Education is the ultimate political football and there’s nothing politicians like so much as making schools ‘better’, but when a group of respected school leaders come up with a list of 10 things they would do to improve education, it’s worth a listen. More...

By Pamela Mills-Senn. Providers share thoughts on what higher ed isnn’t paying enough attention to when it comes to electronic documents. Despite the benefits of electronic document management systems, college and university compliance efforts can be undermined by faulty management. More...

On behalf of the steering group for the independent review of the role of metrics in research assessment, HEFCE has launched a call for evidence to gather views and evidence relating to the use of metrics in research assessment and management.
The quality and diverse impacts of scientific and scholarly research are commonly assessed using a combination of peer review and a variety of quantitative metrics.
The review of metrics will explore the current use of metrics for research assessment, consider their robustness across different disciplines, and assess their potential contribution to the development of research excellence and impact.
The steering group wishes to draw on evidence and views on the role of metrics in research assessment from a wide range of sources across the sector. These could include written summaries or existing published research.
The call will remain open until noon on Monday 30 June. Any person or organisation with an interest in the role of metrics in research assessment is invited to respond by this deadline.
More about the review and the call for evidence
Contact: metrics@hefce.ac.uk. More...

By Catherine Shanahan. Less than one in five senior management posts in Irish public universities are held by women because they lack ambition and political skills, and their lifestyles are “unhelpful”, a study has found.
University of Limerick sociology professor Pat O’Connor surveyed 34 senior managers in Irish universities and found that the majority of them believe women are the source of this “problem” and the focus must be on “fixing the women”.
This was the view shared by both men and women who took part in the survey, the findings of which are contained in Prof O’Connor’s latest book, Management and Gender in Irish Education. More...

By Lucy Leske. There’s a delicate dance taking place within higher education today. Most everyone understands that the current financial model colleges and universities operate under is not sustainable, yet academics readily bristle at the notion they should become more businesslike and bottom-line oriented. If one looks at higher education as a business, the thinking goes, one sacrifices the fundamental mission of these institutions: to educate students and produce successful professionals, good citizens and enlightened individuals who continue to learn and grow throughout the course of their lives. There is great concern about the commoditization — some say Walmart-ization — of higher education. More...