Universitatea „Cuza” din Iasi invita mii de elevi de liceu, la „Zilele Portilor Deschise”

Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” (UAIC) din Iasi organizeaza, în perioada 13 – 17 aprilie 2019, „Zilele Portilor Deschise”, un eveniment dedicat elevilor din clasele IX-XII, cu scopul de a se familiariza cu Universitatea si activitatile acesteia. Evenimentul face parte din proiectul „Iasi, Orasul Studentiei Tale – Porti Deschise la Universitatile Iesene”, organizat de cele cinci universitati publice din Iasi, în parteneriat cu Primaria Municipiului Iasi.

Evenimentul „Zilele Portilor Deschise” le propune elevilor o modalitate directa de a face cunostinta cu viata de student. În cele cinci zile de eveniment, tinerii pot participa la diverse actiuni interactive la facultativizite în laboratoare, cursuri deschise din toate domeniile, jocuri sportive, tururi ghidate si prezentarea ofertei academice, dar si vizite la Muzeul Universitatii si workshop-uri organizate de specialistii în cariera, care îi ajuta pe elevi sa se orienteze spre facultatea potrivita.

Fiecare facultate va participa cu un stand la Salonul Ofertelor Academice, care se va desfasura zilnic între 13 si 17 aprilie, în Sala Pasilor Pierduti, interval orar 10:00 – 14:00. Aici vor fi prezenti studenti si cadre didactice de la cele 15 facultati ale UAIC, care le vor putea raspunde elevilor la întrebarile lor despre facultate. Participarea la toate activitatile este gratuita.

Pentru elevii care doresc sa înteleaga mai bine ce înseamna cursurile universitare, facultatile UAIC propun o serie de prelegeri pe teme de interes general. Din oferta de cursuri deschise putem aminti: „Stiinta spatiului geografic. Explorând Asia Centrala” (sâmbata, 13 aprilie – Facultatea de Geografie si Geologie), „Educatia în era digitala” (luni, 15 aprilie – Facultatea de Psihologie si Stiinte ale Educatiei), „De ce oameni de stiinta? De ce fani Nano?/Why scientists? Why Nano geeks?” (marti, 16 aprilie – Facultatea de Fizica), sau „Fii propriul manager!” (miercuri, 17 aprilie – Facultatea de Economie si Administrarea Afacerilor).

„În fiecare zi a evenimentului sunt programate tururi ale Universitatii, în care elevii vor vizita locurile emblematice ale UAIC. Pe tot traseul turului, participantii vor fi însotiti de un ghid care le va oferi mai multe informatii atât despre locatiile vizitate, cât si despre viata de student. Elevii, dar si profesorii si parintii, vor putea vizita Aula Magna «Mihai Eminescu» – sala unde se desfasoara cele mai importante evenimente ale Universitatii, Libraria – cafenea «TAFRALI» – un centru cultural vibrant al comunitatii academice, Campusul «Titu Maiorescu» – inclusiv cantina si Turnul Universitatii – una dintre cladirile istorice care ofera o priveliste panoramica asupra Iasului.  Înscrierea la «Zilele Portilor Deschise» se face on-line, pe site-ul oficial al evenimentului www.uaic.ro/zpd. Modulul de înscriere permite realizarea unui «orar» personalizat, cu activitati din ora în ora. Profesorii care însotesc elevii pot realiza programari comune pentru întreg grupul”, au precizat cei de la „Cuza”

Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași

Vesti bune pentru studentii USAMV Iasi

Aproape 40 la suta din studentii Universitatii de Stiinte Agricole si Medicina Veterinara (USAMV) „Ion Ionescu de la Brad” din Iasi sunt bursieri. Acestia îsi vor primi bursele la începutul saptamânii viitoare, când vor fi virati banii în conturi pentru luna martie si doua saptamâni din luna februarie.

Conducerea Universitatii a decis ca pe lânga cele 1.136 burse alocate din banii de la buget, sa mai ofere si 100 de burse din veniturile proprii si 16 burse de campus.

„Bursele de performanta academica, stiintifice, de merit, sociale si de campus pe care le dam studentilor nostri sunt asigurate din venituri de la buget si venituri proprii. De asemenea, Universitatea are parteneriate cu societati care ne permit alocarea a opt burse de la agentii economici”, a punctat prorectorul prof. univ. dr. Vasile Stoleru.

Trebuie mentionat ca USAMV Iasi mai acorda burse, din venituri proprii, si pentru studentii de alta cetatenie, de la studii de licenta si master, bursieri ai Statului român. Astfel, 36 de burse pentru performante academice, în valoare de 500 lei, ajung la studenti din Republica Moldova, Ucraina, Turkmenistan, Ucraina si Grecia. Mai amintim ca, pentru semestrul al II-lea din acest an universitar, cuantumul burselor de performanta academica este de 1.200 lei, bursa stiintifica ajunge la 725 lei , cea de studiu are o valoare de 625 lei, cea de merit este 550 lei, bursa sociala si cea de campus au o valoare de 500 lei.

Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași

Începe freamătul alegerilor în universităţile ieşene: se profilează primii candidaţi

 La UMF, rectorul actual şi-a anunţat deja candidatura pentru un nou mandate. Rectorii celor cinci universităţi de stat din Iaşi vor fi aleşi în prima parte a anului viitor.

Mediul academic din Iaşi intră în febra alegerilor care vor avea loc de-a lungul anului 2020 la toate cele cinci universităţi de stat. Deja primii paşi se fac în această direcţie, iar Senatele universităţilor au început să valideze metodologii de admitere şi să stabilească exact care este data referendumului ce urmează să aibă loc în fiecare instituţie de învăţământ superior. Conform legii, cu cel târziu şase luni înainte de alegerea rectorului are loc un referendum la nivelul universităţii pentru a se determina felul în care acesta este ales: printr-un concurs de proiecte de management desfăşurat în faţa unei comisii sau în urma votului universal, exercitat de profesorii titulari şi reprezentanţii studenţilor.

La Universitatea de Medicină şi Farmacie „Grigore T. Popa“ din Iaşi, Senatul a avizat vinerea trecută hotărârea ca referendumul pentru determinarea metodei de alegere a rectorului să aibă loc pe data de 8 mai în două locaţii – pentru Facultatea de Medicină – Sala Rockfeller, iar pentru celelalte trei facultăţi – în holul Aulei „George Emil Palade“. În urmă cu patru ani, UMF a fost prima universitate din Iaşi care a decis noul rector, organizând încă din luna ianuarie alegerile, iar acum va fi iarăşi prima care deschide anul electoral academic la Iaşi. „Ziarul de Iaşi“ a încercat să sondeze în rândul personalului academic al universităţii în încercarea de a determina cine ar fi tentat să candideze la funcţia de rector. Cel care ocupă în prezent funcţia, prof.dr. Viorel Scripcariu, şi-a anunţat intenţia de a candida, a explicat el pentru „Ziarul de Iaşi“, încă de anul trecut, când a susţinut un discurs la zilele universităţii în care a precizat că începe ultimul an din primul său mandat. „Cred că de atunci am lansat acest mesaj în comunita­te, şi este un mesaj ferm. Voi candida, nu am de ce să mă tem să anunţ, indi­ferent de cine vor fi contracandidaţii. Vreau să continui proiectele pe ca­re le-am început, şi am plănuit şi o serie de schimbări pentru mandatul următor“, a declarat prof.dr. Viorel Scripcariu.

Ultimele alegeri la UMF au stabilit şi un nou record în ceea ce priveşte numărul de candidaţi pentru funcţia de rector: au existat în total şapte, dar lupta cea mai strânsă s-a dat între prof.dr. Viorel Scripcariu şi prof.dr. Norina Forna, actualmente decan al Facultăţii de Medicină Dentară. Consultând mai multe surse la nivelul universităţii, cât şi o parte dintre candidaţii din urmă cu patru ani, „Ziarul de Iaşi“ a concluzionat că faţă de ultima tură de alegeri entuziasmul va fi unul mai scăzut şi că, cel mai probabil, nu vor fi la fel de mulţi candidaţi. Prof.dr. Radu Iliescu, unul dintre candidaţii de acum patru ani, a precizat că nu este interesat să candideze din nou, prof.dr. Dragoş Pieptu, care a fost şi rector interimar o perioadă, după demisia lui prof.dr. Vasile Astărăstoae, şi care a candidat la rândul său în urmă cu patru ani, s-a retras din activitatea administrativă şi nici nu a putut fi contactat pentru a confirma sau infirma o eventuală candidatură. În acelaşi timp, prof.dr. Norina Forna a precizat pentru „Ziarul de Iaşi“ că este „încă devreme să discutăm despre acest lucru, să treacă metodologiile, să se stabilească mai multe detalii şi apoi discutăm“, dar nici nu a negat o eventuală candidatură. Mai există o serie de persoane despre care se vehiculează la nivelul universităţii că ar fi interesate să candideze, şi vom reveni cu actualizări atunci când vom putea să luăm legătura cu acestea. Conform legii educaţiei, un rector poate avea maximum două mandate succesive.

Publicație : Ziarul de Iași

 „Tabere“ pentru elevii defavorizaţi la Universitatea Tehnică Iaşi

 Universitatea Tehnică „Gh. Asachi“ (TUIASI) a obţinut peste 500.000 de euro de la Banca Mondială pentru şase din cele nouă programe depuse pe axa ROSE, un program care urmăreşte scăderea abandonului universitar şi sprijinirea studenţilor din medii defavorizate. 

Practic, TUIASI va organiza şcoli de vară pentru elevi, desfăşurate în cadrul celor şase proiecte. Cele şase proiecte care au obţinut acum finanţare, vor fi organizate şcoli de vară pentru elevii de la anumite licee identificate de unitatea de management a proiec­telor ROSE la nivel naţional, în special cele din mediile defavorizate. „Elevii vor veni în timpul verii la universităţi şi vor desfăşura diverse acţiuni în facultăţi, în universitate, dar şi în Iaşi şi în afara oraşului, fiind prevăzute şi vizite de studii în diverse obiective industriale din domeniul specific de activitate al facultăţilor. Se au în vedere diverse acţiuni care să arate elevilor care sunt particularităţile fiecărei fa­cultăţi în parte, pentru ca elevii să aibă o imagine asupra felului în care ar putea să ia o decizie cu privire la intrarea lor într-o facultate sau nu“, a declarat prorectorul Neculai Seghedin. Şcolile de vară vor avea o perioadă de 2-3 săptămâni, fiind programate pentru luna iulie, grupele fiind alcătuite din aproximativ 25 de elevi.

Publicație : Ziarul de Iași

 

TÂRGUL UNIVERSITĂŢILOR IEŞENE, ORGANIZAT LA FINALUL LUNII MARTIE, LA PALAS

VINO SĂ ALEGI CE FACULTATE VEI URMA, LA TÂRGUL UNIVERSITĂŢILOR IEŞENE, ORGANIZAT LA FINALUL LUNII MARTIE, LA PALAS

 Cele cinci universităţi de stat din Iaşi îşi prezintă oferta educaţională simultan, în cadrul unui târg organizat de compania IULIUS, pe 30 şi 31 martie 2019. Liceenii sunt aşteptaţi în ansamblul Palas Iaşi, să se orienteze cu privire la facultatea pe care o vor urma.

Târgul Universităţilor Ieşene le oferă liceenilor din întreaga regiune prilejul de a analiza, în acelaşi loc, oportunităţile academice propuse de instituţiile de învăţământ superior, de stat, din Iaşi. Astfel, tinerii care nu sunt încă decişi ce facultate vor alege sau cei care sunt hotărâţi şi îşi doresc să afle mai multe informaţii despre programele de studiu şi admitere vor găsi răspuns la toate întrebările lor, direct de la reprezentanţii universităţilor. Evenimentul este o iniţiativă a companiei IULIUS şi se va desfăşurasâmbătă şi duminică, pe 30 şi 31 martie, în intervalul orar 10.00 – 18.00, la parterul Atriumului Palas Mall.

Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, Universitatea Tehnică „Gheorghe Asachi”, Universitatea de Medicină şi Farmacie „Grigore T. Popa”, Universitatea de Ştiinţe Agricole şi Medicină Veterinară „Ion Ionescu de la Brad” şi Universitatea Naţională de Arte „George Enescu” din Iaşi vor fi prezente cu standuri de informare, pentru a-i ajuta pe liceeni să se familiarizeze cu toate specializările pe care le pot aprofunda şi programele de dezvoltare profesională. Cei interesaţi vor primi detalii despre perioadele de înscriere şi etapele de admitere ale fiecărei facultăţi, locurile disponibile, taxe de înscriere, dar şi care sunt perspectivele după finalizarea studiilor. În cadrul evenimentului vor fi organizate şi workshop-uri interactive, pe teme de interes privind formarea lor profesională.

Pe lângă oferta educaţională, târgul reuneşte peste 20 de asociaţii studenţeşti, care le vor vorbi elevilor despre viaţa de student şi activităţile în care se pot implica. Totodată, vor fi prezente şi companiile Delphi Technologies, Raiffeisen Bank şi Adversio, de la care se pot informa cu privire la oportunităţile de carieră şi nu numai.

 Târgul Universităţilor Ieşene face parte din programul „Iaşi – oraşul viitorului tău” alcompaniei IULIUS, care vizează creşterea atractivităţii Iaşului la nivel regional şi promovarea lui ca centru educaţional important şi oraş ce oferă multiple oportunităţi. Programul, iniţiat anul trecut, va continua şi în 2019 cu numeroase iniţiative care susţin formarea educaţională şi dezvoltarea tinerilor, precum: conferinţe, caravane regionale, prezentări ale ofertei locurilor de muncă, târguri, sesiuni de training specializate şi multe altele.

Publicație : Evenimentul

  

Nearly 25% of English universities in deficit last year, figures show

Data reveals financial pressure on higher education sector with tuition fee cuts possible

Nearly one in four universities in England were in deficit last year, according to an official compilation of data that suggests more financial difficulties could be on the way.

The number of universities in England with operating deficits in 2017-18 increased to 32, compared with 24 the year before and 10 in 2015-16. Across the UK, the number reporting deficits rose to 47, compared with 40 in 2016-17.

The figures come after warnings of the financial challenges facing many British universities, but especially those in England that are dealing with increased competition and rely heavily on undergraduate tuition fees, which could be cut.

Reading University, which was reported recently by the Guardian to have benefited from the sale of land belonging to a separate trust, was among those with deficits higher than 10% of their annual income.

Reading’s income, reported to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, was £317m against total expenditure of £348m.

Other universities in England with large budget deficits included London Metropolitan and Bradford, while Robert Gordon and Queen Margaret in Scotland also posted large deficits.

Soas University of London, seen as being in considerable financial difficulty, reported income of £92m but spending of nearly £95m.

The outlook remains uncertain for many higher education providers, which are anxiously awaiting the results of a review by Philip Augar commissioned by Theresa May a year ago.

Augar’s report is expected to recommend a cut in the headline rate of tuition fees from the current level of £9,250 a year for undergraduates to a figure close to £7,500. If the reduction is not topped up by additional funds from the government, many universities expect to reduce student numbers in courses affected.

Other options include announcing a floor in the qualifications needed to matriculate, such as two or three Ds at A-level or GCSE passes. That would be seen as an attack on university autonomy, and would also mean fewer potential students for some universities.

Publicație : The Guardian

Oxford college to investigate its own role in colonialism

New academic post will enable St John’s to study the part it played in the British Empire

An Oxford college is to examine its contribution to creating and maintaining Britain’s colonial empire, in a pioneering effort to crowdsource and “decolonialise” its own imperialist past.

St John’s College is advertising for a new academic post whose appointee will work on a research project named St John’s and the Colonial Past, alongside Prof William Whyte, the college’s vice-president and professor of social and architectural history at Oxford.

The college said the post would be unique within Oxbridge as an effort to investigate its own history, including the education of both apologists and critics of the empire, and hopes it will “set the standard for future work in other institutions”.

The job application specifically highlights the recent controversy over the Rhodes Must Fall campaign which began in South Africa and spread to Oxford, due to the financial links between Oriel College and its imperialist benefactor and alumnus Cecil Rhodes. The campaign is calling for the removal of a statue of Rhodes at the college.

“The drive to ‘decolonise the university’ or, at any rate, to think through the implications of institutional involvement in the imperial projects of the past – is now a global business,” the college said in announcing the post. “As yet, however, no college in Oxford or Cambridge has seriously undertaken research into its involvement in colonialism.

“This project will explore connections between the college and colonialism, uncovering benefactions to St John’s and the alumni who served in the empire. It will also investigate the monuments, objects, pictures, buildings that evoke the colonial past.”

The appointment is for a full-time two-year position as a research assistant, with applicants expected to have a doctorate or similar postgraduate qualification.

Unusually for an Oxbridge academic post, the job specification says expertise in crowdsourcing is “highly desirable” to feed into reports and workshops on the college’s past, including those alumni who benefited from its colonial links.

“Although, unlike the universities of the US, we believe that the colleges of Oxford did not own enslaved people, several undoubtedly benefitted from the largesse of those who did,” the application states.

“Many of the objects displayed in university museums and some of those owned by the colleges had their origins essentially as loot, stolen from their indigenous owners.

“Oxford in general helped to educate and train colonial administrators; missionaries; apologists for and critics of empire; and significant leaders and creators of newly independent states.”

The researcher is expected to investigate the connections between the college and colonialism, including donations to St John’s from the alumni who served in the empire. One result is to be a report on St John’s colonial past, followed by a series of workshops to discuss the findings and plan the college’s responses.

The post is to be funded by the college. St John’s is the wealthiest Oxford college measured by endowments, with more than £500m in assets. Its former students include Tony Blair.

Last year Oxford’s All Souls College added a memorial plaque commemorating the slaves who worked on plantations in Barbados. The funds from the plantation were left to the college by a former fellow and were used to build the college’s library.

Publicație : The Guardian

International graduates remaining in UK for work contribute £3.2bn in tax, analysis finds

‘It is an absolute tragedy that the UK has failed to keep up with other countries’

Just one year group of international graduates who stayed in the UK to work after their studies contributed £3.2bn in tax, new analysis has suggested.

International graduates who find employment in the UK typically do so in sectors that suffer from acute skills shortages, the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) think tank found.

The analysis comes after the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) – a non-departmental public body associated with the Home Office – failed to recommend a post-study work visa scheme as it said a “proper evaluation” of foreign students who stay and work in UK was needed.

he joint report, with Kaplan International Pathways, a specialist service for international students, found that international graduates plug skills shortages rather than displace domestic graduates.

Graduates from other European Union (EU) countries who stay in the UK to work contribute £1.2bn and graduates from the rest of the world contribute £2bn in tax and National Insurance payments, the report states.

The study only looks at international students who started at UK universities in 2016-17.

Researchers argue that the economic contribution would be even higher if restrictions on post-study work had not been introduced in 2012. These limits have cost the Treasury £150m a year, the report says.

“Universities firmly believe the government’s biggest mistake in higher education has been to discourage international students from coming here. A hostile environment has been in place for nearly a decade,” said Nick Hillman, director of HEPI. “It is a testament to the strengths of our higher education sector that the number of international students has not fallen, but it is an absolute tragedy that we have been unable to keep up with the pace of growth in other countries.”

Last year, the MAC claimed there was still “a lack of evidence” to show international students who stay in the UK to work make a positive contribution, Mr Hillman added.

“We can now disprove this too. Just one cohort of international students who stay in the UK to work contribute over £3bn to the UK Exchequer – and it would be even more if policymakers had not reduced post-study work rights in 2012,” he said. “A new approach is overdue.”

University leaders have been calling for a new visa that allows international students to work in the UK for up to two years after they graduate.

In 2012, the government scrapped the post-study visa – which allowed international students to work in the UK for two years after finishing university – as part of a crackdown on abuse.

International students in the UK have just four months following the end of their studies to find a job with a tier 2 sponsor. The number of overseas students remaining in the UK to work following their studies has fallen significantly since the closure of the visa.

Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, said: “[International students] play a vital role in combating skills shortages in key sectors – including science, engineering and nursing careers.

“International students want to come and study in the UK, seeing the value of the high quality education our universities offer, but we are slipping behind our global competitors – Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The UK’s immigration system should reflect the extent to which we value international students’ contribution.

„While the government’s new International Education Strategy marks a step in the right direction, more should be done to send a welcoming message to international students.”

Paul Cottrell, acting general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU), said: “It is a testament to our higher education sector that, despite ministers’ best efforts to create a hostile environments, we remain a popular destination.

“The government needs to look at how we ensure the UK remains a leading choice for international students or we risk jeopardising our proud standing on the world stage.”

The Department for Education and Home Office have both been approached for comment.

Publicație : The Independent

US admissions scandal: hiding your privilege is an unacceptable privilege

Elite US universities’ history of acknowledging hereditary advantage at least came with a sense of social obligation, says Amanda Louise Johnson

It was brought instant meme-fodder: actress Lori Loughlin, or “Aunt Becky” from the TV sitcom Full House, had allegedly paid $500,000 to get her daughters into the University of Southern California with fake credentials. She did so as part of an apparent conspiracy of wealthy parents to buy their children’s admission to elite universities, often without their children’s knowledge.

As a university educator, I had my quips for social media: “At least when rich parents bought a new campus building, they made everybody know how their kid got into college – plus, we get a shiny new building,” I posted, or something to that effect. I was only half-joking, because my comment spoke to how America’s ambivalence about class drives its elite to exercise the morally dubious privilege of hiding their privilege.

According to reports, most universities implicated in this conspiracy are private, which means that they operate independently of state administration, funded by the interest of their own massive financial endowments. Many such universities were founded between 1865 and 1917, when industrialists such as Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, James Duke and Leland Stanford, having aggregated tremendous untaxed wealth, founded institutions late in life or by bequest to pay for their sins.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for institutions created to justify personal wealth, these universities still served the social hierarchy, often admitting only elite white men. Today, most institutions are co-educational and racial segregation is illegal, but unequal access to education and the emergence of a lucrative “college prep” industry still favour the social elite when it comes to “merit”.

At the same time, these institutions’ financial autonomy allows them to enrol and grant financial assistance to anyone they like, including foreign students who are ineligible for scholarships from public institutions. While some students’ families pay the full quoted fees, others get partial assistance or even a “free ride”.

Within this economy, then, the wealthy students arguably subsidise the poorer students, and admitting “legacies” from multiple generations of the same families establishes a philanthropic relationship that begets new buildings, new research equipment and new scholarships for enrollees who do demonstrate merit or need.

Throughout its history, then, elite US university culture has openly acknowledged hereditary privilege, and in a way that associates wealth and status with a sense of social obligation. It is weirdly aristocratic, which, of course, flies in the face of America’s cherished self-image as a classless society. As grating as it can be to witness the privilege of others, however, I would argue it is worse for the privileged to pretend to have never benefited from such advantage.

Hoarding wealth rather than donating it, for instance, benefits only the rich, and fabricating a hard-luck story to win sympathy will cause other students to blame themselves for not overcoming very real obstacles. “Playing humble”, in the end, ingratiates wealthy students with their poorer classmates, but in a way that allows the privileged to focus even more shamelessly on themselves.

Having attended two elite institutions – John D. Rockefeller’s University of Chicago and Vanderbilt University, founded by the railroad and shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt – I will concede that competition breeds selfishness at varying levels of privilege. My parents, for instance, never donated money for a new campus building, and I remember when a classmate at Chicago walked away from me mid-conversation after learning that I had not attended an expensive prep school.

On the other hand, my upbringing as a white, middle-class American made me luckier than many people on the planet, but that was easy to forget as ambition drove me to focus on the few barriers I still perceived.

It is even easier to forget your privilege when your own parents lie to you. Before Beckygate, Loughlin’s daughter, Olivia, described her admission to university rather cynically on YouTube, but investigators have alleged that other parents purchased fake test scores to deceive their children, thus denying their children the opportunity to know if an advantaged upbringing had made them truly competitive with their peers.

As the beneficiaries of tremendous wealth, those young people are in a great position to benefit society with their privilege. But that cannot happen if no one will acknowledge it.

Publicație : The Times

Universities challenged over Asian-Americans’ workplace struggles

Leadership barriers facing graduates suggest need for change, including in university curricula

US universities have been urged to review their curricula after new research found that Asian-Americans’ exceptionally high rates of academic success were not translating into the job market.

The study by researchers at Columbia University, using US Census Bureau data, affirmed that Asian-Americans earn college degrees at vastly higher rates than white Americans, but then find only comparable levels of workplace success at professional or managerial levels.

Asian-Americans “are facing stalled mobility” after their college years, said one author of the study, Jennifer Lee, professor of sociology at Columbia. “They have to be over-credentialed in order to just reach parity with native-born whites.”

Among other lessons, said Professor Lee and other experts on the topic, the findings published in the journal Ethnic and Racial Studies should serve as another rebuttal to the affirmative action lawsuit being pursued against Harvard University.

That lawsuit is being waged by an affirmative action opponent who has put forth a highly qualified Chinese-American student rejected by Harvard to serve as an aggrieved party suffering from university admissions policies that benefit black applicants.

But the Columbia study showed that ethnic Chinese are instead the lone category of Asian-Americans who do demonstrably better than white graduates at top levels of US industry. Ethnic Chinese in the US are therefore a success story for programmes of affirmative action in universities and hiring preferences in industry, said Margaret Chin, an associate professor of sociology at Hunter College.

Ethnic Chinese have been in the US longer, and “they’ve accessed these programmes a lot earlier”, than other Asian-Americans, said Dr Chin, the author of a forthcoming book, The Bamboo Ceiling: Asian Americans and the Struggle in the Corporate Workplace.

More complicated than judging affirmative action, she and other experts said, was answering the question of what US colleges should be doing differently to ensure that more varieties of Asian-American students experience greater post-graduation success.

The Columbia study, using data on second-generation immigrants, showed that Indian-Americans were eight times more likely than whites to have a degree, that ethnic Chinese and Koreans were about five to six times more likely, and that Vietnamese and Filipinos tallied about two or three times higher. Yet the Chinese-Americans were only about 1.5 times more likely than whites to have a professional or managerial position, while the other four Asian ethnicities showed no significant gain over white graduates on that job-success measure.

Dr Chin called on universities to recognise the importance of teaching Asian-American students more than just the technical proficiencies and attention to detail for which they are typically noted.

Such technical competencies are valuable, especially in the early stages of careers, Dr Chin said. But companies seeking leaders, she said, watched for skills such as an ability to listen to others and then demonstrate that by summarising their contributions.

Professor Lee emphasised that much of the trouble Asian-Americans encounter in the US workplace did not reflect their any shortcomings on their part, but instead revealed broader flaws in corporate values and in aggressive societal notions of what makes a good leader.

“Those kinds of characteristics about being bold, brash, risk-taking – it particularly privileges white males,” she said. “Even females lose out in that model.”

Asian-Americans also suffered from fairly standard human patterns of associating with and assisting those who were more familiar. “Reducing it to racism is a really simple way of thinking about it,” Professor Lee said. “It’s about cultural matching.”

Publicație : The Times

Nature editor: researchers should be forced to make data public

But funders still need to create standardised data repositories for all fields, says Magdalena Skipper

The editor-in-chief of Nature has said that she would like to force researchers to make the data and code behind their discoveries openly available to improve transparency and make results more reproducible.

Magdalena Skipper’s comments came during a debate that heard warnings that it was still better for researchers to keep their data closed off from scrutiny for the sake of their careers.

“I would actually quite like to mandate, for example, data deposition, and code deposition” for Nature authors, she told a Berlin conference organised by the publisher.

Such a change could lead to researchers being judged not just on their findings, but their scientific practice, she argued.

Appointed in July last year, geneticist Dr Skipper has said that reproducible science is a priority for her tenure. But she stopped short of saying Nature – one of a handful of highly selective multidisciplinary journals perceived to give academic careers a major boost – would actually make data deposition mandatory, although she did say that it was piloting a platform where authors could share source code.

“The trick with mandating data of all kinds, right across the board, on a multidisciplinary journal like Nature, is that there are fields in which there are no structured repositories” for some types of data, she cautioned. Research funders needed to provide this infrastructure, she added.

“The funders have a very important role to play for motivating, rewarding and incentivising researchers” to “basically keep their house tidy in a way that makes their data reusable [and] makes the data interoperable,” Dr Skipper argued earlier in the debate.

Open access – the free availability of scientific papers online – has shot up the academic agenda over the past decade. But the Berlin debate focused on whether “open science”, the opening up of data, code and methodologies so that findings can be better scrutinised and built upon, had made similar strides.

Andrew Hufton, chief editor of Scientific Data, said that while academics were more aware of journals such as his that published underlying data, they were still seen as a “strange beast to a degree”.

“A frontier for us is that a lot of young researchers are quite familiar with the concept of open access, because that’s a very concrete thing. You hit a paywall,” he explained.

“But understanding that the concept of open science actually creates responsibilities for the scientist themselves, is still something where there’s education [needed],” he said.

Dirk Ostwald, a computational cognitive neuroscientist at the Free University of Berlin, warned that researchers still had few incentives to make their data shareable.

“Currently in the academic system, given its competitiveness, it’s definitely better for any young researcher like myself to have a paper in Nature without making any of the data or the code available, than to work rigorously on the data, have it all nicely documented and be reusable,” he said.

Academics faced a choice, he said: “As a researcher, what do you want to maximise? Do you want to maximise the quality of your work, or maximise your career outcome?”

For example, researchers might choose to write code just to produce a publishable result, rather than make it accessible and reusable for colleagues later, he pointed out. “Journals can really enforce higher scientific standards, if they choose to do so. I see that happening more and more, but there is still a way to go,” he said.

Publicație : The Times

Germany offsets demographic decline with recruitment abroad

One in six campuses are shrinking as low birth rates bite, says study

Germany’s “shrinking universities” have managed to partially offset dwindling domestic recruitment by enrolling increasing numbers of students from abroad, according to a new report.

One in six campuses in Germany is shrinking, found a government-supported analysis from thinktank The Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration (SVR). At these institutions, the number of German students has declined by 5 per cent or more over the past five years, the report says.

Two-thirds of these shrinking campuses are in the east of the country, which has been especially badly hit by falling birth rates and an exodus of young people to the richer west.

But the trend is countrywide: in 2018, the number of pupils eligible to enter university fell by 1.8 per cent, with almost all regions suffering a drop, mirroring a wider fall in young people expected to continue for at least a decade.

Yet according to Simon Morris-Lange, author of the report and deputy head of the SVR’s research unit, growth in international students has allowed shrinking universities to “stabilise” and mitigate declining numbers of Germans on campus – if not actually reverse the trend.

According to the report, 26 of the country’s 41 shrinking universities have boosted international numbers by at least 10 per cent over the past five years. At these institutions, international student numbers have grown by 42 per cent on average.

Saxony, a former state of the communist east, has more shrinking universities than any other, the report found (it does not identify which universities are shrinking). Over the past five years, it has lost more than 8,000 German students, a drop of 13 per cent. But international student numbers have jumped by 61 per cent, or nearly 3,500.

Christian Müller, deputy secretary general of the German Academic Exchange Service, said that shrinking universities in the east had sold themselves on Germany’s reputation for engineering prowess, and lower living costs than in big western cities like Frankfurt and Munich.

“When you speak to them, they know there is a problem that they need to tackle,” he said. Marketing overseas had also played a big role, he argued.

Germany also boasts close to zero tuition fees for all students, and since 2013 graduates have been allowed to stay in Germany to look for work for 18 months after graduation.

Compared with systems such as Japan and Taiwan, which are also challenged by shrinking numbers of locally born youngsters, Germany has one of the most welcoming student visa systems in the world, said Mr Morris-Lange.

Unlike in Japan, there have been no university closures in Germany yet. Still, Gero Federkeil, head of international rankings at Germany’s Centre for Higher Education, warned that regional states would nonetheless have to make “tough decisions” if they wanted to keep universities open, as falling numbers led to higher costs per student.

States could choose to close down low-demand subjects in all but one university, limiting student options, warned Mr Müller.

For now, student numbers in Germany are at record levels, and universities are demanding more money to reduce student to staff ratios.

Nonetheless, they face a future in which there are ever fewer local applicants: over the next 15 years, the cohort of Germans aged between 18 and 25 is expected to shrink by 17 per cent, said Mr Morris-Lange, meaning international recruitment will be more important than ever.

Publicație : The Times

Les universités Descartes et Diderot fusionnent au sein de «l’Université de Paris»

58 000 étudiants sont concernés par le regroupement des universités Paris Descartes, Paris Diderot et de l’Institut de Physique du globe. Cette fusion doit permettre aux trois facultés de grimper dans les classements internationaux.

Sur la table depuis plus d’un an, la création de l’Université de Paris est désormais actée. Le décret d’approbation de ses statuts a été publié au Journal Officiel ce jeudi. Les universités de Paris Descartes (Paris V) et l’université Paris Diderot (Paris VII) fusionnent ainsi au sein de cet établissement public. Elles sont rejointes par l’Institut de physique du globe de Paris (IPGP), en tant que «composante» de l’Université de Paris. Contrairement à Descartes et Diderot, l’IPGP conservera sa personnalité morale.

Au total, ce regroupement concerne 58 000 étudiants, 4 500 enseignants-chercheurs, et 3 000 membres du personnel administratif et technique. Dans un premier temps, la gestion de l’Université de Paris sera confiée à un administrateur provisoire nommé par le recteur de l’Académie de Paris. Des élections devraient être organisées avant la fin du mois de juin afin de désigner les membres du conseil d’administration du nouvel établissement.

53ème au classement de Shanghaï

Malgré la fusion, Descartes et Diderot garderont bien leurs bâtiments actuels, et aucun nouveau campus ne verra le jour. Par ailleurs, les unités de formation et de recherche (UFR) garderont dans un premier temps leur organisation actuelle. Celles-ci pourraient être revues dans les cinq années à venir.

La fusion de ces universités a lieu un an après celle de Paris-Sorbonne et de Pierre-et-Marie Curie au sein de «Sorbonne Université», qui étaient alors les deux premières universités parisiennes à s’unir pour mieux rayonner. Mise en place depuis quelques années déjà à Strasbourg, Aix-Marseille ou encore Bordeaux, cette stratégie doit en effet permettre aux «super-universités» qui en résultent de gagner en compétitivité et en visibilité internationale, notamment à travers la mise en place d’une unité de recherche intensive. Selon les projections, la nouvelle née devrait en effet se hisser dès sa création à la 53e place du classement de Shanghaï et devenir ainsi la 1ère université de France au classement impact par publication.

 Publicație : Le Figaro

Qu’est-ce qu’un mastère spécialisé, un master of science, un MBA?

Difficile de ne pas s’emmêler les pinceaux entre les sigles des troisièmes cycles qui fleurissent dans les grandes écoles. Voici des explications sur ce que sont les MS, Msc et les MBA, ces mystérieux bac +5.

Ils font rêver les jeunes diplômés. Mais avec des sigles aussi mystérieux que MS, MSc, MBA, il faut être vigilant, histoire de ne pas prendre des vessies pour des lanternes.

■Le Msc: le plus international

Dans la famille des troisièmes cycles, je voudrais… le MSc. Très répandu en France, ce format anglo-saxon déconcerte les étudiants. Le master of science (de 8 200 à 29 900 eur) n’est pourtant pas un diplôme national, mais un titre d’établissement bac + 5, labellisé depuis 2002 par la Conférence des grandes écoles. Il en existe environ 110, en majorité en école de management. Sa promesse? Une formation de 18 mois (dont quatre de stage), en anglais, spécialisée dans une fonction ou un secteur d’activité: Vineyard and Winery Management à Bordeaux Sciences Agro, Big Data and Business Analytics à l’ESCP Europe. Accessible aux bac + 4 ou + 3 avec expérience, le MSc s’adresse «aux étudiants étrangers, et aux Français en quête d’une reconnaissance internationale», précise Félix Papier, directeur général adjoint de l’Essec.

■ Le mastère spécialisé: le plus pointu

Autre label de la Conférences des grandes écoles, le mastère spécialisé (de 4 000 à 30 500 euros) est, lui, une formation à bac + 6. Sa cible? «Des professionnels ou des jeunes diplômés à la recherche d’un complément de formation ou d’une double compétence», indique Christophe Digne, président de la commission accréditations de la CGE. On en compte près de 400. Ils sont ouverts aux bac + 5, bac + 4 avec au moins trois ans d’expérience (et, à titre dérogatoire, aux bac + 4). Au programme: 12 mois de formation dont 4 en entreprise. «Les MS évoluent en permanence pour coller aux besoins du marché», précise Jean-Christophe Sauriac, directeur des formations spécialisées à Mines ParisTech.

■ Le MBA, la référence mondiale

Concurrencé par ces deux formations, le MBA (Master of Business Administration) reste «la» référence mondiale pour les cadres qui veulent booster leur carrière. Mais il s’ouvre aussi aux étudiants. Dispensé en anglais à un public international, ce programme en management coûte entre 40 000 et 85 000 euros. L’avantage des MBA français? D’excellentes opportunités pour un coût moindre que les MBA américains. Ainsi, l’Insead est 3e du classement mondial des MBA du Financial Times. Cocorico! –

Publicație : Le Figaro