Categories

Jennifer Polk – PhD and then what? Life beyond the professoriate

When I finished my PhD in 2012, I had little idea of what I might do next. The immediate plan was to continue freelancing – I had a few clients for whom I did research and “virtual assistant”-like tasks. I didn’t feel particularly inclined to look for an academic job and in any case, the […]

Categories

Léo Charbonneau – How is Canada’s PSE system doing? Probably OK, but it would be useful to have more research to know for sure

Léo Charbonneau, Guest blogger According to its most recent annual report (PDF, pg. 26), the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario received roughly $5.5 million in operating funds from the provincial government for the 2012-13 fiscal year. The amount of quality research the council is able to conduct with that relatively modest sum is impressive. More than […]

Categories

Celia Popovic – Bridging the teaching /research divide

Celia Popovic, Guest blogger The launch this month of a new teaching and learning site on York University’s website has prompted a flurry of emails from colleagues within and beyond the university commenting on the prominence we have given to teaching. As we all know, websites are prime real estate in the virtual world and […]

Categories

David Trick – Taking Apprenticeship Seriously

David Trick, Guest blogger Having occasionally chided my friends at universities and colleges for not knowing enough about each other’s systems, I should confess to one of my own blind spots: I have not paid enough attention to apprenticeship.  For historical and institutional reasons, apprenticeship in Ontario is often seen as being outside the realm […]

Categories

Carolyn Crosby – Pathways to career-ready math skills

Guest blogger: Carolyn Crosby About five years ago I had a student in grade 10 who told me his brother was in a college carpentry program and the first thing his college teacher said was: “Forget all the math they taught you in high school – it doesn’t apply here.”  I couldn’t refute his statement […]

Categories

Gail Smyth – Bring skilled trades and technologies to education discussion

Guest blogger: Gail Smyth Voices from HEQCO’s November 2014 conference Hands On: Exploring Apprenticeship and the Skilled Trades Today’s graduates are facing challenging times; they have been in school for most of their lives, have little to no work experience in their field of expertise and a large number of graduates may be facing years […]

Categories

Stewart Kallio – Canadian apprenticeship completions lag far behind registrations

Guest blogger: Stewart Kallio Voices from HEQCO’s November 2014 conference Hands On: Exploring Apprenticeship and the Skilled Trades Work in the trades provides good, well-paying jobs, yet young Canadians do not see the skilled trades as a viable career. Often, they enter an apprenticeship path later in their work career. In Ontario, for example, the […]

Categories

Barbara Endel – Accelerating Opportunity builds pathways to marketable credentials

Guest blogger: Barbara Endel Voices from HEQCO’s November 2014 conference Hands On: Exploring Apprenticeship and the Skilled Trades Right now, the United States is facing a major skills and educational attainment gap. Family-supporting jobs increasingly require a postsecondary credential.  It’s estimated that, by 2018, two-thirds of all jobs will require education beyond high school, but […]

Categories

Joe Henry – Male students in higher education: we need a conversation

Guest blogger: Joe Henry There have been many conversations in the media and in education circles about the role that gender plays in student success and achievement. In the last 50 years we have seen significant and important shifts in female attendance and graduation from our postsecondary institutions across North America. As the father of […]