Often overlooked in the 'miracle' of China's rapid economic development over the past three decades is the 'miracle' of the massive number of PhD graduates it now produces, reports Stephen Wong for Asia Times. China is expected to replace Japan as the world's second biggest economy after the US this year or the next in terms of gross domestic product. But by 2008, it had already surpassed the US as the world's top producer of PhD holders - despite postgraduate programmes only resuming in 1978 after the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution.
Unlike national pride over China's economic success, the expansion of PhD programmes is viewed with suspicion, due to allegations that corruption in the education system has severely compromised academic standards.
According to statistics released by Yang Yuliang, the director of the Academic Degree Commission under the State Council, China's first PhD programmes in 1978 had only 18 candidates. In 1982, the first doctorates were awarded to six of the 18. Since then enrolment in PhD programmes has grown by some 23.4% annually and by the end of 2007 China had awarded 240,000 doctorates. But the number of qualified professors needed to supervise doctoral programmes has not kept pace, raising fears that quantity is not being matched by quality. According to Yang, each qualified Chinese professor has to supervise 5.77 doctorate candidates, much higher than the international level.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0103 29 November 2009
29 November 2009
23 November 2009
Harmonised Test goes International
Anca Gurzu
Asia is witnessing a dramatic increase in demand for graduate business education as more candidates in the region are writing an American standardised admission test and choosing to study closer to home. A new analysis released by the Graduate Management Admission Council, known as GMAC, the US-based association representing leading graduate business schools worldwide, shows that the number of students in Asia taking its graduate management admission test has increased 75% between 2005 and 2009.
This demand has outpaced that of all other regions. North America saw a 30% increase in examinations taken during the same period, Europe increased by 25%, and the Middle East and Africa by 43%.
"In Asia, especially India and China, we are seeing both a rapid economic growth rate and a population boom," says Alex Chisholm, a senior analyst at the council. "Having a graduate education gives people the ability to stand out and get a better job."
The test, created in 1954, is a critical part of the admission process for many business schools around the world. According to the council, the test was taken 265,613 times worldwide in the testing year 2009 (ending in June), bringing the global test volume up 7.55% from the previous year.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0102 22 November 2009
Asia is witnessing a dramatic increase in demand for graduate business education as more candidates in the region are writing an American standardised admission test and choosing to study closer to home. A new analysis released by the Graduate Management Admission Council, known as GMAC, the US-based association representing leading graduate business schools worldwide, shows that the number of students in Asia taking its graduate management admission test has increased 75% between 2005 and 2009.
This demand has outpaced that of all other regions. North America saw a 30% increase in examinations taken during the same period, Europe increased by 25%, and the Middle East and Africa by 43%.
"In Asia, especially India and China, we are seeing both a rapid economic growth rate and a population boom," says Alex Chisholm, a senior analyst at the council. "Having a graduate education gives people the ability to stand out and get a better job."
The test, created in 1954, is a critical part of the admission process for many business schools around the world. According to the council, the test was taken 265,613 times worldwide in the testing year 2009 (ending in June), bringing the global test volume up 7.55% from the previous year.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0102 22 November 2009
Isalmic World: Plan to Reform Nations’ Universities
Wagdy Sawahel
The 57 Islamic states have approved a plan to upgrade their universities as a means of achieving world-class status, as well as reforming them to become "functional developmental institutes" providing valuable resources for business, industry and society.
The plan was announced at a workshop, Achieving Excellence in Higher Education, in Ifrane in Morocco earlier this month. It was organised by the Islamic development bank of the 57 members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and Al-Akhawayn University. The conference consists of countries from the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, Caucasus, Balkans, Southeast Asia and South Asia.
The aim of the plan is to build a critical mass of world-class scientists and technologists in targeted science and technology areas, while also promoting relevant research and development outcomes for the private sector.
Fifteen institutions, five from Africa, Asia and the Arab world, were identified to carry out the upgrades and reform, and to promote scientific research in agriculture, nanotechnology and information and communication technologies.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0101 15 November 2009
The 57 Islamic states have approved a plan to upgrade their universities as a means of achieving world-class status, as well as reforming them to become "functional developmental institutes" providing valuable resources for business, industry and society.
The plan was announced at a workshop, Achieving Excellence in Higher Education, in Ifrane in Morocco earlier this month. It was organised by the Islamic development bank of the 57 members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and Al-Akhawayn University. The conference consists of countries from the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, Caucasus, Balkans, Southeast Asia and South Asia.
The aim of the plan is to build a critical mass of world-class scientists and technologists in targeted science and technology areas, while also promoting relevant research and development outcomes for the private sector.
Fifteen institutions, five from Africa, Asia and the Arab world, were identified to carry out the upgrades and reform, and to promote scientific research in agriculture, nanotechnology and information and communication technologies.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0101 15 November 2009
11 November 2009
Indonesia: Call to Not Revoke University Entry Test
The Regional Representatives Council, or DPD, has urged Indonesia's Education Minister Muhammad Nuh to delay a plan to recruit state university students based on their national final school examination results, writes Hasyim Widhiarto for The Jakarta Post. State universities currently recruit most of their students through admission tests.
Sulistiyo, head of a DPD committee overseeing education, religion and people's welfare, said last week that the plan required a thorough discussion with experts and schools before its implementation.
It was "common" for schools to violate national examination procedure to help their students pass the test, which meant school-leaving results did not actually represent the real achievements of students, Sulistiyo said in a statement.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0100 08 November 2009
Sulistiyo, head of a DPD committee overseeing education, religion and people's welfare, said last week that the plan required a thorough discussion with experts and schools before its implementation.
It was "common" for schools to violate national examination procedure to help their students pass the test, which meant school-leaving results did not actually represent the real achievements of students, Sulistiyo said in a statement.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0100 08 November 2009
02 November 2009
Indonesia: $29 Million Nanotech Initiative
Wagdy Sawahel
Indonesia will spend US$29 million to foster communication between industry and universities to encourage the use of nanotechnology and improve the nation’s industrial competitiveness.
The initiative was announced by the Ministry of National Education which will provide $26.5 million with the remaining funding ($1.59 million) coming from the Ministry of Industry.
The fund will be used to support 60 nanotech research projects in universities and research centres, focusing on applications for industry including ceramics, textiles, food, environment, energy, and information technology and communications. The research projects will be identified by the Indonesian Nanotechnology Society, Masyarakat Nanoteknologi Indonesia or MNI, which is staffed by industry representatives and academics.
Zulkarnain Jalil of the graduate school of materials science at the University of Indonesia said the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology was planning an integrated and coordinated national effort from government, academia, industry and public.
As well as the nanotech fund, several strategic initiatives were needed, including strengthening policy-making institutions and formulating nanotech policy guidelines, establishing research and educational institutions and infrastructure and formulating scientific human resource development plans, he said.
The MNI promotes nanotechnology in Indonesia and organises awards to honour researchers, technologists and policy-makers who have developed, published, and facilitated nanotechnology. It also coordinates a number of research and educational projects including one for early education in nanoscience for young students.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0099 1 November 2009
Indonesia will spend US$29 million to foster communication between industry and universities to encourage the use of nanotechnology and improve the nation’s industrial competitiveness.
The initiative was announced by the Ministry of National Education which will provide $26.5 million with the remaining funding ($1.59 million) coming from the Ministry of Industry.
The fund will be used to support 60 nanotech research projects in universities and research centres, focusing on applications for industry including ceramics, textiles, food, environment, energy, and information technology and communications. The research projects will be identified by the Indonesian Nanotechnology Society, Masyarakat Nanoteknologi Indonesia or MNI, which is staffed by industry representatives and academics.
Zulkarnain Jalil of the graduate school of materials science at the University of Indonesia said the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology was planning an integrated and coordinated national effort from government, academia, industry and public.
As well as the nanotech fund, several strategic initiatives were needed, including strengthening policy-making institutions and formulating nanotech policy guidelines, establishing research and educational institutions and infrastructure and formulating scientific human resource development plans, he said.
The MNI promotes nanotechnology in Indonesia and organises awards to honour researchers, technologists and policy-makers who have developed, published, and facilitated nanotechnology. It also coordinates a number of research and educational projects including one for early education in nanoscience for young students.
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0099 1 November 2009
27 Oktober 2009
Male Decline Continues
Geoff Maslen
For the past 20 years, the Australian higher education student population has been dominated by women who have increased their numerical superiority over males year by year until now they comprise nearly 58% of the total student body. A mere four of the 12 fields of university study now enrol more men than women and that could soon be reduced to two, leaving engineering and IT the only places on campus where males are in the majority.
As is the case across most of the developed world, women have long held top spot in the 'typically female' professions of education and health (where three out of four Australian students are women), food and hospitality, the arts and humanities, and creative arts (where almost two in every three are female).
But for most of this decade, women have also outnumbered their male counterparts who used to occupy most seats in the physical sciences lecture rooms and in agriculture and environmental sciences. Not any longer: in the natural and physical sciences, women comprise 54% of the students and in the other field they make up just over half.
In management and commerce, women are closing the gender divide with almost 49% of enrolments although they lag behind in architecture (40:60%).
Even among postgraduates undertaking higher degrees by research, 54% of the students are women while in the other postgraduate courses they hold a substantial 57% lead over the males.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0098 25 October 2009
For the past 20 years, the Australian higher education student population has been dominated by women who have increased their numerical superiority over males year by year until now they comprise nearly 58% of the total student body. A mere four of the 12 fields of university study now enrol more men than women and that could soon be reduced to two, leaving engineering and IT the only places on campus where males are in the majority.
As is the case across most of the developed world, women have long held top spot in the 'typically female' professions of education and health (where three out of four Australian students are women), food and hospitality, the arts and humanities, and creative arts (where almost two in every three are female).
But for most of this decade, women have also outnumbered their male counterparts who used to occupy most seats in the physical sciences lecture rooms and in agriculture and environmental sciences. Not any longer: in the natural and physical sciences, women comprise 54% of the students and in the other field they make up just over half.
In management and commerce, women are closing the gender divide with almost 49% of enrolments although they lag behind in architecture (40:60%).
Even among postgraduates undertaking higher degrees by research, 54% of the students are women while in the other postgraduate courses they hold a substantial 57% lead over the males.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0098 25 October 2009
School the Cause of Male Minority?
Philip Fine
For the last 10 years, Canadian women have enrolled in university at a greater rate than their male counterparts. That steady climb seems to have abated slightly but their numbers are still so high questions are being asked why so many men are not enrolling.
This summer, Statistics Canada released its latest enrolment figures from the 2007-08 academic year showing a general slowing from past years. The 0.6% increase in total enrolments was down from the past decade's annual average increase of 2.9%. While growth in female enrolments was negligible, with a 0.1% increase, this compared with the 1.3% for males.
But the rise in male enrolment means little on Canadian campuses where women still far outnumber men: the StatsCan figures reveal that of the almost 1.1 million university students, 613,600, or 57.5%, were female and 452,600 or 42.4% were male. The same proportion of women to men has remained constant since 2002-03.
At the graduate level, women made up 55% of master's students but, as in the previous seven years, they are in the minority among doctoral students, at 46%.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0098 25 October 2009
For the last 10 years, Canadian women have enrolled in university at a greater rate than their male counterparts. That steady climb seems to have abated slightly but their numbers are still so high questions are being asked why so many men are not enrolling.
This summer, Statistics Canada released its latest enrolment figures from the 2007-08 academic year showing a general slowing from past years. The 0.6% increase in total enrolments was down from the past decade's annual average increase of 2.9%. While growth in female enrolments was negligible, with a 0.1% increase, this compared with the 1.3% for males.
But the rise in male enrolment means little on Canadian campuses where women still far outnumber men: the StatsCan figures reveal that of the almost 1.1 million university students, 613,600, or 57.5%, were female and 452,600 or 42.4% were male. The same proportion of women to men has remained constant since 2002-03.
At the graduate level, women made up 55% of master's students but, as in the previous seven years, they are in the minority among doctoral students, at 46%.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0098 25 October 2009
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