Higher Education Quality Council of OntarioAfter months of planning, HEQCO’s annual conference has come and gone once again. This year’s event set out with a particularly ambitious mission: to bring together individuals with stakes in different parts of the lifelong learning process. The target: to discuss issues of common concern, to break down the invisible barriers that all too often […]
Learning outcomes assessment is no longer a sad substitute standing on the sidelines hoping for a chance to play when the game is out of reach. It is now a key member of the starting line up. Today, you can see its footprint in virtually every space of the education sector, from the rarefied heights […]
One of the benefits of working at HEQCO (and let’s face it, there are many) is that staying abreast of postsecondary education literature is part of the job. Although the volume can be overwhelming, much of this writing is provocative and helpful. Occasionally I run across something that simply provokes. In a recent opinion piece […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. The employees at HEQCO come from a wide variety of educational backgrounds, everything from religious studies to sociology to economics to engineering. Workplaces benefit from having diversity in the training and perspectives of […]
There is much discussion regarding what skills universities should teach their graduates and what skills employers believe recent graduates should possess, but what do students think they should get out of university? The Canadian University Survey Consortium surveyed over 18,000 graduating students from 36 universities across Canada and asked them this question. From a […]
In 2005, the federal government introduced the Canada Learning Bond (CLB) to help lower-income families get a head start on saving money for their child’s postsecondary education. The CLB includes an initial payment of $500, followed by up to 15 annual payments of $100 (maximum payment of $2,000). Eligible families must open a Registered Education […]