Henley

Jennie Henley

Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM)

A hand picking up a plastic bottle off the ground

Greening your university is not optional; it’s urgent

Investing in greening your institution will result in huge savings in the long run. Here are some strategies that have worked for CETYS University

Isaac Azuz

CETYS Universidad

Black students are succeeding in spite of academia, rather than because of it – we need a reset

The narrative that widening participation is enough is creating isolation and disillusionment among Black PhD students. How can universities move beyond it to empower Black academics?

William Ackah

Birkbeck, University of London

Illustration of many juggling icons on unicyle

Should academics embrace ambidextrous leadership to future-proof their career?

Ambidexterity requires investing time in training that can provide the skills needed to operate in a dynamic environment but also in the future

Greta Faccio, Valentina Lorenzon

Independent consultant, Independent academic

Embracing linguistic diversity and equity in global academic publishing

English operates as a gatekeeper in academia, determining who can access and contribute to the most prestigious platforms of knowledge production. We must create spaces where other languages can thrive, write three European academics

Javier Husillos, Carlos Larrinaga, Daniel Martinez

UPNA, Universidad de Burgos, HEC Paris

Philosophy graduates are extremely employable – but they need degree programmes that show them why

Many students interested in studying philosophy at university will be concerned about its job prospects, so they require courses that demonstrate how to translate its skills into a career, writes Jonathan Webber

Jonathan Webber

Cardiff University

A woman gives a talk to a room of people

How university leaders can hold firm on the glass cliff

In her book ‘Leading from the Margins’, Mary Dana Hinton considers the challenges facing the next generation of women and people of colour in leadership positions

Mary Dana Hinton

Hollins University

Open dialogue about AI in HE is the way forward

The assumption that instructors hold negative views on the use of any generative AI means that important conversations aren’t being had

Florian Stoeckel

The University of Exeter

Student testing out a wind turbine model

Critical approaches to incorporating the SDGs into curricula

Mapping curricula against the SDGs has become a key objective for education institutions aiming to showcase their commitment to sustainability. But we must do this through a critical lens

Sean Porter

The University of Exeter

Donors want to see real-world impact. What does that mean for higher education in the sciences?

Amid academia’s challenges related to talent retention and fundraising, universities can use translational research programmes to enhance scientific edge and real-world impact, and strengthen donor relations

Shai Shen-Orr

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

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