If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
Statistics show roughly equal proportions of men and women in the sector below Professor level (47% women and 53% men) but at Professor level, for every eight male professors, just two are female. On International Women's day, it is fitting to consider the waste of female talent and the impact on the system.
Most people accept their graduate unemployment with grace. For some reason, and to the horror of my bank, I decided this was the best time for a bedroom start-up. I now run the British Student Film Festival, a national exhibition of student film showcasing unheard and under-appreciated British talent.
In my final year at Oxford, I lived in a house of six blokes. Me, two Etonians, one from a state school in Watford, one from a Comprehensive in Newcastle and one from a private school on the Isle of Wight. All very different people, with very different backgrounds.
I began this post on a thought of hope, even if somewhat briefly, so it feels only right that I end in the same regard. I've had the good fortune to meet and get to know some of our nation's young entrepreneurs, and am bold enough to consider myself one of them.
We still live in a world in which a professional footballer will tweet homophobic messages to thousands of followers and not think of the consequences; will also still live in a world where people are being hung because they are gay. There's clearly a fight still to be won, and events such as National Student Pride underline this very fact.
When I realised I was gay, it was a scary and isolating experience. I felt like I couldn't tell my friends through fear of rejection and that no one understood me, but I found that one person who I could trust with anything and told them. It was one of the best things I ever did.
The last few months have been tough. Exams are finally making an appearance, Prom is actually coming together, and a trio of Dutch exchange students have just joined my school, and oh my goodness, they are adorable.
More than five and half million young people in Europe are unemployed and almost a quarter of Europe's youth are at risk of falling into poverty. To succeed we need to change mindsets. Students need to become more proactive about their future but they require support and encouragement.
The human condition is an inquisitive affair. From early childhood we are amazed by the world, enquiring first in the form of tears, and then sounds, ...
Baroness Tonge should be ejected from the Liberal Democrats for these remarks yet, whilst student societies and university authorities refuse to balance events on subjects as emotive as this, we will continue to see such stories.
The UK must have a sustainable and appropriately-skilled workforce, and apprenticeships are the best way to ensure this for the future. Encouraging skilled apprenticeships is vital to ensure the continued health of the economy and ensuring we can meet industry needs in years to come.
Learn to code, have good communication skills and work on your new idea driven by your natural curiosity. Be part of the next generation of geeks.
'If you are not a liberal at 20, you have no heart. If you are not conservative by 40, you have no brain'. The question is, are students with conservative views ahead of the game? Can they see beyond youthful idealism to the realities of their future life which will inevitably be governed by capitalism?
Student politics has a bad reputation. Ask average Joe Public and he'd tell you that it enjoys a dubious association with the hard left, with pretentious wannabe revolutionaries and with fierce self-importance in the face of crippling irrelevance.
We've got a serious problem in our higher education system and its scale is not to be underestimated. The uncomfortable fact is that if you are educated at an independent school you are 22 times more likely to study at a highly selective university than your state school counterpart in receipt of 'free school meals'. Oh yes, and this rises to 55 times for Oxbridge.
The average person making an early repayment is aged 25 and earns less than £20,000 a year. The average repayment is £900. These people repay because they don't like being in debt. Once in a while they find that they have £500 or £1000 spare and decide to pay off some of their student debt. To penalise these people would be bizarre.
