Young people aged 15 to 24 experience the highest incidence of mental illnesses, according to Statistics Canada. Specific to higher education, the National College Health Survey—completed in 2013 by more than 34,000 Canadian postsecondary students—found an increase in almost all types of mental health concerns including depression, anxiety, attentional related concerns, addiction related concerns and […]
In a recent report from The Conference Board of Canada, Inside and Outside the Academy: Valuing and Preparing PhDs for Careers, the authors employ data from the 2011 census to assert that fewer than one in five (18.6%) of Canadians holding a PhD are employed as full-time university professors. The number drops to fewer than […]
Higher education graduates need to be prepared with the knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary to be leaders and contributors at all levels of society. What stands in the way of this outcome? One barrier is the grading systems we employ, contributing to the problem of graduates who are not well prepared for a global 21st […]
Occupations of college graduates in Ontario College University All 18-29 years 30-44 years 45-64 years Field of Study Occupation Graphic by Carrie Smith. Last month, we published a well-received visualization that shows the mapping of Ontario university graduates from fields of study to occupations. Many readers expressed surprise to discover fewer clear pathways than they […]
“We call it the Student Learning Centre because we learn from students and they learn from one another.” When we began planning Ryerson’s new Student Learning Centre (SLC) in 2008, we’d done a lot of research on students’ study behaviour, gathered from many different sources. We tested assumptions with students in many ways. Even our […]
A top priority for the new federal government must be to bolster Canada’s modest economic growth and ensure it is inclusive so more than just those at the top end of the income distribution enjoy the benefits. Ageing of the work force combined with the recent anemic pace of productivity growth will likely only produce […]
When I started my undergraduate program in 2007 I thought that the lecture halls and seminar rooms were the sites in which I would learn the skills needed to succeed in the world. As a result, I opted not to take part in many extra-curricular activities in my early years, focusing my energy towards academics […]
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Martin Hicks – Giving thanks
I looked around the family table at Thanksgiving dinner and was struck by this: of the eleven Ontarians represented, seven are students in our higher education system at this moment in time. Despite the small sample, what’s represented here is richer than gravy. This family is hungrily learning at both college and university, towards a […]
Last week, we published an interactive infographic showing the relationship between programs of study and jobs. The infographic showed what many people know — that specific programs of study may lead to many different types of jobs. For example, the infographic shows that 25% of graduates from the humanities work in business, finance and administration […]