The Academic Issue Trailer

Academic careers have long been associated with stability, prestige, and a clear path from graduate school to tenure. But in today’s universities, an increasing number of scholars find themselves trapped in precarious, low-paid sessional contracts - far from the secure careers th ... Show More

Steven Pinker is a cognitive scientist and the author of nine books written for a general audience. Prolific in his writing and media appearances, he is among the most prominent public intellectuals to have emerged from Canada. But what impact does a lifetime communicating with t ... Show More

Almost two thirds of Canadian academics experience mental health issues during their career. What is behind this? Kate speaks with Kim Hellemans, a professor at Carleton University, to explore the multiple pressures faced by today’s academic - including the often complex student- ... Show More

Can universities make their sums work?   As students nervously receive their A-level results, many of the universities they'll enrol in are facing their own concerns over what's next...       Academics have warned that years of underfunding and a lack of lucrative international s ... Show More

Today’s book is: Contingent Faculty and the Remaking of Higher Education: A Labor History (University of Illinois Press, 2024), which is an essay collection co-edited by Eric Fure-Slocum and Claire Goldstene. It explores why in the United States more than three-quarters of the pe ... Show More

How can traditional academic scholarship be disrupted by activist academics? How can we make space for those who are underrepresented and historically oppressed to come to academia as their authentic selves? How can the platform of academia create space for change in the world? I ... Show More

 We are living in an age of fascism where you have political leaders who disregard democratic process and are going full steam ahead in shaping the world the way they want it to look like. And this world includes a depleted higher education sector that they see as enemy number on ... Show More

How can traditional academic scholarship be disrupted by activist academics? How can we make space for those who are underrepresented and historically oppressed to come to academia as their authentic selves? How can the platform of academia create space for change in the world? I ... Show More

In Crip Spacetime: Access, Failure, and Accountability in Academic Life (Duke University Press, 2024), Margaret Price intervenes in the competitive, productivity-focused realm of academia by sharing the everyday experiences of disabled academics. Drawing on more than three hundre ... Show More

  The UK is home to some of the best universities in the world, but there is a growing crisis happening at British universities  In this episode, we'll explain what this crisis is, why British universities are in this unusual position, and learn about the key challenges facing th ... Show More

For too long, our system of higher education has been defined by scarcity: scarcity in enrollment, scarcity in instruction, and scarcity in credentials. In addition to failing students professionally, this system has exacerbated social injustice and socioeconomic stratification a ... Show More

America’s top colleges are facing record demand. So why don’t they increase supply? (Part 2 of our series from 2022, “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”) SOURCES:Peter Blair, professor of education at Harvard University and faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of ... Show More