U.S. President Barack Obama greets members of the audience after delivering remarks on immigration reform at a high school in Las Vegas.JASON REED/Reuters
The best of the web on education from kindergarten to postsecondary, as chosen by Globe and Mail education editor Simona Chiose.
Promise of green cards could lure science students to U.S., compete with Canada
Graduates of U.S. universities born outside America will be able to stay in the country if they earn a postgraduate degree in math, science or engineering. Although the New Yorker is surprisingly skeptical, a similar program is already in place in Canada, and is not even restricted to science fields. The Canada Experience Class allows foreign students to apply as permanent residents after working for 1 year on a post-graduation work permit.
Women outnumber men in education faculties
The latest study on the balance between male and female students in U.K. universities shows that while women make up 55 per cent of undergraduates to men's 45, one gender dominates in some fields. Education is 80 per cent female while engineering and technology is 85 per cent male. Comparing the numbers to recent Statistics Canada research on university enrolment shows a similar, but somewhat less skewed, pattern. Seventy-six per cent of education students in 2008 – 2009 were female, while 78 per cent of students in architecture, engineering and related fields were male.
What made Quebec's students distinct
With the Quebec summit on postsecondary education coming up at the end of February, students in the rest of the country will once again be thinking about the cost and quality of education and the relationship between the two. In his blog, Léo Charbonneau summarizes some of the research around why the protests in Quebec never coalesced into a national movement. One of the more interesting reasons offered is that high tuition leaves students too busy working to engage in collective action. Now, the cuts to universities are passing the costs of education to students regardless of the exuberance of last spring.
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