Lately there has been a lot of talk about the state of Higher Education in Australia. It’s almost like there is a renaissance occurring – only the “good old days” (whatever they were) are long gone. This is almost certain, at least in the larger tertiary institutions around Australia. This is because the character of Higher Education has been irretrievably altered and barring a miracle, we are unlikely to see things improve any time soon. It’s really quite amusing to listen to all the media spin as both prominent and eminent persons quote various statistics about the relative percentages of international students and other facts and figures. As we all know, statistics can be quoted in such a way that they do not reflect what is actually occurring in reality.
Shhh! There are other tricks when it comes to academic soirees that include having a title and abstract, which do not appear to quite match the substance of your presentation…then again, maybe it was just late in the afternoon and my sugars were low and maybe, I just wasn’t really tuned in, anyway. Suffice to say, that was my experience when I recently attended a function addressing the current state of Higher Education in Australia. Of course, these tactics are perhaps justified in the highly charged environment that we must negotiate in these contentious times. However, what happens when this has perhaps occurred in order to possibly maintain the status quo - of course this is not absolutely clear. One presentation that I attended was introduced as representing the multiple stakeholders of the post-graduate population, only to proceed to focus on international students: I suppose that’s fair enough when they outnumber the local students – it appears to be a numbers game and if you appear to have the numbers, anything goes, or does it?
Walking around a major tertiary institution in recent times, I was hard-pressed to locate any local students. Still yet, sitting in lectures I was one of less than half-a-dozen local students. Attending evening lectures did not yield any different results either. Which does beg the question, WHERE are the local students in post-graduate education? Turning to my neighbours in various lectures and trying to strike-up conversation, I find that many students are really struggling with the English language. How they manage to digest lectures, complete assignments and undertake exams, is a mystery to me. Of course, all credit to them for managing to complete degrees in such challenging circumstances. But getting back to Australia, what about the often quoted skills shortage and brain-drain, as professionals head off overseas (or used to) – and who could blame them?
The fact of the matter is that Higher Education in Australia is a major source of economic revenue. This of course, presents many challenges: it means that this market needs to be both cultivated and protected. However, who exactly stands to benefit in Australia? Well, that depends on whose perspective you wish to take up.
If you look closely at the current debate, you will note a certain reticence, in that many stakeholders appear to choose their words very carefully. It’s almost as if a certain degree of paranoia has gripped academic circles and there is trepidation regarding whether it is actually safe to speak up and out. Once again, sitting in lectures I note that course material has at times, been distilled and in other situations, lecturers attempt a more sophisticated delivery, only to have to deal with reported complaints from international students who apparently claim they cannot comprehend the content.
Shhh! There are other tricks when it comes to academic soirees that include having a title and abstract, which do not appear to quite match the substance of your presentation…then again, maybe it was just late in the afternoon and my sugars were low and maybe, I just wasn’t really tuned in, anyway. Suffice to say, that was my experience when I recently attended a function addressing the current state of Higher Education in Australia. Of course, these tactics are perhaps justified in the highly charged environment that we must negotiate in these contentious times. However, what happens when this has perhaps occurred in order to possibly maintain the status quo - of course this is not absolutely clear. One presentation that I attended was introduced as representing the multiple stakeholders of the post-graduate population, only to proceed to focus on international students: I suppose that’s fair enough when they outnumber the local students – it appears to be a numbers game and if you appear to have the numbers, anything goes, or does it?
Walking around a major tertiary institution in recent times, I was hard-pressed to locate any local students. Still yet, sitting in lectures I was one of less than half-a-dozen local students. Attending evening lectures did not yield any different results either. Which does beg the question, WHERE are the local students in post-graduate education? Turning to my neighbours in various lectures and trying to strike-up conversation, I find that many students are really struggling with the English language. How they manage to digest lectures, complete assignments and undertake exams, is a mystery to me. Of course, all credit to them for managing to complete degrees in such challenging circumstances. But getting back to Australia, what about the often quoted skills shortage and brain-drain, as professionals head off overseas (or used to) – and who could blame them?
The fact of the matter is that Higher Education in Australia is a major source of economic revenue. This of course, presents many challenges: it means that this market needs to be both cultivated and protected. However, who exactly stands to benefit in Australia? Well, that depends on whose perspective you wish to take up.
If you look closely at the current debate, you will note a certain reticence, in that many stakeholders appear to choose their words very carefully. It’s almost as if a certain degree of paranoia has gripped academic circles and there is trepidation regarding whether it is actually safe to speak up and out. Once again, sitting in lectures I note that course material has at times, been distilled and in other situations, lecturers attempt a more sophisticated delivery, only to have to deal with reported complaints from international students who apparently claim they cannot comprehend the content.
However, as a local student, am I not entitled (yes, you read correctly) to a certain standard of academic discourse and a bit of intellectual stimulation? Turning again to my neighbours in the lectures and trying desperately to “make conversation”, I realise with a sinking feeling that I am not going to satisfy my yearning for engaging in academic discourse. Neither am I going to have the pleasure of solidarity that comes with forming study groups. So what is left (no pun intended), for me as a local post-graduate student at University?
Well, that is the question that I have been asking. Others have also been asking this question, it seems; earlier on the radio, I heard a woman ring up and say that returning to University as a mature-aged student, she had noted that campus life had changed. The radio host quickly misattributed this change to the woman being a mature-aged student. However, the woman concerned was actually highlighting the impact of the sheer volume of international students on campus life and this is a very valid, if not “risky” point to make in public (let alone to highlight).
Raising issues which make reference to international students is somewhat “risky”, as people (local and international alike), are very quick to refer to racial discrimination rather than to engage in meaningful discussion about the issues of contention. In fact, even raising the fact that some lectures consist almost exclusively of international students (such that local students are the minority), seems to raise the ire of some internationals and locals alike; it usually boils down to what vested interests are involved. At one point, one such local presented statistics that indicated the ratio of local to international students was “more even”, and stating that in fact some students who ‘appear’ (literally), to be international students, are actually second generation Australians. Well, I have to say, my direct experience tells me otherwise and on that basis, I cannot concur! In any event, I must return to my earlier question, where are the local students? You see to be direct, is to raise issues which are not de rigeur and that means that the responses will cause discomfort, in some at least.
The fact is that some areas of Higher Education appear to be in a real mess and in fact, in crisis! Certainly, as a post-graduate student I did not attend University expecting to have to have to manage stress that emanates from undertaking group work with students experiencing significant challenges with language proficiency; remembering that group work entails many hours of work and a common academic grade at the end. I will leave the reader to decide what this means in reality for the mature-age student who is juggling a range of priorities in life.
But wait, there’s more…vowing to make an effort to spend as much time on campus and make the most of the opportunity to study again, I duly took myself off to some shared spaces, areas designated for post-graduate students. Now, one would think that if you were sitting in a room that required one to gain access through registering with the University and there were also signs on the wall that read “quiet study”, that these would be respected. Well, think again. Yes, I was often the only local student (as in, Caucasian phenotype to be precise) and often I was on the verge of tearing out my hair in exasperation. For one thing, the signage noting “quiet study”, were simply disregarded and students would often gather around computers, engage in loud (social) discussions and all of this was often interspersed with the frequent ringing of mobile phones. Designated “quiet study” areas – who are they kidding…and what of the “status” of being a post-graduate student? Excuse me!
Well, the character of campus life has changed. Some international students appear to have a prevailing expectation that their needs ought to be “served”, including by areas of the University that traditionally, relied more on student-driven initiatives. Perhaps the internationalisation of the education industry has also driven the corporate push and students who see themselves more as customers. That must be it - education has been distilled to an economic transaction! On that note, student engagement more broadly, has also been raised as an issue requiring attention. Again, some commentators are very quick to note statistics that indicate that students do not stay on campus but rather attend for classes and then promptly leave. However, have these commentators considered that some students leave the campus because the “quality” of the experience is so poor or does not meet their needs?
…And there’s more…attending the post-graduate lounge, on many different occasions, I am greeted with lap-tops and the rarefied silence that one expects in libraries. “Check”: I am in a student “lounge” – but there are no sofas and there is no chatter. This has to be someone’s idea of a (sick) joke, surely? By the end of the year, in desperation, I go and see a student counsellor….”yes, the nature of student education has altered”….and then, this in a somewhat deprecatory, shrill tone: “Have you come to University to…socialise?” “Well”, I manage to muster, “yes… I was hoping to get to know a few post-graduate students…after all, as an undergraduate student, I was always working to put myself through Uni…so this time around, I was hoping to try and have a better experience and a bit of a social life…”.
Daring to raise my “concerns” with various representatives at the University, I am quickly subjected to diatribes about the benefits of cross-cultural education. I am thinking, “Are they kidding?” I am from an ethnic background, I am familiar with the challenges associated with a lack of language proficiency - having travelled overseas to the country of my ancestors and struggled to communicate with my brethren…I have worked in cross-cultural settings and I have travelled overseas to non-English speaking countries. Whilst, these representatives desperately try to “sell” the benefits of cross-cultural education to me, I am afraid the “pitch” does not hit the mark. I do my best to state that I am at University to develop my career and I am keen to meet LOCAL industry representatives…alas, they are nowhere to be found…What can I say?
I hear there’s going to be an “Education Revolution”: then let’s bring it on and on that note, can we please get on with the “education of business”, rather than the “business of education”?
Well, that is the question that I have been asking. Others have also been asking this question, it seems; earlier on the radio, I heard a woman ring up and say that returning to University as a mature-aged student, she had noted that campus life had changed. The radio host quickly misattributed this change to the woman being a mature-aged student. However, the woman concerned was actually highlighting the impact of the sheer volume of international students on campus life and this is a very valid, if not “risky” point to make in public (let alone to highlight).
Raising issues which make reference to international students is somewhat “risky”, as people (local and international alike), are very quick to refer to racial discrimination rather than to engage in meaningful discussion about the issues of contention. In fact, even raising the fact that some lectures consist almost exclusively of international students (such that local students are the minority), seems to raise the ire of some internationals and locals alike; it usually boils down to what vested interests are involved. At one point, one such local presented statistics that indicated the ratio of local to international students was “more even”, and stating that in fact some students who ‘appear’ (literally), to be international students, are actually second generation Australians. Well, I have to say, my direct experience tells me otherwise and on that basis, I cannot concur! In any event, I must return to my earlier question, where are the local students? You see to be direct, is to raise issues which are not de rigeur and that means that the responses will cause discomfort, in some at least.
The fact is that some areas of Higher Education appear to be in a real mess and in fact, in crisis! Certainly, as a post-graduate student I did not attend University expecting to have to have to manage stress that emanates from undertaking group work with students experiencing significant challenges with language proficiency; remembering that group work entails many hours of work and a common academic grade at the end. I will leave the reader to decide what this means in reality for the mature-age student who is juggling a range of priorities in life.
But wait, there’s more…vowing to make an effort to spend as much time on campus and make the most of the opportunity to study again, I duly took myself off to some shared spaces, areas designated for post-graduate students. Now, one would think that if you were sitting in a room that required one to gain access through registering with the University and there were also signs on the wall that read “quiet study”, that these would be respected. Well, think again. Yes, I was often the only local student (as in, Caucasian phenotype to be precise) and often I was on the verge of tearing out my hair in exasperation. For one thing, the signage noting “quiet study”, were simply disregarded and students would often gather around computers, engage in loud (social) discussions and all of this was often interspersed with the frequent ringing of mobile phones. Designated “quiet study” areas – who are they kidding…and what of the “status” of being a post-graduate student? Excuse me!
Well, the character of campus life has changed. Some international students appear to have a prevailing expectation that their needs ought to be “served”, including by areas of the University that traditionally, relied more on student-driven initiatives. Perhaps the internationalisation of the education industry has also driven the corporate push and students who see themselves more as customers. That must be it - education has been distilled to an economic transaction! On that note, student engagement more broadly, has also been raised as an issue requiring attention. Again, some commentators are very quick to note statistics that indicate that students do not stay on campus but rather attend for classes and then promptly leave. However, have these commentators considered that some students leave the campus because the “quality” of the experience is so poor or does not meet their needs?
…And there’s more…attending the post-graduate lounge, on many different occasions, I am greeted with lap-tops and the rarefied silence that one expects in libraries. “Check”: I am in a student “lounge” – but there are no sofas and there is no chatter. This has to be someone’s idea of a (sick) joke, surely? By the end of the year, in desperation, I go and see a student counsellor….”yes, the nature of student education has altered”….and then, this in a somewhat deprecatory, shrill tone: “Have you come to University to…socialise?” “Well”, I manage to muster, “yes… I was hoping to get to know a few post-graduate students…after all, as an undergraduate student, I was always working to put myself through Uni…so this time around, I was hoping to try and have a better experience and a bit of a social life…”.
Daring to raise my “concerns” with various representatives at the University, I am quickly subjected to diatribes about the benefits of cross-cultural education. I am thinking, “Are they kidding?” I am from an ethnic background, I am familiar with the challenges associated with a lack of language proficiency - having travelled overseas to the country of my ancestors and struggled to communicate with my brethren…I have worked in cross-cultural settings and I have travelled overseas to non-English speaking countries. Whilst, these representatives desperately try to “sell” the benefits of cross-cultural education to me, I am afraid the “pitch” does not hit the mark. I do my best to state that I am at University to develop my career and I am keen to meet LOCAL industry representatives…alas, they are nowhere to be found…What can I say?
I hear there’s going to be an “Education Revolution”: then let’s bring it on and on that note, can we please get on with the “education of business”, rather than the “business of education”?
Further Reading:
The Impact of English Language Proficiency and Workplace Readiness on Employment Outcomes and Performance of Tertiary International Students - Arkoudis et al., Centre for the Study of Higher Education – University of Melbourne (August 2009) http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/people/staff_pages/Arkoudis/ELP_Executive_Summary.pdf
The Crisis in Education isn’t Looming, It’s Here by Tammi Jonas (16/12/09) in New Matilda
http://newmatilda.com/2009/12/16/crisis-education-isnt-looming-its-here
Why Academia is No Longer a Smart Choice by Melissa Gregg (24/11/09) in New Matilda
http://newmatilda.com/2009/11/24/academia-no-longer-smart-choice
Australia’s Education Exports – ABC Radio, Rear Vision program (16/12/09)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/rearvision/stories/2009/2771756.htm#transcript
Tackling the Problems of Australia’s International Education Market – ABC Radio, In the National Interest (11/12/09)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/nationalinterest/stories/2009/2769174.htm
Funding Boost Helps Low-SES Funding Boost – The Hon Julia Gillard, MP (15/12/09)
http://www.deewr.gov.au/Ministers/Gillard/Media/Releases/Pages/Article_091215_102745.aspx
Discussion Paper on Higher Education Performance Funding – The Hon Julia Gillard, MP (11/12/09)
http://www.deewr.gov.au/Ministers/Gillard/Media/Releases/Pages/Article_091211_093627.aspx
Speech on Transition, Retention and Progression Forum – The Hon Julia Gillard, MP (09/12/09)
http://www.deewr.gov.au/Ministers/Gillard/Media/Speeches/Pages/Article_091209_135332.aspx