Search

The ratio of students to academics at some universities is double the average pupil-to-teacher ratio is state schools, according to an analysis. The University and College Union (UCU) wants action following the analysis revealed that students outnumber academics by over 30:1 at some universities.

Sarah Mohammed Al Ameri sought per mission from the United Arab Emirate's (UEA) Higher Education Minister to study with men when she found that she would not be able to study engineering at any of the six women-only Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) in the UAE. She is now the only female student at Al Ain College.

Chinese students in the UK provide a vital source of income, with currently 53,000 Chinese students in higher education in Britain, each paying around GBP 10,000 each. Fees from overseas students outside the EU contribute some GBP 1.5 billion to UK higher education, over a tenth of the sector's budget, according to Universities UK.

An analysis of the growing imbalance in the UK between the number of male and female university students. Statistics reveal that between 1994 and 2001, the number of women entering university increased to 427,000 from 299,000, while the number of men entering university rose by just 16,000 to 305,000. This disparity between the sexes has led some to argue that entry standards for men should be made easier than those set for women.

Research looking at the relationship between students being awarded first-class passes at Cambridge university, England, and their gender has found more women than men reported feeling stress whilst studying. Women also tended to take courses which were less likely to be given firsts.

Some higher education institutions, in the UK, are looking at ways of encouraging students from ethnic minorities and the poor to apply to their establishments. The University of Bradford, England, is attempting to make its courses more accessible. They have employed a worker to try to increase the links between the university and the community. Some observers have pointed out many poor students are frightened of building up large debts by attending university. Others suggest some good students do not go on to university as they fear they will not fit in and will be excluded.

British universities do not assist women who are trying to combine an academic career and having children. As a result many women have their children whilst they are young and go on to carry out their best academic work when the children are less of a burden. The universities seem to be able to employ various types of people yet they still make it very difficult for women to fulfill their obligations. Meetings are made at awkward times and working from home discouraged. Recent research has shown the importance of young children learning from their parents.

Many disabled academics find it difficult to obtain work at British universities and those who are employed experience discrimination. Some universities seem reluctant to make changes which would allow the employment of disabled staff. The disabled are calling for extra funds for universities which employ disabled staff and the recruitment of an ombudsman to look into cases of discrimination. They would also like an inquiry to look more fully at the treatment of disabled staff. Only 208 registered disabled academics out of 120,000 academics were employed in higher education in 1998.

The government wants to see universities stepping up efforts to attract more students from underrepresented groups following fears that progress on widening participation has stalled. A report on widening participation has warned that a 'slight downturn' in the proportion of people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds entering higher education suggests that progress has stalled.

Academics will be asked to set up black and minority ethnic (BME) staff support groups in every university under a campaign to fight racial discrimination at grassroots level, according to University and College Union (UCU) leaders. UCU is eager to mobilise academics amid claims that it has not done enough to combat racism and discrimination.

The introduction of top-up fees has been survived better by science degrees than many arts degrees, with universities accepting more chemistry students this year than in any year since 1999. The number of mathematics students accepted is also slightly up, while physics students acceptance are flat.

Australian universities are concerned that federal Education Department figures show a fall in foreign postgraduat enrolments which could result in the closure of courses, departments and whole institutions. This is the first time there has been a nationwide fall and with overseas students making up over a third of all postgraduate enrolments, any fall could have a major impact on finances.

Some universities in the Russell Group and 94 Group have been accepting students on courses in key areas of engineering, science and languages with C and D grades as they try to fill places during clearing week. Concerns have been raised that lowering of grades at some more popular universities made it more difficult for newer universities to fill courses.

The Janos Selye University in Komarno (JSUK), Hungarian-language university in Slovakia, risks closure if the special government funding it receives is withdrawn. The new Slovak Government pledged to maintain Slovakia on the path of democracy but the PM also appointed two ministers from the right-win National Party which does not sympathise with minorities.

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has published figures which show that some 15 to 16 percent of places on law by topic subjects and subjects allied to medicine are filled through clearing. Subjects such as zoology, physics and design studies fill only 5 to 6 percent of places through cleaing.

English universities are seeing a rise in the number of female academics as more men move away from lecturing, according to a report on the university workforce by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce). In 2004-05 46 percent of lecturers were female, up from 34 percent in 1995-96.

The number of female staff in Scottish higher education has risen in recent years but at professorial level the number has stalled, according to the Gender in Scottish Higher Education: What's the issue? report by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). The report found that less than 5 percent of female staff are professors, vs 16 percent of male staff.

Manchester University is moving to recruit more black and minority ethnic (BME) staff to senior posts as part of its Race in Leadership programme which aims to boost equal opportunities at senior level. The initiative is headed by Aneez Esmail, professor of general practice and associate vice-president for equality and diversity at Manchester.

Students at the all-female Zayed University discussing job opportunities all agree that they will not face gender discrimination as it is 'about qualifications, not your gender'. All said they wanted to get married but believed that most of the students wanted a job as well.

Gwendolen Bradshaw, dean of Bradford University's School of Health Studies, has written to staff warning that they have a duty under the law to promote 'good race relations' and 'r ace equality'. Staff were warned they must not risk the reputation of the university for promoting equality and valuing diversity.

Academics in South Africa are debating the issue that sparked the student uprising in Soweto in 1976, the use of Afrikaans as an instruction medium. The issue is currently a live one at Stellenbosch University where it's convocation has made a submission to a language policy review in support of a long-standing demand that all academics and students be proficient in Afrikaans.

The University of Juba has 9,000 undergraduates and almost as many distance learners and students from northern Sudan are in the majority, despite the university being originally set up to educate those from southern Sudan. The change has come about after the university was exiled in the northern capital Khartoum.

Indian students choose to go to Australian universities more because of aims to become permanent residents than because of the reputation of the universities, according to research by Michiel Baas, honorary research fellow at Monash University. Of Indian students completing courses in Australia in 2003, three quarters obtained visas allowing them to stay in the country.

Questions about race, sex and social inequality in US higher education have been raised by the alleged rape of a black female student by white athletes at Duke University. Law yers for the students claim DNA tests prove that their clients are innocent and the scandal has crossed into examinations of snap judgements and assumptions about white men.

Australian universities could lose thousands of fee-paying foreign students to Europe unless they adapt to the Bologna Process, according to Julie Bishop, federal Education Minister. She has warned of the possible impact of Europe's plans to make it simpler for students to gain entry to higher degrees and employment across member states.

The University of Iceland (UoI) has 9,526 students and 93 percent of these are from Iceland. There is a growing number of overseas students who come to study Icelandic sagas and myths and geology sudents interested in Iceland's lava fields and volcanoes.

The University of Cyprus has 5,000 students but by 2015 the university aims to double student intake to 10,000. The national university welcomed its first students in 1992 and currently around a tenth of students are from overseas.

UK universities welcome the growing number of students from European countries as they provide extra income and enrich campus culture. Many of these students from European accession countries will take courses which are not popular with UK students, thereby making the difference which keeps the course alive.

Less prestigious universities could see a crisis in student recruitment after 2010 due to the falling number of 18 to 20-year-olds, according to the Higher Education Policy Institute. It is expected that there will be a decline of around 30,000 students per year between 2010 and 2020.

Universities have been urged to increase efforts to attract more working-class students onto degree courses as figures have shown that participation of students from poor backgrounds has hardly risen in the last seven years. Unions have demanded an independent review after a study found the proportion of young full-time undergraduates from working-class families in England had risen to only 28.6 percent in 2003-04, from 25 percent in 1997-98, despite some GBP900 million of government funding.

Academics require more training to help avoid cultural clashes and misunderstandings with the growing number of overseas students which they must teach and supervise, according to representatives of international students. The representatives have called for urgent action to deal with the issue mid concern that a lack of training would weaken the position of the UK in the overseas market.

The proportion of people from working-class backgrounds accepted on higher education courses in 2005 has changed little, according to new data, despite government efforts and institutions to expand participation in higher education. In 2005, the proportion of applicants from families in 'routine' occupations fell slightly compared with 2004.

An analysis of new figures released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency that reveal the gender divide in university courses. The figures show that while in subjects such as the biological sciences, social sciences, creative arts, humanities and subjects allied to medicine women make up the majority of students - accounting for 85% of undergraduates in subjects allied to medicine - in subjects such as computer science or engineering and technology they are still outnumbered by men - accounting for only 14% of engineering & technology undergraduates.

A growing number of women are entering universities worldwide, and in some countries women account for over half of all university entrants. However, women are still underrepresented in some sectors and often have lower pay.

The UK Secretary of State for Education has set out his plans to make higher education more open to all sectors of the community, with some groups specifically being targeted.