The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest higher education news from around the world, on 15 March 2013.
US: Formerly homeless teen gets full scholarship to Stanford
A Californian teenager who only six years ago was living with his family in homeless shelters has won a ‘full-ride’ scholarship to Stanford University – ranked 15th in the 2012/13 QS World University Rankings. Lane Gunderman, who was also a finalist in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search competition, was homeschooled by his mother until sixth grade, at which point he won a scholarship to the University of Chicago Lab High School. He has also been accepted to the California Institute of Technology (ranked 10th in the QS rankings).
Australia: Research finds graduates ‘overqualified’ for jobs
A study by a pair of economists in Australia has found that nearly half of the country’s graduates are apparently in work for which they do not require a degree, reports Inside Higher Ed. Ian Li and Paul Miller argue that the university sector is growing faster than the jobs market. This is an ongoing debate in the world of higher education. Perhaps when considering this, we might look to research by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, which among other things, points out that even graduates who are overqualified for their jobs fare better in terms of earnings over the course of their career. And – of course – there’s more to getting a degree than the job you do…
US: Liberal university hires conservative professor for balance
The University of Colorado at Boulder has deliberately hired a politically rightwing professor to teach conservative politics at the university. The move has drawn attention because the university is famed for being a liberal institution, reports the Washington Monthly, which links to this Huffington Post article to illustrate the point. The academic, Steven Hayward, is best known for producing a film that argued against Al Gore’s (former vice president and loser in the 2000 presidential election) environmental documentary, An Inconvient Truth.
Canada: Anti-abortion speaker disrupted during talk at University of Waterloo
Anti-abortion member of parliament Stephen Woodworth was blocked from giving a talk at the University of Waterloo on Wednesday by pro-choice campaigners, led by a man dressed as female genitalia, who handed him an ironic trophy for misogyny. The students were objecting not only to his anti-abortion stance, but also to a perceived failure to respect the rights of Canada’s indigenous population. The university has released a statement condemning the protestors’ actions and an inquiry is underway, reports the National Post.
US: Former US president flashmobbed during university visit
George HW Bush, 41st president of the United States (and father of the 43rd), was surprised during a visit to a university in his home state of Texas by a flashmob involving dozens of students performing a dance to country music classic ‘Boot Scootin’ Boogie’. He was visiting Texas A&M University to take part in a photo shoot at the school at the university named after Bush; he was reportedly left open mouthed by the unexpected tribute, reports CBS News.