Archives for November 2017

Since the advent of the written word, man has engaged in a pursuit of using the medium to transfer ideas, thoughts, images and stories. Literacy ie. the ability to read and write, has become the benchmark that is used to measure the level of education across the world. The pursuit continues and does not seem like it has an end in sight.

As far as writing is concerned, the more glamourous media and broadcast industry seems to get all the plaudits. The writing in this space tells stories. Stories have become a part of who we are as people. It attracts the interest of a large segment of the world’s population. There is however been an unheralded form of writing that has been used to transfer some of the most important ideas in history. In terms of value to civilization, it is arguably the most important form of writing. The research paper.

There is little doubt over the value of information that has been documented via this medium. All our scientific discoveries, sociological and historical breakthroughs and even the technology driving civilization forward was once a research paper.

Writing a good paper takes a great amount of skill. Of course the research holding it up needs to be sound but that is not enough to bring fruition to the work. The ability to communicate an idea, prove it clearly and convert it into a principle is a herculean task.

“If you’re an academic, you might remember that in your first year as a PhD student you had the feeling it wasn’t too difficult to write an academic article such as the ones you had been reading for your first course, only to figure out, after a year or two of training, that you had been a bit naïve: you had been (blissfully) unaware of the subtleties of writing for an academic journal; how to structure the arguments; which prior studies to cite and where; which terminology to use and what to avoid; and so on.” Freek Vermulen states. Often criticized for being inaccessible, the pitfalls of writing such works are great.

There is not always a guidebook to follow to help with perfecting it. A good custom writing service might provide some aid but the debate on their value is ongoing. Even after the struggle to put together a paper of some substance, getting it published in a journal of note is a challenge in itself.

With the exception of the odd celebrity scientist making their paper available to the public, these works tend to restrict themselves to the academic circles they are created in. Some of the high profile works, after they pass through their peer review system to ensure their credibility do make it out but that number remains small. There have recently been calls for an upgrade in the way these papers have been presented. Considering these are some of the most important ideas in society, there is merit in finding a way to make the accessible to a larger audience. Accessibility comes not only in the way they are created but also distributed. To the lay man, a thesis seems unappealing because of its technical nature. It takes a tremendous degree of understanding to make sense of its contents. While there is no arguing the need for research to be backed by solid technical data, the argument can be made for a way to make some of its contents available for consumption to the general population. The key here is to take that technical information and fashion it into a slightly easier to comprehend format.

Whether it is a by product of specialized research or a college student’s thesis, the research paper today, seems to be losing value. When scientific discoveries are communicated to the world the article with the eye catching headlines might have a small quote from the original paper. More likely though, even that would be replaced by a quote from a press conference held by the concerned scientists. The paper gets relegated to a scientific journal. While it is public domain information accessible to all, rarely would it find readers outside academia.

Through history, academia has had the tendency to remain a closed society. Today in an age where information is carried across the world, instantly, it might be time for them to shed this perception. With the technology and tools available, there is no need to keep the information contained.

The argument citing rampant plagiarism is one concern. The other might be the time consuming legal process surrounding IP and patent laws across the world. These are not new problems. In this age, they are not a good enough excuse to keep the work of some of the worlds greatest minds locked away. It is time that the research papers made their way into easily accessible public domain.

Credentialism, or degree inflation, as it is sometimes referred to, has been a growing problem globally for the better part of the last decade.  According to estimates from Harvard University, six million jobs will be affected by degree inflation and employers increasingly demand applicants have better qualifications than current employees performing the same role.

The American employment sector has long been criticised for its fixation with college degrees. Market analysis firm, Burning Glass, researched the change in requirements listed in job postings. Their research showed a troubling trend occurring. In a five-year period, jobs such as dental lab technicians and medical equipment operators saw their college degree requirements in job postings increase, in some cases by almost 175%. According to Burning Glass, employers are now seeking candidates with a bachelor’s degree for jobs which previously had no such requirements, despite this choice making positions harder to fill. The same study also found that 67 percent of the job postings in 2015 for supervisors of production workers were advertised as requiring a college degree, yet only 16 percent of the existing supervisors in the industry possessed a college education.

In the United Kingdom thousands of recent university graduates, are working jobs completely unrelated to their field in areas like security, hospitality and retail. Employment data released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) shows up to 10,000 graduates were working in unskilled jobs such as retail assistants, security guards and farm workers in the first six months after graduating. This mismatch between the number of graduates and the number of available jobs also has a negative effect on the economy. The average level of student debt in the UK is £44,000, and official estimates suggest that 45% of student loans would never be paid off.

No matter where you look in the world, the story doesn’t change. In Australia there are 46 graduates competing for every advertised position. 4 out of 10 university graduates in Singapore are unable to find full-time work. In South Korea the number of ‘economically inactive’ graduates have passed three million. The fact is that for many graduates today, the costs of university education outweigh its personal economic benefits.

Twenty years ago, a high school graduate with no tertiary education was able to get an entry level job in journalism, or business. Now a bachelor’s degree is required for positions in these industries. Twenty years ago, a bachelor’s degree was sufficient to get a job in the research sector, today, candidates without a master’s degree are rarely considered. Whereas a master’s degree was once sufficient training to land a job tutoring at a University, today, a PhD is required.

To deal with this competition, students opt to pursue further education at the postgraduate level. Feeding further into a vicious cycle, as the more students with degrees, the less value a degree has. In Australia the number of people who hold a postgraduate qualification rose by 123 percent. There are currently about 900,000 Australians with some form of postgraduate degree. The harsh reality is that more qualifications do not necessarily equal better returns when it comes to the labour market. Studies have shown that those with postgraduate qualifications are even less likely to be hired than those with only a bachelor’s degree.

There has been response to the concerns from top industry firms such as Ernst & Young, Google, Random House and Apple. Many have abandoned or relaxed degree requirements in recent years. Using psychometric testing and performance based tests, rather than credentials, to promote hiring people based on merit.

To compete today, students need to begin thinking about how they can differentiate themselves as a candidate even before graduating. Using online professional networks, students can build an online presence by telling their story of achievements while still in university. By virtue of their profiles, it then becomes companies that approach them with internships and jobs. Additionally, they can meet and connect with peers from around the world, strengthening themselves as a job candidate in the competitive global landscape.

A great place to start is by building a professional online presence that tells their story of achievements.

Governments also need to ditch the conveyor belt approach to higher-education and graduate positions, and start investing more in entrepreneurships, apprenticeships and other alternative path-ways to help graduates bridge the gap between study and work successfully. China has recently committed itself to solving the problem of credentialism, the country created 100 million jobs in the first quarter of this year, and the government says it intends to create 15 million jobs a year in an effort to continue to lower urban unemployment rates. Work is under way on the issue in Australia too. The University of Tasmania recently added a range of shorter, vocationally based degrees which have a focus on local industry.

Credentialism is a problem that needs to be solved, and action needs to start now. We can’t continue to ignore statistics and sink time and money into degrees that may not provide graduates the opportunities they advertise. Our current higher education system was designed 30 years ago. Times have changed since then, and surely, education must change with it.

Dropout rates at the undergraduate level in US institutions have reached alarming levels. Data released by the National Centre for Education Statistics for the year 2015 paint a grim picture. Out of the first-time undergraduate students who enrol for full time bachelor’s degree courses of 4-years’ duration, only 59% had completed a bachelor’s degree after six years.

Worryingly, this data only conveys a part of the full picture.A closer analysis reveals that the graduation rate was inflated by the performance of students frominstitutions which gave admissions selectively, i.e. the ones where less than 25 percent of applications were accepted, which effectively meant that only the best students gained admission.The 6-year graduation rate from such institutions stood at 88 percent.On the other hand, institutions which had open admission policies registered a 6-year graduation rate of just 32 percent.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, a dropout himself, recently expressed his concern over rising dropout rates and the need to arrest the trend and he had good reason to do so. The total student loan debt in the USA is estimated at a staggering USD 1.4 trillion. Given the high dropout rates, it translates to billions of dollars in debt owed by students who do not have the diploma for which they borrowed the money in the first place.

The implications for the economy and society are humungous. High dropout rates indicate that people from lower income families are likely to miss out on opportunities for economic advancement. It effectively means that the decline in upward mobility, which has been a matter of grave concern since several years now, will become a self-perpetuating phenomenon. The combination of disparity in incomes and debt trap can prove an explosive one. In addition, high dropout rates will also result in a shortage of skilled labour. The resultant vacuum will most likely be filled by imported talent, further fuelling social and political unrest.

A study reveals that the single biggest factor behind the high dropout rate is the disparity in socio-economic status. Students from low-income families, who often find themselves borrowing beyond their means to pay tuition costs, are the most vulnerable group in this case. In fact, the likelihood of such students dropping out before graduation is ten times that of their counterparts from high income families.

Another significant factor behind the high incidence of student dropouts is social isolation. Students who feel alienated from their peers are likely to lose motivation and end up quitting midway. The applications for dropping out are particularly high after the Christmas vacation in the first term. Isolation and doubt arising from feeble interaction with peers, along with the pressure to manage loans, are the two biggest reasons for discontinuing education. For international students, for whom English is seldom the first language, limited fluency in the language contributes to the sense of alienation.

Mental healthcare professionals have warned that such loneliness is dangerous since it can trigger many forms of anxiety and depression among young scholars. They recommend compulsory mental wellbeing services in universities to give students the necessary support to successfully tackle the challenges of campus life in a holistic way.

There are other factors that contribute to the attrition rates. Many students find it hard to handle the challenges of university life that includes living independently for the first time or managing an increased workload. As a side effect, many turn to “write my paper” services to ease their burden. Some students may have additional professional or family commitments. Any addition to the existing workload brought in by the university programme only compounds the difficulties of already overburdened students.

One of the reasons for essay writing services to have mushroomed over the years is because many students are tempted to outsource their writing assignments to good writers who can produce non-plagiarized, quality articles. Universities and elementary schools are fighting hard to prevent such student behaviour. Nonetheless, students often complain that they struggle with expressing ideas in writing. Hiring professional writers or essay writing services available online allows these students to beat the pressure of weaving together words good enough to meet expectations set by the lecturers.

There are several steps that an academic institution may take to see their first-year graduates return to the campus for the next term. In this context, it is imperative to keep in mind that retaining students is but a means to an end, not the end itself. The student should be at the centre of the solution. The academic should help the troubled student make choices that best suit his or her interest instead of just forcing the individual to stay. Such quick fixes are likely end badly for the student as he or she will continue to face the same difficulties but with increased burden of debt.

A strong mentor-student relationship between professors and students would be a good starting point. Students who have the comfort of having a mentor find it easier to express issues they may be facing. Apart from establishing a smooth communication channel, this relationship also helps allay the feeling of isolation. Familiarity with the student will also help the mentor spot indicators of difficulties and take prompt action.

One of the best indicators that a student is having problems or considering dropping out is his or her frequent absence from the classroom. When students miss seminars and classes, they need to be approached as early as possible by a senior or an academic they can trust. Such a relationship can only be established when students have been supported by peer counselling and mentoring right from their first day on campus.

Universities can work with certified dropout prevention specialists to develop research-oriented strategies to introduce prevention and intervention programmes for all kinds of students in the campus. Additionally, accelerated-learning courses and supplemental academic tutoring can be used to help students lagging on credit score.

Lastly, academic services can play an important role in reducing attrition rates among undergraduates. Introducing suitable skill programs, arranging quality internships and advising on scholarship opportunities to reduce tuition costs can go a long way in encouraging the student to complete graduation in the program of choice.