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UK: University closures and mergers predicted in next 5 years
Many UK universities could face closures or mergers in the next five years, a survey of higher education leaders suggests. More than three quarters of surveyed university heads said they believed universities could face bankruptcy, The Huffington Post reports. The greatest point of concern highlighted was providing students with sufficient contact time with teaching staff – 90% of surveyed leaders said this was a major concern.
US: Losing ground on college completion, OECD report shows
While the US still has one of the world’s highest levels of education investment, it is losing ground to other countries on measures including college completion rates, Reuters reports. According to the latest report on education progress from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the US spends 7.3% of its gross domestic product on education. While it used to have one of the world’s highest college completion rates, it has now fallen to 14th on this measure, behind countries including Russia, Canada and South Korea.
Japan: More young and female scientists needed, report says
A report from the Japanese government shows the country has lower ratios of young and female researchers in the sciences compared to other nations, The Asahi Shimbun reports. In fact, the number of female researchers in Japan has been increasing, but is still only 14% of all scientific researchers, compared to 38% in the UK and 17% in South Korea. The report identified a need to allow younger researchers more opportunities to pursue independent research, and also found the percentage of doctorates gained in natural sciences was lower in Japan than in many countries in the West.