By Cathy Davidson. TOP THREE QUESTIONS EVERYONE SHOULD ASK (AND ANSWER FOR YOURSELF)
1. Why am I doing this? (If you don't yet have a job, the question should be: why do I want to do this?)
2. Why should someone else pay me or support me to do this thing I love?
3. Why is what I'm doing (or want to do) important? What do I contribute? Why? In what way? To what goal?
1. Why am I doing this? (If you don't yet have a job, the question should be: why do I want to do this?)
It's the basic, existential question, right? Most of us don't ask it nearly enough. And for many people in the world, certainly the majority, it isn't really a question: you do what you have to in order to support yourself. But that makes the question even more urgent, for everyone, especially those fortunate enough to have choices. And that already is an important point. If you are preparing for an academic career, you are making a choice. Why? What motivates you? This is not a trivial question. More...
Top Three Questions Job Seekers (and Senior Academics Too) Should Ask Themselves
What It Means To Create a Professional Identity
By Cathy Davidson. I was recently at a meeting of academics and alt-academics who run professional organizations and professional meetings and heard two people from two different professional associations, one in the humanities and one in a social science area, note that, in their informal polling of job interviewers who come to their national conventions, something on the order of 75% say that the first thing they do when they see the name of a potential job candidate is Google the person. Well, of course. When you think about it, don't we all do that? But how many graduate programs today advise students to pay attention to what appears when their name is Googled?
The same career or professional development advisors in departments who worry over job letters, vita, job talks, and other aspects of professionalism (if you are lucky enough to be in a department that cares about such things) is likely not to have said to candidates, "Google yourself and see what comes up. Is that the professional self you want to present to the world?". More...
Slump in foreign language students sparks fear for UK's ability to compete on world stage
By Graeme Paton. In total, 4,842 people were accepted on to UK degree courses to study the subjects in 2012 which was a drop of 14% on the year before.
A slump in the number of students studying foreign languages at university has been revealed, sparking fears over the UK's ability to compete with other nations.
In total, 4,842 people were accepted on to UK degree courses to study the subjects in 2012 a drop of 14% on the year before. More...
Campaigning at university could lead to your first job
By Libby Page. Students who get involved in campaigns at university pick up impressive skills and learn to adapt to the unexpected. It's not every day that you meet an international development minister at the houses of parliament while dressed as a sweet potato. For Billy Hill, a third-year history student at the University of Birmingham, this was another day as a student campaigner. Hill's campaigning not only gave him memorable experiences, but led to his first job. More...
Spanish government drops plans to cut European student funding scheme
By Stephen Burgen. Rebellion in ruling party forces U-turn on plan that could have left thousands of students on Erasmus programme without funding. The Spanish government has abandoned plans for deep cuts to an European scheme that allows degree and post-graduate students to study abroad.
The education minister José Ignacio Wert was forced to back down after a rebellion in his own party, the governing Partido Popular, and has agreed that the 10,000 students already on the Erasmus scheme will receive the grants they were promised. More...
In praise of … Erasmus scholarships
Spain's poorest students who had already made their plans will now receive some funding after all. Erasmus would approve. "I wish to be called a citizen of the world," wrote the humanist Erasmus in 1522, a sentiment that inspired the Erasmus programme of EU scholarships, which funds university students to study for up to six months elsewhere in Europe as part of their course. Three million students have taken part in the scheme since it was launched (amid controversy, of course) in 1987. More...
Why can some international students earn while they learn but others can't?
By Ketan Kishor Parmar. The government pushes privatisation and growth while holding international students like me back, says Ketan Kishor Parmar. In her speech at September's Conservative Party conference, Theresa May cited with pride that the annual number of overseas student visas issued by the UK government had been cut by more than 115,000. More...
Postgraduate study: passport to a better career
By Liz Lightfoot. With first degrees commonplace, a postgraduate course helps job hunters stand out from the crowd. Today's jobs market is highly competitive and a postgraduate degree can command a premium with employers, especially if it includes work experience. A survey of destinations six months after graduation – carried out by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (Hecsu) – found that postgraduates were more likely to have found employment and be working in a professional role than those with only a first degree. More...
European funding is crucial to future of UK universities
By Joanna Newman. It's not enough to stay in Europe, says Joanna Newman ahead of a £70bn EU funding vote– we need to work with them too. The UK economy is doing a little better than expected this autumn with public sector borrowing down and tax receipts increasing. Nevertheless many households find their prospects bleak: welfare and local services are being cut, wage growth is weak and young people's job hopes are bearing the brunt. More...
Why smart colleges keep tuition high and promise the aid to cut it
By Jana Kasperkevic. Parents approach college tuition as they do bargain-shopping: the illusion of value means more than slashing the sticker price. For many Americans, paying for college is roll of a dice. You make a wish, close your eyes, roll and hope you hit a jackpot.
For me, it was more like a game of roulette. I placed my bets on a number of private colleges – all with vastly different tuition bills – hoping that at least one would pan out both educationally and financially. It didn’t quite happen that way. More...
