Autistic individuals may be at risk of premature mortality, and physical health comorbidity increases this risk; however, most studies fail to include older autistic adults or consider lifestyle-related factors that affect health. We developed an anonymous, online physical health survey. The final sample included n = 2368 individuals (mean age =…

Principals (policy makers) have debated the progress in U.S. student performance for a half century or more. Informing these conversations, survey agents have administered seven million psychometrically linked tests in math and reading in 160 waves to national probability samples of selected cohorts born between 1954 and 2007. This study is the…

A student's race and ethnicity can significantly affect their degree outcomes. Of the disparities that exist within higher education, the gap between the likelihood of White students and students from Black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds getting a first- or upper-second-class degree is among the most stark -- 13% among 2017-18…

Since UNESCO's Salamanca Declaration in 1994, inclusive education has progressively attracted attention in international debates around education policy. While some evidence exists on the positive impact that inclusive education reforms can have on the academic and personal outcomes of diverse students -- and in particular of students with special…

Lecturing is often touted as a means to inspire students' interest, despite evidence that most lectures fail to do so. This study examines triggers of students' situational interest during lectures. Students (N = 706) in 12 different individual one hour first year lectures in a UK university were surveyed at the end of the lecture. They described…

How children piece together their ideas about other nations, peoples and cultures is an important but under-researched area of geography education. This article reviews findings conducted in Western industrialised countries relating to primary school children's global awareness and the factors which influence their understanding. Differences…

Often young children already have some ideas about what they want to do in the future. Using data from a large UK cohort study, we investigated the individual determinants of seven-year-old children's aspirations, controlling for parental socio-economic background and parental involvement in learning. At age 7, not all children's aspirations were…

An essay collection with leading experts sets out ways to improve the quality of apprenticeships and ensure fair access to training. Despite the United Kingdom's recent apprenticeship reforms, the number of apprenticeship starts is down 25%, leaving the government increasingly off target for its aim of three million starts by 2020. The essays also…

Amanda Arbouin breaks new ground in documenting the learning and employment of black graduates in the UK. Ten British graduates of African Caribbean heritage review their education, both compulsory and post-compulsory, and their careers. They relate how they navigated the obstructions and microaggressions encountered while pursuing academic…

This study explores the quality of reflection, and how group diversity affects group reflection by final-year accounting and finance undergraduates using Mezirow's [(1991). "Transformative dimensions of adult learning." San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass] reflection model. Group work and reflective writing are now common assessment features…

In the UK, the "leaky pipeline" metaphor has been used to describe the relationship between ethnicity and science participation. Fewer minority ethnic students continue with science in post-compulsory education, and little is known about the ways in which they participate and identify with science, particularly in the secondary school…

This report provides a snapshot of statistics from academic year 2017-18 related to students and staff at United Kingdom higher education institutions and the income and expenditure of these institutions. Highlights include: (1) In 2018, the UK 18-year-old entry rate to university was at a record level; (2) In 2017-18, 30.8% of academic staff had…

This paper presents a lecture given at the 17th Annual Lecture of the Association of University Administrators (AUA). The subject of the lecture is equality and diversity in higher education (HE) leadership, or possibly the absence of equality and diversity. The author focuses on what can be done to ensure that capable women enter HE leadership…

"Setting" is a widespread practice in the UK, despite little evidence of its efficacy and substantial evidence of its detrimental impact on those allocated to the lowest sets. Taking a Bourdieusian approach, we propose that setting can be understood as a practice through which the social and cultural reproduction of dominant power…

The global rise of 'neo-populism', culminating in the election of the populist Republican candidate Donald Trump to the US presidency, has been accompanied by a notable backlash and resistance to what has been categorised as governing/dominating 'elites', including HE academic institutions. Populist critiques centre on a perceived climate of…