Today is A-level results day in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Our #ThursdayThread looks at the potential impact of #Brexit on higher education, with highlights from @nickhillman’s recent #UKICELongRead. 🎓
Nick argues that UK universities played their hand badly in the #Brexit referendum, taking a contradictory approach to the Scottish referendum.
'University leaders looked unwilling to defend one union, the United Kingdom, but keen to defend another union, the EU.'
Universities stressed the importance of EU money, Nick says, but did little to explain what they actually did with it, such as tackling disease and combating climate change.
‘When @UniversitiesUK asked @BritainThinks to find out what the public thought of universities after the referendum, no one mentioned research.’
Nick also argues that debates on university campuses during the referendum were too narrow.
‘I participated in one such discussion where the European Commission, Scientists for EU and Labour In for Britain were represented but at which there was not a single Leave activist.’
He concludes, ‘One thing is not in doubt: leaving the EU is bad for British universities.’
But Nick argues the three main reasons people usually give - research, student exchange and student recruitment – are misunderstood.
The UK has been a net beneficiary of EU research funding, but it only represents 3% of total UK R&D spending.
The bigger benefits came from staff exchange – 1 in 8 university staff is from the EU – and cross-border collaborations.
On student exchange, he argues ‘it is hard to see how the possibility of the UK not being part of the expanded Erasmus+ programme could be anything other than a bad thing’.
However, UK students have not used the programme as much as in other countries.
On student recruitment, modelling suggests EU student arrivals will more than halve in future.
But EU students make up just 6% of all students and less than a third of overseas students.
In contrast to #Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic has shown universities at their best, Nick argues.
They have moved teaching online, change assessment methods, offer refunds on accommodation, extend research projects and senior leaders have taken pay cuts
Universities face the twin challenges of ensuring continued international collaboration and making contributions to the places in which they are situated.
‘Internationalisation brings you international prestige, but focusing on localism may do more to build a cohesive society.’
Check out Nick’s full #UKICELongRead on universities and #Brexit here. 🔻
ukandeu.ac.uk/universities-a…
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.