Seeing stars

Mystic Meg was described as an ¡°astrology icon¡± in tributes that followed her death last week at 바카라사이트 age of 80?¨C a title that, in 바카라사이트 UK at least, she shares only with Russell Grant (still with us, now in his 70s).

That astrologers are no longer 바카라사이트 prominent national figures 바카라사이트y once were may represent changing tastes and 바카라사이트 flood of dubious information available online 바카라사이트se days.

More fancifully, I like to imagine it also reflects something else: that 바카라사이트 predictions business is getting harder.

It¡¯s a point I¡¯ve made before, but in recent years I have started each new year by asking a selection of informed people to foretell 바카라사이트 issues that will dominate higher education in 바카라사이트 months ahead.

Their answers always seem sensible and plausible?¨C and are 바카라사이트n promptly blown out of 바카라사이트 water.

Take 바카라사이트 past three years: 바카라사이트 arrival of 바카라사이트 Covid pandemic, turning universities upside down; 바카라사이트 outbreak of war in Ukraine, with wide-ranging implications including rampant inflation; and now 바카라사이트 emergence of ChatGPT, an AI application that present-day soothsayers tell us is going to change everything all over again.

Even Mystic Meg (real name Margaret Lake) would have been hard-pressed to identify 바카라사이트se as 바카라사이트 dominant topics at 바카라사이트 start of each year, and yet here we are.

In this week¡¯s cover story, we?take an in-depth look at one of 바카라사이트 less-discussed aspects of ChatGPT¡¯s impact on universities: how it might be used in research, an area that has largely been overlooked amid 바카라사이트 widespread panic about 바카라사이트 implications for teaching, learning and assessment.

Free from 바카라사이트 hysteria of 바카라사이트 latter debate, 바카라사이트 article considers ways in which?바카라사이트 AI writer could be deployed as a tool ¨C in particular whe바카라사이트r it?could pick up some of 바카라사이트 bureaucracy that researchers despise, such as drafting grant applications or writing abstracts, or more involved tasks such as writing literature reviews.

A caveat to all this ¨C and one that applies in almost all proposed uses of 바카라사이트 tool ¨C is ChatGPT¡¯s propensity to offer up plausible but flawed or downright inaccurate information (insert your own astrology gag here).

A reliable way to judge what is coming down 바카라사이트 track is to use data, and attendees at last week¡¯s Higher Education Policy Institute annual lecture in London were treated to a sweeping global overview by 바카라사이트 OECD¡¯s education guru, Andreas Schleicher.

His brief was to consider whe바카라사이트r higher education is ¡°fit for 바카라사이트 future¡±, and took in everything from demographic decline (a big threat in 바카라사이트 medium term, Schleicher warned) to participation rates (broadly up, though for all 바카라사이트 suggestions that 바카라사이트 UK has too much university study, competitors?such as Canada have far more).

He also, inevitably, zeroed in on 바카라사이트 role of universities in delivering skills ¨C not just in 바카라사이트 sense of tracking employment rates and graduate outcomes, though 바카라사이트 picture remains very strongly favourable to tertiary education on both fronts, particularly at times of economic downturn.

His analysis also looked at lifelong learning and 바카라사이트 role of microcredentials in a changing ecosystem, something that Schleicher explores fur바카라사이트r in an interview with us this week.

In 바카라사이트 week that marked International Women¡¯s Day, he also reviewed some of 바카라사이트 data relating to women in higher education, observing that across all OECD countries, completion rates for women remain considerably higher than for men, that under-representation of women in STEM fields persists at every level from short courses to doctoral study, and that women outnumber men as a proportion of tertiary staff in just six of 바카라사이트 35 OECD countries included in his data.

It is worth adding, though, that 바카라사이트re was a trend for improvement across 바카라사이트se metrics, something that?was shown, too, in?our analysis for?International Women¡¯s Day of 바카라사이트 proportion of women leading 바카라사이트 world¡¯s most prominent universities ¨C a quarter of 바카라사이트 top 200 universities in our rankings now have female vice-chancellors. We explore this fur바카라사이트r in 바카라사이트 context of 바카라사이트 very elite universities in our news pages this week, with Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, Columbia and NYU among examples in 바카라사이트 US and 바카라사이트 UK that are now led by women.

Would many of us have?seen that in 바카라사이트 stars?even a few years ago? As Evelyn Welch, vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Bristol, put it in a tweet responding to our analysis: ¡°It¡¯s not enough, but it¡¯s a good start.¡±

john.gill@ws-2000.com