Global, Australia, New Zealand: Education News

The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest higher education news from around the world, on 8 March 2013.

Global: Conference highlights lack of female university leaders

At this week’s Going Global conference, organized by the British Council, the University of Sussex’s Dr Louise Morley presented research on continuing gender inequality in higher education. In the UK, only 14% of university vice chancellors are women, 7% in Turkey, 3% in India, and none in Hong Kong. Sweden fares rather better, at 43%, The National reports. 

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New Zealand: Government wants more Malaysian students

New Zealand’s minister for tertiary education, Steven Joyce, is on a mission to encourage more Malaysian students to choose New Zealand for their international studies, NZWeek reports. In 2011, 2,000 Malaysian students studied in New Zealand, out of a total of 50,000 Malaysians studying abroad. Joyce will use a four-day trip to Malaysia to raise awareness about New Zealand’s universities, as well as business and trade opportunities.

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Australia: Call for increased public spending on university teaching

The head of the Universities Australia group has called for increased public spending to support university teaching, reports News.com.au. Glyn Davis, who is also vice chancellor of the University of Melbourne, said Australia’s investment in university teaching did not compare well with other countries. He called for a 2.5% increase over three years – amounting to AU$1.8 billion (about US$1.8bn) – acknowledging that this may mean raising taxes.

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Global: Universities not teaching old programming languages – despite employer demand

A survey of universities worldwide shows many are no longer teaching old computer programming languages such as Cobol, despite recognizing significant demand from employers. A poll of IT course leaders found that 73% did not include Cobol, even though 71% agreed that businesses would still be dependent on applications built with Cobol for the next decade, ZDNet reports.

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US: Students’ feminist art display causes controversy

An exhibition organized by University of Cincinnati students to raise awareness about women’s rights issues has prompted some controversy, due to the inclusion of large images of female students’ genitals, Cincinnati.com reports. The exhibition, called ‘Re-envisioning the Female Body’, was organized by the UC Feminist and LGBTQ groups in response to anti-abortion demonstrations on campus.

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