The Bradley Review in 2008 and the Australian government's response echoed policy concerns that young people from low socioeconomic status are underrepresented in tertiary education. In order to address this, responses to both recruitment and retention are necessary. While many studies have looked at reasons for student attrition, few…

The Australian PhD is a relatively recent phenomenon, the first three being awarded in 1948. Before that, most Australian scholars typically went to Britain (predominantly) or the USA to undertake their doctoral studies. The aim of this research note is to provide a brief statistical history of the Australian PhD, noting changes over time between…

In view of the strong growth of transnational education programmes in Australian universities, there is growing interest in the experiences of students participating in such programmes. This article reports on the perceived student satisfaction with several aspects of their transnational programmes, including instructors, technology, and programme…

In this article the author discusses public reaction generated by the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. He argues that it is not simply that the methodologies adopted by the main rankers -- Times Higher Education (THE), QS and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University -- are diverse and open to the usual interpretation, but there…

The wording of university academic job advertisements can reflect a commitment to equity (affirmative action) as opposed to academic merit in hiring decisions. The method of judgemental content analysis was applied by having three judges rate 810 Australian tenure-stream advertisements on seven-point magnitude scales of equity and merit. The…

Two decades on from the abolition of the binary divide in higher education in Australia, what has happened to the relative research performance of institutions that started from quite diverse positions? We use two databases, Thomson Reuters ISI and Scopus, to measure growth rates in research output. We find that there has been some convergence in…

The number of university rankings systems in use around the world has increased dramatically over the last decade. As they have spread, they have mutated; no longer are ranking systems simply clones of the original ranking systems such as "US News" and "World Report". A number of different types of "mutation" have occurred, so that there are now…

University rankings are having a profound effect on both higher education systems and individual universities. In this paper we outline these effects, discuss the desirable characteristics of a good ranking methodology and document existing practice, with an emphasis on the two main international rankings (Shanghai Jiao Tong and THES-QS). We take…

This article compares the strikingly similar experiences of Monash and Chisholm in Melbourne at the same time. The author states that Roger Scott's account of the abortive ANU/CCAE merger brought back memories of the Monash University/Chisholm Institute of Technology amalgamation, effected around the same time. The outstanding point of difference…

The relatively greater success of Australian private high school students in gaining university admission than of public school students is examined from the viewpoints of social factors, college preparation, and the university curriculum. (MSE)

A study of Australian university and college of advanced studies applicants and rejections in 1986 suggests that between 9,000 and 14,000 applicants eligible and willing to accept a place were unable to begin studies that year. (MSE)

It is proposed that Canadian universities are "alien" to women because they are dominated by men, have a large proportion of faculty who are not Canadian citizens, and are underutilizing the talents of the female half of the nation's population. Comparisons are made between the Canadian and Australian situations. (MSE)

Academic environments for Australian faculty in Australia and Hong Kong are compared, and the likelihood of job satisfaction for Australians in Hong Kong is discussed. Career conditions under which Hong Kong employment will be most satisfactory are noted. (MSE)

The review examines (1) social class and improving access to higher education in Australia from 1852-1945; (2) interventions from 1943-74; and "winners and losers" since the 1960s. It is concluded that, in comparison with western nations, Australian university students are more representative of the general population, and the curriculum is more…

A study of the relationship between faculty publishing and career advancement at the University of Sydney (Australia) controlled for both gender and discipline. Results revealed some previously unseen dynamics of authorship, bringing into question common assumptions about solo vs. multiple authors and order of author names. Some discipline-related…