By Lukas Bischof. The strategic transformation of universities is among the most daunting leadership challenges for presidents, rectors or deans. Short of existential threats, far-reaching transformations are rarely even attempted. More...

By Davina Potts and Kent Anderson. A recent news article based on a public relations company’s press release regarding search engine inquiries suggested Australian students are reluctant to study overseas. More...

By Andy Tsubasa Field, The Chronicle of Higher Education. Three years ago a survey on campus sexual assault drew national attention over its finding that one in four female college student respondents said they had experienced unwanted sexual contact, either by force or after being incapacitated by substances like drugs or alcohol. More...

By Joy Ndovi. Calls have intensified for African governments to establish legislation to help financing agencies recoup outstanding student loans, in light of the increasing number of defaults being experienced in the higher education sector. More...

By Jan Petter Myklebust. Denmark is maintaining its world-class position in research and development, according to the 10th edition of the Research Barometer, a collection of indicators comparing Denmark to 35 other OECD countries, which the Ministry of Higher Education and Science published on 5 October. More...

By Geoff Maslen. Although employed in a supposedly `enlightened and accepting environment’, three-quarters of Indigenous Australians working as academics and general staff in the nation’s universities experience racism and discrimination, mostly from colleagues. More...

By Aimee Chung. South Korea has seen record numbers of foreign students enrolling in its universities despite recent tensions on the Korean peninsula, but this has been accompanied by a doubling in the number staying on illegally after their student visas expire. More...

By Edwin Naidu. South African universities are taking steps to make campuses safer for female students, after Higher Education and Training Minister Naledi Pandor named the higher education institutions at which incidents of rape or sexual assault had occurred in 2017. More...

By Brendan O’Malley. Stanford University has topped Reuters’ ranking of the World’s Most Innovative Universities for the fourth year in a row, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, in the same order for the fourth year running. More...

By Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor. In Commentary, Davina Potts and Kent Anderson say Australian students are not reluctant to study abroad – as a news article based on questionable data claims – but actually lead their English language-speaking peers in study visits overseas, thanks in part to smart government policy. Lukas Bischof recommends the Skolkovo Method – developed and adopted in Russia – to higher education leaders as an innovative way to drive transformation in their universities. And Winston Morgan suggests that campaigns similar to those introduced to increase the number of women and female leaders in science should be instituted to increase the number of black scientists – and eventually role models such as a black Nobel laureate in science.
   In our World Blog, Jane Knight and Hans de Wit look back and forward at the contribution internationalisation has made and will make to higher education and conclude that internationalisation has come of age.
   In our series on Pacific Rim higher education and research, Yojana Sharma unpacks a report from the Association of Pacific Rim Universities that says universities are bucking the trend of declining multilateralism in geopolitics by forming research networks that foster multilateral cooperation.
   In Features, Yojana Sharma reports on South Korea’s investment of US$2 billion to build up talent in artificial intelligence and use its universities’ strong links with industry to become a global AI powerhouse by 2022. And Wagdy Sawahel reports on calls for African universities to offer more courses to harness the power of blockchain-based innovation.
   In a Special Report on the EnlightED conference in Spain on higher education in the digital age, Paul Rigg highlights keynote speaker Michael Horn’s warning that “universities are declining” due to digital disruption taking hold. Another speaker, Joseph Aoun, suggests that universities respond by making people ‘robot proof’ through teaching ‘humanics’ and providing experiential and lifelong learning, writes Paul Rigg. More...