Academic life

The emerging online demand for expert content offers an opportunity to scholars working outside formal academia, says Anton Howes

Self-reporting of performance is notoriously unreliable and, more significantly, satisfaction is distinct from well-being, says Stephen Wood

Universities often reproduce colonial logics by exploiting, commodifying and diluting the very ‘thing’ that was to set us free, says Manvir Grewal

Researchers look at opinions about scholars expressed via metaphors – with results ranging from the thought-provoking to the baffling

John McKendrick has recently concluded that we are letting down unsuccessful job applicants by not providing full and constructive feedback

THE’s Careers Clinic brings together the great and the good of higher education to answer a burning careers question

The great loss is the more subtle stuff, such as arching an eyebrow at a pal when Professor X starts droning on, says Athene Donald

Knock-backs are frequent and unavoidable. But treating referees’ comments with a hard-headed pragmatism lessens the sting, says Adrian Furnham

This isn’t the 18th century. Email and phones exist. So why is so much academic discussion still left to journals, asks Julian Baggini

The most successful scholars are those who reach out ‘globally’ by publishing in English. But this narrow ‘internationalisation’ should be challenged, says Hanne Tange

In virtually all our endeavours in the academy, collaboration is valued – so why is the classroom an exception, ask Kwong Nui Sim and Michael Cowling

Mastering the art of saying 'no' is one way academics can protect themselves from spiralling workloads, says psychology lecturer Dean Fido

US-based British physicist reflects on his part in the series that has chronicled his life and scientific career

It will do no harm to find colleagues who understand the role of social, economic and cultural backgrounds in academia, says Carole Binns

Nearly half of all professors in the UK are now aged 55 or over

But for those who wish to continue playing, it takes determination, stamina and strategy when the odds are stacked against you, says Graham Crow

THE’s Careers Clinic brings together the great and the good of higher education to answer a burning careers question

Institutions have introduced four-day weeks during lockdowns, but scholars suspect most changes will be temporary

Survey of Australian researchers also reveals unusual problems associated with home working, including sleepwalkers gatecrashing Zoom calls

UK scholars call for relief on workload to prevent them feeling obliged to send children into schools during crisis

Academic couple Theresa Mercer and Andrew Kythreotis are heading into their third lockdown, along with their kids, but this time the expectations are higher and lessons have been learned

Vice-chancellor says feedback from first lockdown shows four-day week ‘helps improve work-life balance’

Whether academic is in a relationship has bigger impact on their perception of work-life balance than whether or not they have children, research suggests

Both Nottingham universities’ leaders also honoured, along with former AHRC head Andrew Thompson

In their unearthly calm and Dewey Decimal order, university libraries offer the promise of remaking ourselves, says Joe Moran

The past 12 months will live long in the memory, for all the wrong reasons. But as 2020 nears its end amid fairy lights and optimism about vaccines, six academics tell us the bright spots they managed to find amid the gloom – from human connections to elasticated waistbands

Times Higher Education journalists name the academics and administrators who have shaped the debate in the past 12 months

Guitarist who found fame with the Futureheads has set up a degree course with Sunderland to give north-eastern students a taste of music industry and campus life

Professor calls on sector to embrace virtual connections and challenge international academic identity 

Academics have long grappled with the strains that job scarcity and the mobility imperative impose on their families. But might the experience of mass remote working finally offer a viable solution, asks Jack Grove

An Australian university’s attitude towards Rwanda illustrates the West’s failure to treat African academics as equal partners, says Timothy Carey

University’s plan to require staff and students to be ‘respectful’ of each other’s ‘differing opinions’ fought by academic opponents

Universities are now committed to ‘celebrating success’ and to treating every failure as just a stepping stone on the way to further success. Yet this, argues Joe Moran, is a betrayal of what really matters in the academy

Some find it difficult to make decisions on their own off-campus, survey suggests

University careers attract intellectually curious people who want to make a difference. But Donna Swarthout has been disillusioned once too often

Island nation’s pandemic management has been the envy of the world, but academics are still paying a price

Being Well in Academia offers guidance on ‘bullying, conflict, death, poverty, racism and violence’, says author and ‘agony aunt’ Petra Boynton

Academic says some safety requirements increase risk to researchers and encourages institutions to take flexible, academic-led approach

Scholar of Native American history shortlisted for two major non-fiction prizes discusses why the US needs a ‘reckoning’ with indigenous dispossession

As the pandemic reshapes both conferencing and publishing, melding talks and papers makes a lot of sense, says Richard Oliver

Staff serving on campus during lockdown are 50 per cent more likely than their housebound peers to be at ‘high risk’ for health problems

The popular conception that US academics are uniformly liberal fails to take into account universities’ subject breadth, says John R. Thelin

Female academics, especially mothers, face the double challenge of patriarchy and neoliberal management

Fiery Senate estimates session probes funding councils’ 'natural justice' obligations when researchers are impugned

Health and exercise needs overlooked as work demands and self-expectations leave time for little else

The pandemic has brought the power and consolations of scholarship to the fore. But with a particularly grim Halloween upon us, M. R. James’ ghost stories warn us that the pursuit of knowledge does not always end well, writes Shane McCorristine

What does it say about our labour culture that a tenured professor stuck in an elevator did not even consider cancelling his class, asks Irina Dumitrescu

Some universities acknowledge ‘errors’ totalling millions of dollars but deny deliberate ‘wage theft’

Australian survey finds little change in morale, workload or fatigue, but next year’s results could tell a different story

New lecturer Saloni Krishnan gives practical tips, from recruiting research assistants on a budget to keeping research on track while juggling teaching responsibilities

Environmental experts also more likely to have taken steps to offset or reduce impact of travel

Critics says that 60, or even 65, is too young to end an academic career

Physicist Brian Cox, author Bernardine Evaristo and former Ucas chief executive Mary Curnock Cook also recognised

Early career scholars, seasoned academics and institutions themselves all benefit from the creation of alumni affinity groups, writes Gretchen Dobson

The pandemic’s demolition of barriers and bureaucracy clears the way for a better higher education sector, says Pat Tissington 

Leading human rights barrister calls on UK law schools to address ethnic minority under-representation among academic teaching staff

Psychologist says scholars are still in ‘emergency’ mode and universities should recognise that the year ahead ‘may not be brilliant’ in terms of teaching quality

The grand achievements of those who came before are often held up as inspiration for current members of the academy, but a more nuanced view might be required

A willingness to lie and manipulate beyond what most people can imagine can do wonders for a career, notes Irina Dumitrescu

Education minister Ingrid van Engelshoven says too much research funding is now competitive, leading to intense work stress