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Informing the Future of Higher Education

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Women in Academia

Welcome to the Women in Academia Project HEQCO is pleased to announce the release of a multi-part research project designed to explore current and historical gender disparities among faculty in Ontario universities. Despite advocacy efforts, collective bargaining, targeted funding and legislation, gaps in representation, promotion and earnings for women academics persist. These inequalities are especially […]

Quick Stats

How many Ontario students applied to the province’s colleges and universities during the last decade? How many enrolled? How many graduated? Find the answers to these and other good questions in Quick Stats, a compendium of data on Ontario’s postsecondary system. Note: All visualizations begin in 2013 and go up to the most recent year […]

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Measuring the Economic Impact of Postsecondary Institutions

Input/output economic impact studies only tell part of the story Economic impact studies have become a staple of postsecondary institutional accountability but the basic ‘input-output’ approach, while relatively simple and inexpensive to undertake, is telling only part of the story – and not the part that’s of greatest interest to the public or government decision-makers, […]

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EduData – Colleges closing the international student enrolment gap

Almost every year since 2002, international student enrolment has increased in Ontario’s publicly-funded colleges and universities. Although the university sector used to recruit the large majority of international students, the rate of college enrolment growth has generally surpassed that of universities in the past decade. In 2001, one in five international students attended college, but […]

Understanding the Gender Gap in Postsecondary Education Participation The Importance of High School Choices and Outcomes

Gender Gap in University Participation Traces Back to Early High School Decisions Recent studies show that women account for more than 60% of Canadian university graduates. A new study by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) finds that the university gender gap can be explained by choices and academic performance in high school, […]

Outcomes Based Education Initiatives in Ontario Postsecondary Education Case Studies

Faculty buy-in necessary for success in outcomes-based education There is growing interest in outcomes-based education (OBE) initiatives that define, teach and assess learning outcomes. But getting faculty on board and changing their attitudes toward outcomes-based processes is important to the successful adoption of learning outcomes in Ontario’s postsecondary institutions, according to a new report from […]

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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 […]

Building a Sense of Community in Large Sized Classes via Peer and Self Assessment

Peer- and self-assessment build community in large classes A common criticism of large classes is that they are impersonal and restrict opportunities for students to interact with instructors and classmates. A new report from the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) finds that a learning technology based on peer- and self-assessment can help students […]